The Dark Knight

Starkiller Base

“Falcon’s this way!” yelled a dark-skinned man with short black hair wearing a leather jacket with a black shirt underneath, black pants, and black boots. Right behind him was a girl with tied back dark brown hair wearing a dirty tan garb of some kind and brown leather boots. The man’s name had once been FN-2187 and he had been a Stormtrooper in the service of the First Order, but these days he went by Finn, a name given to him by Poe Dameron, who he’d help escape from the First Order. The girl, meanwhile, was named Rey and she had been a scavenger on the desert planet of Jakku before she’d bumped into Finn and a small droid called BB-8.

As the two made their way through the collapsing planet’s snow covered forests, they were soon stopped dead in their tracks by the sound of a lightsaber activating. Emerging from his hiding place was a boy around Rey’s age with shoulder-length black hair wearing a damaged black hooded tunic, black pants, black leather boots, and black leather gloves. In his hand was a red crossguard lightsaber.

“We’re not done yet,” said Kylo Ren.

Rey was seething with anger, having only just witnessed Kylo murder his own father, Han Solo. “You’re a monster,” she spat at him.

“It’s just us now,” said Kylo. “Han Solo can’t save you.”

Kylo then proceeded to beat on an injury he’d sustained just after killing his father. Rey and Finn watched as droplets of blood fell on the snow near Kylo’s feet.

Her anger getting the better of her, Rey pulled out a blaster and aimed it at Kylo, but before she could fire, Kylo sent the scavenger flying through the air with a powerful telekinetic push, and caused her to crash into a tree, knocking her unconscious.

“Rey!” yelled Finn as he ran over to his friend’s side and began to attempt to get her to wake up. Behind him, Kylo twirled his lightsaber.

“TRAITOR!” Kylo bellowed.

An angry look crossed Finn’s face as he stood up and turned to face Kylo, activating the blue blade of the lightsaber he’d been given.

Kylo almost instantly recognized the weapon. “That lightsaber, it belongs to me.”

“Come and get it,” snarled Finn before he charged at Kylo, swinging the weapon, which Kylo parried with little effort. Back and forth the two men fought, until Kylo managed to pin Finn against a nearby tree, their lightsabers locked together. As Kylo pushed his blade against Finn’s, one of the crossguards began to burn into Finn’s shoulder, causing him to scream in pain before he managed to break the lock and score a hit on Kylo’s shoulder. However, with his next couple of attacks, Kylo managed to knock the lightsaber out of Finn’s hand and scored a deep slash across the rogue stormtrooper’s back, causing him to crumple to the ground, bleeding and unconscious.

Finn dealt with, Kylo deactivated his weapon and reached his hand out to use the Force to claim his grandfather’s old lightsaber. Slowly, the lightsaber began to make its way out of the snow it was embedded in, before it came flying out so fast that Kylo had to move out of the way to avoid it, and as a result, saw the weapon fly right into Rey’s outstretched hand. For a moment, the two warriors stared at each other before Kylo activated his lightsaber once more, Rey following suit. Then, Kylo swung his blade to attack, which Rey parried. Kylo continued to remain on the offensive as he and Rey battled their way to the edge of a newly-formed cliff where their lightsabers locked. It looked as though the Resistance pilots flying overhead had successfully managed to cause the oscillator of the First Order’s fittingly-named Starkiller to go critical, thus causing the planet to begin to collapse on itself.

“You need a teacher!” said Kylo, gazing fiercely into Rey’s eyes as he spoke. “I can show you the ways of the Force!”

“The Force…?” whispered Rey as she closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax and drift. When she opened her eyes again, she broke the lock and went on the offensive. Kylo, in his pain, was only able to parry some of her attacks before the novice Force wielder managed to score a serious hit on his leg, cutting some of his outfit off and causing the Knight of Ren to fall on one knee in agony before he got up and started swinging again, only to receive a stab to his other shoulder.

