Star Wars: My Little Sith Lord

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Chapter 1 Author's Note

Chapter 1

When our planet burned, it felt as if a piece of us burned with it.

Tempest Shadow’s eyes flew open as the steady vibration of her ship began to slow, her once pure turquoise irises now playing host to a splatter of yellow surrounding her pupils like twin jagged suns in the sky. Glancing to her left, she watched as a cascade of bright blue lights ebbed until the blackness of space and the pinpoints of stars returned.

She could feel her heart racing in her chest and her emotions running rampant inside of her, practically begging her to let loose her power on anyone in the vicinity. Of course, that would serve little purpose and perhaps be a death sentence for herself. Her ship, heavily armored and heavily modified as it was, simply couldn’t survive a blast from a unicorn which had emerged from the throes of a rage meditation… Not that there were many ships that could.

Tempest let her emotions roil inside her, checked, but just barely. She’d need her anger if she was going to win the day. Regardless of what was going to stand between her and her target, she had to succeed.

Ponykind and the galaxy itself might very well depend on it.

“Report,” Tempest said simply as she glanced towards the front of her ship. A lone Imperial Guard sat in a black bucket seat at the front of the cockpit, his scarlet-gloved hands firmly on the control wheel and his face obscured by a crimson helmet and body clad in robes. Past him, a rectangular window showed space full of visible stars.

Turning the wheel lightly but not turning his head, the guard answered in a male’s voice, “The Maelstrom has exited hyperspace and is reporting a binary star system with one gas giant within the habitable zone. Several moons have been identified. Awaiting confirmation of life forms or signs of a base.”

Tempest said nothing, instead fixating on the cockpit in front of her with an oddly furious expression. Despite being her ship, the controls were frustratingly not designed with a pony in mind. Of course, that was typical of most reasonable complex things in the galaxy. She glanced up at her horn, or rather, the jagged bit of kyber crystal affixed to her horn. It, much like her original horn, had once been whole. However this once pure crystal had shattered, leaving a small jagged mess affixed to the already jagged mess that was her horn. Now the crystal had taken on a slightly reddish hue, and she had a collection of razor-sharp shards that ended in a long point.

The crystal had made her whole, but its destruction was nothing to mourn, merely a sign that she was beginning a new journey to further her strength. Besides…

Tempest glanced towards her flank, where her lightsaber rested against dark grey armor with the Imperial six-toothed gear-like insignia etched in black. Shards of kyber crystal surrounded the lightsaber’s blade emitter like a sharp, twisted crown.

… the broken pieces of the crystal had been to put to good use. However, despite the fact that the crystal granted her both access to magics once thought lost to herself and helped deepen her connection to the Force, she still lacked the fine control to operate a ship and its various buttons and switches. She momentarily considered taking her lightsaber to the ship's controls to alleviate her frustration.

“Problem, my Lord?”

Tempest pushed her emotions back down within herself, which in turn caused both her horn to cease glowing red and firing off errant sparks. Tantrums against machinery would prove fruitless and show that she had the emotional maturity of a child. She was Sith. She needed to keep her focus for the battle ahead.

Tempest’s emotions once again in check, the guard went back to being silent, the only sound being the hum of her ship as two bright stars appeared in the cockpits transparisteel window. “Any additional information from the Maelstrom?”

“Negative. Long range scanners will have more information shortly, my Lord.”

Tempest nodded toward the guardsmen. Technically also her personal guard, not that he was terribly likely to be useful outside a chauffeur. The Royal Guards were all unquestionably skilled compared to an average inhabitant of the galaxy, but compared to Jedi and the odd Force-wielding unicorn…

Hmm… There was a thought…

Tempest took several steps back away from the cockpit, and began a restless pace in front of a closed door behind the pilot’s seat relatively untouched by light, save for the dim lights of the pilot’s console and the stars outside. She closed her eyes and reached out with her senses, feeling as though she was riding a wave of her own churning fury as she tried to feel past the empty blackness of space, towards the planet and its moons… After all, distance ultimately meant little to the Force, and magic could likewise transcend such boundaries.

Her body began to quake as pure and complete wrath almost took hold. She was vaguely aware of the sound of spitting sparks from the top of her horn as she pushed herself further and further. She would not break… though her ship might. Finally, before it seemed her power would reach something truly terrifying, it was there. In the midst of empty space, a presence. A presence she had not felt since…

Tempest’s eyes snapped open as she watched electricity dance across the durasteel walls around her, she once again put her emotions in check and the small storm coming from her horn subsided, the last few sparks firing off harmlessly between the bare metal walls and her charcoal grey armor, briefly illuminating the Imperial insignia on her flank armor plate in brilliant bright blue light.

She glanced back towards the cockpit and surveyed the damage. The pilot and co-pilot seat would have to be replaced, their backs now sufficiently charred from her power leak and smoking, filling the shuttle with the scent of some charred animal or another. Thankfully, the guard would not meet a similar fate just yet—he still sat dutifully in his chair silently as if nothing odd or the least bit dangerous had transpired.

It was a quite enviable level of restraint.

The buzz of radio static sounded out from the front of the ship before a concerned male voice called out. “This is Shadow Leader, what happened?”

Only now did the guard turn, his black visor pointed at Tempest or perhaps a bit above and behind her. He turned to face the front of the ship once more and flicked a finger across the console, his eyes once again focused outside. “Situation normal, though it seems there’s been a malfunction with the door controls.”

Tempest glanced up and did her best not to grimace. The door controls had been well and truly slagged by that slight outburst of power.

There was a slight delay before the radio crackled again. “Understood. Does this compromise the mission?”

“Standby.” The guardsman turned to point his visor directly at Tempest.

Tempest, in turn, fought the urge to blast or at least shock the guard for his insolence, which she had to convince herself he wasn’t being at the time. After a few moments, Tempest won the contest with her own seething anger, breathed out a breath of air she hadn’t realized she was holding and asked, “Can you try and open the door, please?”

Her emotions began to settle at the politeness of her own request. In this particular instance, not a welcome change. Twilight’s influence, it seemed, was still with her.

“No,” the guard answered simply before turning back towards the console.

Tempest could feel her temper flared up once more to the point where it boiled over physically in the form of a red glow from her crystal and sparks from her horn.

The guard hit the com station once more. “Shadow Leader. Stand by, the mission proceeds as scheduled.”

“Understood. Shadow Leader out.”

Tempest’s eyes knit in confusion as the guard turned to face Tempest once more. “I will have that door open before we reach the outreaches of the system, my Lord,” he assured.

At once, Tempest experienced relief and just as quickly her power began to wane. Clamping her eyes shut, she reminded herself just who she would meet on the planet below. The reminder of that presence once again filled Tempest with a resolute fury that would help direct her action.

She had a score to settle and vengeance to wrought for her own abandonment. “Tell the Maelstrom to hold position and launch Glaive Squadron,” Tempest barked. A grim smile spread across her lips as she trotted up to the front of the ship once more. “The Princess is here, and no doubt, our prize…”

Twilight Sparkle smiled to herself and tossed another expectant glance up at the clear blue sky, much like a little filly would who was having a birthday and might expect a gift delivered via balloons from the sky… a not altogether rare occurrence in Ponyville.

Granted, the large green orb of swirling gasses that took up a good quarter of the sky wasn’t exactly something one was likely to see in Ponyville. Still, the green grass that shimmered in the wind and familiar enough trees off just a little bit aways made Twilight feel a bit more at home. The lush valley below the plateau and gently sloping hills about it didn’t hurt either.

“Well, you seem happy.”

Twilight shifted her gaze up towards the bipedal creature, her head reaching up to about his chest. Said bipedal creature was fair and smooth of skin and sported a short and slightly unruly dusty-brown mane, sorry, hair and a kind smile directed downwards at Twilight. He wore a comfortable looking black tunic and kept pace with Twilight as the pair trotted through the wide, meadow-like area.