Rey could tell by the way Kylo was staggering about that the pain of his injuries was finally starting to get to him, a fact that was only made clearer when she parried Kylo’s next strike and kicked him to the ground. Kylo laid on the ground for at least two minutes before he pulled himself up and continued to fight. Rey grabbed the arm the Kylo was holding his lightsaber in down while he held hers up. Kylo grunted and groaned in agony, the pain in his shoulders intensifying. Rey, seeing her opening, pulled her arm free and brought her lightsaber down and severed the hilt of Kylo’s before delivering a slash across his face, knocking him to the ground.

Kylo struggled to pull himself up, but the most he could manage was lifting his head up just in time to see a fissure form and separate him and Rey before the latter ran off into the woods. The last of his energy spent, Kylo Ren fell into unconsciousness… unaware that someone was watching him.

…

Elsewhere...

In the city of Canterlot, the capital city of the land of Equestria, bells were ringing, for today was the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, niece to Princess Celestia, ruler of the land, and Royal Guard Captain Shining Armor, who was currently standing in his red and white Royal Guard dress uniform and with his blue hair slicked back. Also, he had an expression that seemed to suggest that he’d recently been hit over the head with something solid.

Presiding over the ceremony was Princess Celestia herself, a powerfully built Alicorn with chalk white fur and wings, a long flowing mane and tail in the sky blue of a summer’s day, the lush green of rolling hills, and the pink of love and compassion, and an image of the sun on her face. She was wearing an elegant white dress with a golden tiara on her head and beautiful golden heeled sandals.

The bird choir began chirping “Here Comes The Bride.” Conducting the birds was a pegasus mare with butter yellow fur and wings with a long pink mane and tail wearing a beautiful green dress with matching shoes. This was Fluttershy, animal caretaker of Ponyville and Element of Kindness.

As those attending the wedding rose to their feet, down the aisle walked an Alicorn mare with tri-colored hair and soft pink fur and wings, wearing a wedding dress that reeked of elegance with matching heels. This was Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the blushing bride to be. Once she’d taken her place beside her bridesmaids, Applejack, a strong looking Earth Pony mare with orange fur and tied back and braided blonde hair, Rarity Belle, who was a unicorn with chal white fur and a curly purple mane and tail, Pinkie Pie, who was an Earth Pony like Applejack with pink fur and a bushy pink mane and tail, and Rainbow Dash, a pegasus with blue fur and a rainbow-colored mane and tail. All four of them were wearing green and baby blue bridesmaid dresses.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza in holy matrimony. Spike, the rings, please,” said Princess Celestia.

Spike Sparkle, a teenage purple and green dragon wearing a black tuxedo with a matching top hat, held out the violet pillow carrying two diamond studded wedding rings. Celestia’s eyes glowed a bright shade of yellow, causing the rings to levitate into the air and hover before Shining Armor and Mi Amore Cadenza.

“Do you, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, take Shining Armor to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, ‘til death do you part?” Celestia asked her niece.

“I do,” said Mi Amore.

“Shining Armor, do you take Mi Amore Cadenza to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, ‘til death do you part?”

“I do,” said Shining Armor in an almost robotic sort of voice.

“Then, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you-”

“STOP!”

Everyone in the room gasped loudly and looked towards the entrance to the throne room. Standing in the doorway was a young unicorn mare with lavender fur and a dark blue mane and tail, both of which had a magenta stripe in them wearing a purple blouse, black jeans, and black and white shoes. This was Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor’s younger sister.

Mi Amore growled in frustration. “Why does she have to be so possessive of her brother?!” she snarled before tears welled up in her eyes. “Why does she have to ruin my special day?!”

“Because it’s not your special day!”

Everyone gasped at again at the sight of what was unmistakably an exact double of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, except she was looking a little battered and wore a pink silk dress with gold heels.

“It’s mine!” said Princess Cadence.

“What?! But how did you escape my bridesmaids?!” demanded Cadenza.

“Simple, they were my bridesmaids and I tossed the bouquet,” said Princess Cadence.

“Hmph, clever. But you’re still too late!” snarled Cadenza.

“Ah don’t understand, how can there be two of ‘em?” said Applejack in utter confusion.

“She’s a changeling! She takes the form of someone you love and gains power by feeding off your love for them!” explained Cadence.

Green flames suddenly surrounded Cadenza before they rose high enough to touch the ceiling. Once the flames had died down, where Cadenza once stood was now what appeared to be a fusion between a pony and some kind of insect with long teal hair, insect-like wings, and green snake-like eyes wearing form fitting greenish black body armor and a small crown on her head.

“Mwah ha ha ha ha ha! Right you are, Princess!” said Queen Chrysalis, her voice dripping with venom and menace as she made her way to Cadence. “And as Queen of the Changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects! Equestria has more love than any place I’ve ever encountered! My fellow changelings will be able to devour so much of it that we will gain more power than we have ever dreamed of!”

“They’ll never get the chance!” spat Cadence. “Shining Armor’s protection spell will keep them from ever even reaching us!”

Chrysalis chuckled. “Oh, I doubt that. Isn’t that right, dear?” she said, her eyes glowing a sinister green color.

“Mm-hmm…” said Shining Armor, nodding his head like a wind-up toy soldier.

A look of shock appeared on Cadence’s face for a brief moment before the young Princess attempted to get to Shining Armor.

“Ah, ah, ah,” said Chrysalis, standing in front of Cadence, who froze in her tracks. “Don’t want to go back to the caves now, do we?” Chrysalis then returned to Shining Armor’s side. “Ever since I took your place, I’ve been feeding off of Shining Armor’s love for you. Every moment he grows weaker, and so does his spell. Even now, my minions are chipping away at it.”

Everyone’s heads immediately turned upward, as though they could gaze past the the high ceiling and see the swarm of human-insect hybrids trying to break through the shield.

Chrysalis let out another evil laugh. “He may not be my husband, but he IS under my total control now,” she said, causing Twilight and Cadence to gasp in horror. “And I’m sorry to say unable to perform his duties as Captain of the Royal Guard!”

“Not my Shining Armor!” cried Cadence.

“Soon, my Changeling Army will break through. First we take Canterlot, then all of Equestria!” said Chrysalis as she took to the air.

“No. You won’t.”

Chrysalis looked down to find Princess Celestia glaring up at her, a powerful aura of heat coming from her as she rose up to face the Changeling Queen.

“You may have made it impossible for Shining Armor to perform his spell, but now that you have so foolishly revealed your true self, I can protect my subjects from you!”

On that last word, Princess Celestia’s eyes glowed as pure white as she fired a beam of golden energy at Chrysalis, who countered with a beam of her own green magic. For the better part of a few minutes, Celestia and Chrysalis were deadlocked, until Chrysalis’ magic began to overpower Celestia’s, before finally the attack made contact.

The sound of Celestia’s tiara hitting the ground was heard by everybody in the room as Princess Celestia landed painfully on the ground, among the horrified gasps of the onlookers.

“Princess Celestia!” cried Twilight as she, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie ran to her aid.

“Shining Armor’s love for you is even stronger than I thought… consuming it has made me even stronger than Celestia!” snarled Chrysalis triumphantly.

“The Elements of Harmony… you must get to them, and use their power… to defeat the Queen!” Celestia instructed Twilight.

With a quick glance at one another, The Elements of Harmony dashed out of the room to get changed out of their dresses and into their regular clothes before they tried to save Equestria.

Chrysalis chuckled evilly as she watched them go. “You can run, but you can’t hide!” she called after them.

…

Kylo Ren awoke with a jolt at the sound of shattering glass. Looking wildly around, Kylo saw that he was no longer on Starkiller Base, but rather in an alleyway in a city somewhere. Looking down at himself, Kylo saw that not only were his injuries healed, but he wasn’t wearing his usual attire at all, but rather he wore a suit of black light body armor, black leather boots, black leather gloves, and a black cape with a hood. Lying nearby was his helmet and lightsaber, along with, for some strange reason, the lightsaber that he’d used as a Jedi Knight

“What do you think, Grandson?”