“Of course!” Twilight chirped. She chuckled and shook her head. “I haven’t seen her since Scariff…” Her smiled dropped into a frown. “What a debacle that was…” Memories flash across Twilight’s head. Alliances crumbling as different forces struggled to find a new place in the changing Galaxy. Great forces suddenly silenced. A once destroyed portion of a planet restored only to be facing down potential destruction by another Death Star, or so she was told—the first Death Star was long gone before Ponykind entered the galactic stage. To say nothing of the damage wrought on the planet’s surface and off it via starships and those with more power than they rightly knew what to do with. The whole event was destruction and mayhem on a scale once beyond anything she could have possibly imagined, yet currently was becoming commonplace, somehow.

“Twilight?” her human companion asked in a tone laced with concern.

Twilight shook her head as if to clear it. “Sorry, Luke… Just… That day was a bit much…” She let out a sad sigh. “And there’s been a lot of days like that since Equestria was first discovered by you and your friends…”

Luke stopped and lowered himself closer to Twilight’s level. “It’s not your fault, Twilight. If we hadn't blind jumped almost on top of Equestria—”

Twilight raised a foreleg as if asking Luke to stop. “I know. I know it’s not my fault, specifically… But it’s not your fault either.” Twilight let out a heavy sigh and forced a smile. “Don’t you ever get tired of repeating that line to me?”

Luke let out a boyish chuckle that would normally feel out of place for a man his age but somehow suited him to a ‘t’. “No. Never. Do you ever get tired of repeating that line to me?”

Twilight giggled. “Maybe every once and awhile.”

Twilight stared up at the sky again, this time she sat on her haunches, causing a nearly perfectly cylindrical simple metal tube to sway from a black belt around the pony’s stomach and back. “I guess it would be best to let go of my feelings around such memories…”

Luke, too, opted to sit and fell to his bottom. One leg sprawled straight ahead as he bent the knee on his second. “You remember your lessons well.”

Twilight nodded. “Now if only I could learn them.”

Luke shook his head. “You might need a better teacher for that. Detachment has never been a Skywalker strong suit.”

Twilight smirked at her human companion. “Well you seem to draw great strength from your attachments.”

Luke frowned. “That also runs in the family,” he answered simply.

Twilight’s happy expression likewise fell. “I’m sorry, Luke. I didn’t mean—”

“No, it’s fine,” Luke said with a light shake of his head. “Though, I suppose my father serves as an excellent example of how attachments can be a bad thing with the Force,” he added in a begrudging tone.

Twilight fixed Luke with a serious expression. “Okay, but your conviction to the idea that your father could be turned is what saved me that day…”

Luke shook his head. “That’s a rather indirect way of looking at it.”

Twilight smiled. “So it was his actions that saved me. You were the one who kept on telling him there was good inside him.” Twilight let out a short laugh. “It took him a while to prove it, but I guess I can’t complain too much about the timing.”

A smile finally returned to Luke’s lips. “Honestly, I think that was more Sunset’s doing.”

Twilight shrugged. “Alright, so we’ll call it fifty-fifty.”

Luke let out a short good-natured laugh then looked up at the sky. Twilight joined him as she slowly leaned her body against Luke, who didn’t seem to mind.

“Worried about your father?” Twilight asked.

“… Yes, actually,” Luke replied.

“You are bad at detachment,” Twilight joked.

This won yet another laugh from Luke before he looked down at the pony next to him and gave her a look of faux incredulity. “Look who's talking!” he quipped, nudging Twilight with his arm.

Twilight simply cozied up to Luke further, extending one of her wings as if she might envelop the man with it. “I can’t help it if you’re warm!”

The faux incredulity grew to something more genuine, but every bit as good-natured. “You’re the one covered with fur!”

“Hair!” Twilight corrected. “Chewie is covered in fur… Big difference.”

“If you say so,” Luke said with a smile as Twilight’s wing slowly made itself around him all the more.

For a few serene moments, the two simply sat lack that and listened to the gentle leaves through the nearby trees.

Like much in the galaxy however, Twilight had learned such moments were fleeting. “You seem rather preoccupied with your father, in fact…” she commented.