Kylo looked to his immediate right and saw a black hooded figure wearing a darker version of a Jedi robe surrounded by a blue aura approaching him. Stopping in front of him, the figure lowered his hood, revealing himself to be a human male around his age. Although, while the right side of him appeared to be normal, the left side of him seemed to be a bit more monstrous.

Kylo recognized the man immediately. This was his hero, his idol, the man he strived to try to become.

“G…Grandfather?” Kylo said in awe.

Anakin Skywalker nodded in confirmation. “It is nice to meet you at last, Ben,” he said as Kylo pulled himself up off the ground, collected his lightsabers and helmet, and attached the two weapons to his belt. “Although, I must admit, I find your choice for a role model disturbing. It seems as though you only know what Imperial propaganda made me out to be, not the truth.”

Kylo shrugged. “What can I say? I found Darth Vader to be far more impressive and striking than Anakin Skywalker,”

“Understandable. Come, Grandson. We have much to discuss,” said Anakin.

Kylo nodded, and together, the two men left the alleyway and into the streets. As Kylo looked around, he noticed that the city seemed to be under attack by strange armor-clad insect creatures, and that while there were indeed humans among the population, most of the creatures in the city he now found himself in seemed to be bipedal horses. Some of them seemed quite strong physically, while others had wings, be they feathered like a birds or leathery like a bat, while still more had a single horn growing out of their forehead. It was the horned ones in particular that Kylo sensed to be strong in the Force. Oddly, neither the humans nor these creatures seemed to see him or his Grandfather.

“I have a Force Cloak up. They can’t see or hear us until I want them to,” Anakin explained, answering Kylo’s unspoken question. “Welcome to Canterlot, Grandson. The capital city of Equestria, located on the planet Gaia in the Unknown Regions.”

Kylo looked at his grandfather in surprise. “The Unknown Regions? I thought that it was too dangerous to travel there. Something about ships disappearing if they tried to enter?”

“Indeed. That would be because there are two immortal beings here called alicorns who rule this land, and are so strong in the Force, or as the natives call it, ‘magic,’ that they can move the sun and moon as though they were toys. Needless to say, the sight of seeing a star or moon move seemingly by itself can be a frightening experience. Frightening enough that they lose control of the ship and crash,” explained Anakin, causing Kylo to chuckle.

“So, why am I here, Grandfather?” asked Kylo.

“I brought you here because The First Order left you to die on Starkiller Base. General Hux, I believe his name was, was ordered to find you and bring you to Snoke. Instead, however, he decided to leave you to die and save his own skin. Furthermore, I hope to give you a chance to escape my fate. Although I had the entire galaxy trembling at my feet as Vader, and a vast array of powers, the pain I felt, the physical being caused by a combination of light on my burnt skin and the machinery welded into me, and the emotional being from killing your grandmother and nearly all the Jedi, including the younglings, was nearly unbearable. I don’t want that for you. Also, I have a mission for you,” explained Anakin.

“The mission being?”

“This world is made of many creatures that come from myth as well as humans, but the planet is mostly populated by beings known as ponies. Certain ponies can tap into the Force in such a way that they can perform abilities neither Jedi nor Sith have any hope of attaining. One such pony, a mare named Starlight Glimmer, used this power to transcend time to prevent a certain event from coming to pass, thus preventing a band of heroes from ever being formed, creating an alternate timeline. Although one of those heroes tried to stop her, they failed multiple times, creating multiple alternate timelines in the process. As a result, numerous breaches that connect to worlds in our neck of the woods in different time periods and even alternate timelines to appear. I need you to help this world fend off any and all Sith Lords who may come through these breaches, and trust me, there will be plenty. Although Equestrian swords and weaponry may resist a lightsaber, these creatures stand no chance against a fully trained Sith Lord, not without help from a Gray Jedi such as yourself.”