“Your senses serve you well,” Luke replied.

Twilight smiled. “Well, I’ve certainly learned some things.” She once again fixed Luke with a serious expression, her amethyst eyes meeting Luke’s steel grey ones. “You know you can tell me anything, Luke… I certainly don’t know what I’d do without your insight on loved ones falling to the dark side.”

“You’ve had it worse than me, Twilight,” Luke replied. “By the time I even knew who my father was, he had fallen long ago…”

A hint of irritation crossed Twilight’s face. “Just because my ‘darkside troubles’ are fresher and more numerous than yours, personally, doesn’t mean you can’t tell me what’s wrong!” Twilight’s face softened once more. “You’re always there for me, Luke. Let me be there for you just this once!” she added in a borderline pleading tone.

Looking off into the wooded area past the meadow, a small smirk crossed Luke’s lips. “I think you’re underselling your ability to be there when I’ve needed it. I don’t even know who owes who what and how many at this point.”

“I’m not talking about in battle and you know it!” Twilight snapped, immediately after closing her eyes to take a deep, calming breath.

Luke remained silent for a moment and quietly weighed his teachings from his master against the lessons of friendship Twilight had shared with him. Lessons that, bizarrely enough, seemed to translate into power in much the way his teachings did for her. After some slight swaying on his mental scale, friendship won out. “I felt him, Twilight… When he was with Sunset...”

Twilight’s eyes became all the more vibrant as if she was trying to pay attention with every fiber of her being. In fact, that wasn’t too far from what was going on.

“The man he was before Darth Vader,” Luke specified. “It was more than just potential good I sensed in Vader, but him… Anakin...” Luke murmured in a tone so quiet that it was as if he feared speaking the name of his father would somehow jinx the possibility that Luke would meet the man he had become before he fell to the dark side.

Twilight’s pupils dilated, shifting her expression from attentive to ‘surprised’. “Why… Why didn’t you mention this to me sooner?”

Luke let out a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry, Twilight… Everything happened so fast. I… I wanted to be sure before I said something to you. I didn’t want to get your hopes up…”

Twilight simply stared at Luke for a while, the silence growing between them. Twilight smiled before such a thing became an uncomfortable chasm between them. “I understand.” Her smile grew all the brighter, “But, if anyone can give us the answers we seek, it’s—”

“Twiiiiiiiliiiiiiight! Luuuuuuuuuuuke!”

Twilight let out an exasperated sigh as a rainbow streak crossed the sky in front of large, bright green ball in the sky. “Rainbow Dash…” she uttered in annoyance as she and Luke returned to their hooves and feet respectively.

Rainbow Dash landed in front of the pair, the grass and leaves rustling from the fast flying pegasus suddenly brought still. “Scanners are picking up ships!” she announced as she brought her baby-blue wings flush with her day-glow flight suit that hugged her small frame tightly.

“Oh…?” Twilight said in confusion. “Maybe Sunset brought company?”

Luke closed his eyes momentarily, any hint of joy dropping from his face. “I don’t think so, Twilight.”

No sooner had Luke finished his sentence than not-too-distant klaxons sounded out.

Twilight’s heart began to thump in her chest as her expression gave way to worry. “Are you sure it’s not Sunset?”

Rainbow Dash shot Twilight an irritated look. “Not unless Sunset is still rolling around in a Star Destroyer!”

“… She might?” Twilight suggested, hopefully. “I mean… if anypony would have access to one that wasn’t evil, it’d be Sunset…”

“And some heavily modified Imperial Shuttle!”

It was Twilight’s turn to look irritated. “That could still be Sunset!”

Rainbow Dash threw a forehoof up into the air. “The shuttle is being escorted by a squadron of TIE Defenders!”

Twilight frowned heavily before giving Rainbow Dash a hopeful look. “Maybe Sunset got some very skilled pilots to defect with her! She can be very convincing.”

Rainbow Dash’s forehead began to crease so much it looked like it might fold in on itself. “Twilight, I’m sorry, but this conversation is getting increasingly stupid and that’s me saying that to you!”