Kylo raised an eyebrow. “‘Gray Jedi?’” he asked his grandfather.

“Yes. Being my grandson, you have the perfect blend of light and dark within you. It’s why Snoke coveted you so much, why he was so determined to keep you alive. You want to become as powerful as I was, correct?” said Anakin.

“Yes, Grandfather,” said Kylo, nodding as he spoke.

“Then you’ll need to embrace both the light and the dark inside of you. Too much light or too much darkness will actually weaken your power. Instead, accept both the light and the dark. Accept the balance. And you will become even stronger than I was. You, your apprentice and lover, and your band of fellow Gray Jedi.”

Kylo was confused. “What do you mean, Grandfather?” he asked the apparition before it began to fade away. “Hey, wait!”

“Good luck, Grandson. And remember, the Force will be with you, always,” said Anakin as he disappeared completely.

A loud hiss caught Kylo’s attention. Wheeling around, he saw that three of the armored insect creatures that were laying waste to the town had turned their attention towards him and had drawn their weapons, now that his Grandfather’s Force Cloak had lifted.

Kylo donned his helmet and pulled his hood over his head before taking his Dark Side lightsaber from his belt and activating it, causing the fizzing and crackling crimson blade to emerge from the hilt

The sight of the lightsaber seemed to cause the creatures to falter for all but a few moments, before they came at Kylo, swinging their weapons.

Trained though these soldiers were, they never stood a chance against the Master of the Knights of Ren.

…

Meanwhile, the Elements of Harmony, despite having put up a brave fight in their attempt to recover the Elements, had been captured and had just been forced to listen to Chrysalis’ victory song.

Chrysalis chuckled as she gazed out the window upon the devastation that her children were causing. While the evil Queen had her back turned Twilight snuck over to Princess Cadence.

"Quick! Go to him while you still have the chance!" Twilight said as she freed Cadence.

Suddenly, Chrysalis cried out in pain as she felt as though she’d been impaled by a burning blade of some kind. "Wha…? One of my subjects has...died? Impossible!" she muttered to herself before the sound of a groan reached her ears, causing her to look behind her and see that Shining Armor had been broken out of his trance.

"Is the wedding over?" the bemused stallion asked.

"It's ALL over!" Chrysalis said, landing in front of the royal couple.

"The spell! Use your spell!" Twilight told her brother.

Chrysalis cackled. “What good would that do? My Changelings already roam free!” the Changeling Queen snarled those present looked out the window and saw the destruction her subjects were creating before she cried out again as she felt more of her precious children die, their hearts pierced, their limbs and heads severed, their necks snapped, and their bodies burned by what felt like lightning.

"What's up with her?" Rainbow asked, which made Chrysalis glared at the group, wincing in pain as she spoke.

“My Changelings are dying!” snarled Chrysalis. “Tell me, do you… do you really think that slaughtering a few of my minions will really put an end to all this? My… my children are like the heads of a hydra. For each one who falls in battle, two more arise to take his place. You can’t- YEAARRGH!”

Shining Armor looked even more confused than before. “Changelings? What’s going on?”

“I’m sure your precious fiance will be more than happy to explain what’s going on once you’re in the dungeons of my new castle. For now, I want to know who’s responsible for my children dying. And I want answers right now!” Chrysalis snarled.

No one really seemed to have any answers for her. Then, out of seemingly nowhere, the doors leading into the Great Hall were blasted off their hinges, forcing everyone to duck for cover. Through the dust caused by the rubble emerged a human figure wearing black body armor with black leather boots, gloves, and a black cape. He also wore a mask made of some unknown material that concealed his identity and had a black hood pulled over his head. In his hand he held what appeared to be some kind of energy sword with a crimson blade and crossguards. Whoever this guy was, he was clearly looking for a fight.