Near panic on her face, she looked up at Luke. “Is it her?! Has she turned… Again?!”

“I’m not sure…” Luke replied. “It feels similar to Darth Solis, but… not quite. It’s less an uncontrollable fire and more a—”

“Rogue Leader!” A male voice called out.

Luke looked down at his belt loop and grabbed a short, cylindrical object that was hanging next to a much larger one.

“Luke, buddy, are you there?”

Luke pulled the comlink from his belt and brought it to his mouth. “Go ahead, Wedge.”

“We’ve got some tricked out Imperial shuttle incoming. The kind that practically has the word ‘SITH’ written all over it. Not to mention a full squad of ‘trips’.”

Sitting below Luke, Twilight looked up with large, worried eyes as Rainbow Dash shifted impatiently in place.

“Yeah, tell me something, I don’t know,” Luke answered.

“They’re red Defenders, Luke.”

Luke’s eyes widened. “Glaive squadron…” he murmured, unable to keep the concern out his tone. His vision slowly drifted upwards. “It can’t be…”

Fear suddenly danced across Twilight’s face. “I really hope that’s not Sunset…” she uttered.

“I’ll be right there to suit up!” Luke said. “Don’t launch without me!”

“Copy that, Rogue Leader,” Wedge replied before the comlink went silent.

Luke returned the comlink to his belt and looked at Twilight, “Will you be okay?”

Twilight nodded. “Sunset or no, I’ll take care of it.”

Rainbow Dash chortled. “Yeah! It’s the moon that needs someone to look out for it!”

Twilight shot Rainbow Dash a glare.

“… but I can see that that’s not really all that funny.”

“Tell Starlight to meet me out here,” Twilight said in an even tone.

Rainbow Dash grimaced. “Really not that funny…”

“Rainbow…” Twilight growled out.

Rainbow Dash gave Twilight a salute with her wings. “I won’t let you down!”

Twilight shook her head. “It’s not you I’m worried about…”

Luke gave Rainbow Dash a wry grin. “Can I get a ride, Captain?”

Rainbow Dash extended her wings and returned the smile. “Does this make me Rogue Leader, General?”

Getting onto her back, Luke’s smile grew. “Much closer to my X-Wing… If anything, you’re more like R2!”

“WHAT?!” Rainbow Dash protested as she flapped her wings and took flight. “That obnoxious little twerp can barely fly!” Rainbow Dash began to accelerate away from Twilight, heading towards an octagonal metal structure off in the distance.

“AND TELL STARLIGHT SHE’S NOT ALLOWED TO FIRE ON THE SHIPS!” Twilight shouted after the pair.

“DOUBLE ROGER THAT!” Rainbow Dash fired back.

Twilight shot a look filled with trepidation up at the sky. She thought things were finally settling down after the unprecedented chaos of the last several years. That perhaps her friends and she could work together and fix all the wrongs that had been wrought on the galaxy by the Empire and the other Princesses. Maybe even return things to a semblance of normality for Ponykind eventually.

And then, she felt it… like a jolt of lightning that shot through her horn and into her heart. For a moment, her feelings soared but then sank, deep, deep into a well of fear.

Fizzlepop Berrytwist was alive… Or rather… Tempest Shadow was alive. Alive and practically seething inside the eye of a storm composed of dark side energy… figuratively of course. Real dark side storms likely wouldn’t occur for at least a few more minutes until both Tempest and Starlight had arrived.

Twilight involuntarily gulped and looked around her. Joking or not, Rainbow Dash was likely right. There was a good chance the plateau simply couldn’t stand what was about to take place. Tossing her eyes back skyward, familiar threads of doubt and fear began to tug within her brain.

It had happened again… One more friend had fallen to the dark side, and it was quite clear she hadn’t shown up to have a nuanced discussion regarding the different aspects of the Force with Twilight.

What would happen when Tempest confronted her? Would she have the strength to stand her ground? Could she possibly prevent both Tempest and Starlight from destroying the very ground they all stood on?!