The man looked at Chrysalis, who could easily feel the heat of his gaze as he approached. “I take it you’re the one behind this invasion? The leader of these bugs?” he asked, his voice as deep as a well and black as obsidian as he aimed the end of his weapon directly at the Changeling Queen, who could feel the heat of this being’s gaze from under his mask.

“So what if I am? Who are you to order about the Queen of Changelings?” Chrysalis said indignantly as her hand discretely drifted towards the her sword, which one of her children had retrieved for her after she’d been unmasked, and her horn developed a soft green glow.

“My name is Kylo Ren, Master of the Knights of Ren. And, I’m giving you the chance to end this peacefully, without further bloodshed. Call off your swarm, and crawl back into whatever nest you came out of.”

“I think not,” said Chrysalis before blasting Kylo with a beam of energy from her horn, sending the warrior flying through the air and crash into the nearby wall.

Chrysalis chuckled malevolently as she took to the air, readying another magical blast as Kylo pulled himself off the ground and staggered to his feet. However, when Chrysalis fired her second blast, Kylo was ready for her. He threw out his hand, reached into the Force, and froze the attack in midair, much to the shock and awe of everyone present. Something that Chrysalis would soon regret as the blast was sent right back at her, knocking her out of the air and sending her falling to the ground.

“All right, then…” hissed Chrysalis as she pulled herself off of the ground and drew her sword. “We do this the old fashioned way.”

Kylo twirled his lightsaber around. “Works for me.” he said.

And with that, Chrysalis charged forward and started swinging at Kylo, who was able to block her frenzied attacks almost effortlessly. Backward and forward they dueled, each scoring a fair number of hits on the other. Kylo reached into the Force once more and fired a chain of lightning at Chrysalis, sending her onto her knees as she hissed in pain and agony, a pain that was felt by all of the invading Changelings within Canterlot’s walls. Roaring with rage, Chrysalis sent a jet of green flames from her horn at Kylo. Although Kylo was able to avoid the brunt of the attack, the corner of his cape caught on fire. Kylo quickly used the Force to extinguish the flames.

However, as the Changeling Queen and the Knight of Ren dueled, they were completely unaware of what was going on with the wedding party behind them.

Twilight turned to her elder brother and whispered. “Quickly, use your spell while she’s distracted!”

Shining Armor nodded in understanding and attempted to focus his magical energies, causing his horn to glow with a pink aura, only for the glow to flicker and fade away.
“I can’t! I don’t have the strength,” said Shining Armor dejectedly.

“My love will give you strength,” said Cadence, her horn glowing blue as she embraced her fiance.

Almost like power flowing from a pair of jumper cables into a car battery, Cadence’s magical energies flowed through her horn into Shining Armor, causing them both to be lifted into the air, enveloped in a soft pink glow as they kissed. As the energy around them grew to its peak, Kylo managed to make an opening in Chrysalis’ defense and sever the hand holding her sword from her arm and score a hit on her leg that brought the Changeling Queen to her knees. At almost the same second, Shining Armor and Cadence’s bodies made a sort of heart shape as their combined energy was unleashed in all its fury. All the Changelings caught in it, including Chrysalis, were blasted out of the room and sent flying off to the Badlands.

As the couple landed on the ground, Celestia was freed from the cocoon that the Changelings had trapped her inside. As she hovered down to the ground, Twilight ran over to her teacher to check if she was okay.

“I’m fine. You have a real wedding to put together,” said Celestia.

“Indeed, I do,” replied Twilight, before turning around to face Kylo as he deactivated his weapon. “But, first, I wonder if our masked friend could tell us about why he’s here, how he learned the nifty trick with the magic blast, and where he got that weapon.”

Kylo lowered his hood and removed his mask, revealing himself, much to everypony present’s surprise, to be a handsome young man around Twilight’s age with shoulder-length black hair and brown eyes.

“Well, as it happens, I have an urgent matter to discuss with Celestia about that very topic. Do you have some place we can talk? And some place where I can get my injuries treated?”