Let me out. I will handle the ungrateful whelp.

Twilight’s mouth went dry as her eyes opened widely. It was her own voice, and yet it wasn’t…

No. Never… Not on my life.

The voice seemed to chortle maliciously. You can’t win without me and you know it.

I’ve gotten this far.

And look what has become of the galaxy.

Twilight shut her eyes hard as if she was trying to shut out the voice. She did her best to slow her breathing. You would only make it worse…

How many more need to die before you become what you were destined to be? I am inevitable… You’ve felt it… You’ve SEEN it!

Twilight’s heartbeat began to quicken. Was she right? Was it really just a matter of time before the dark side consumed her and brought out her very worst? Again, fear began to encroach upon Twilight’s Sparkle’s being. Fear that there was nothing she could d—

Twilight?

A new voice this time. One not of her own. Luke?

May the Force be with you.

The fear within Twilight purged like water being blown out a snorkel. Her eyes remained closed, but her features relaxed as she took a deep breath. May the magic of friendship be with you. She replied.

Twilight quieted her heart and prepared for the oncoming storm.

Chapter 2

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Chapter 3

Cracking the sky like it was made of porcelain, or, like… whatever aliens call their space-ceramics, Rainbow Dash rocketed from her position directly towards her comrade’s, only slightly slowed by heavy air-tight armor designed to keep her ‘safe’ in a battle-zone so often filled with magnetically wrapped bolts of plasma and things that explode if you kick them hard enough.

It wasn’t that the armor was useless, per se. It was made from a nigh-indestructible and, relatively light, metal alloy known as Phrik, after all. It was just that Rainbow Dash could only outspeed even the fastest fighter in atmosphere usually by a magnitude of five times or more while wearing it. Okay sure, there was this cool heads-up-display built into the heavy transparisteel visor in front of her face that let her know what was going on during battle which was marginally better than her ability to hear what was going on around her. Also, the armor itself had maybe saved her from a few blaster bolts that, allegedly, might have exploded her body and cooked her insides. However, the armor was additional weight and drag that the built-in thrusters and maneuvering jets only compensating for after a few microseconds of Rainbow Dash deciding where she wanted to go and shifting her body and weight do so. It was probably analogous to trying to play shock-ball in Stormtrooper armor, which was totally something she’d tell Wedge after he wasn’t busy being shot at.

Oh, the armor did have some modestly-sized laser cannons which she used to harass the larger, slow-poke fighters she often found herself combating. Much like right now, as she let loose a volley of scarlet energy that splattered across the shield of the red TIE Defender she was coming up fast on. Still, the blasters weren’t nearly as fun as her heavy-duty ‘shock hooves’ which she slammed into the Crimson Trip’s hull and sent it tumbling off into the sky as she herself bounced away from the fighter before quickly regaining control.

“Thanks, Rainbow. I owe you one,” Valarus’s much calmer, post-immediate danger voice called out on Rainbow Dash’s com.

Rainbow Dash let out a short laugh. “You owe me like six, but who’s counting?” She positioned herself above the battered X-Wing where she could see inside its cockpit, just able to make out the bits of fur and whiskers of her Bothan friend’s face.

“Yeah, yeah,” Valarus said dismissively with a shake of her head. “What in the hell do you ponies do to train yourselves?! Fly headlong into giant rock piles?!”

While this would normally elect a laugh from his squadron mate, however a surprising beat of silence followed before Rainbow Dash replied. “… Remind me some time to tell you a confusing tale involving my friend Spike… preferably over drinks. You’re buying”

“Roger that,” Valarus replied with a chuckle.

No sooner had Valarus got out her good-natured response then Rainbow Dash took note of the Defender she had just walloped. The pilot, it seemed, had regained control of their senses and the craft with an inhuman speed. Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened as she watched it launch a single concussion missile from under the round, tinted view-port. “Valarus! Watch out!” Rainbow Dash surged forward. Missiles where much faster than starfighters by design, but still not as fast as her, of course, this was racing towards her, or rather, her friend. Still, there was still time to knock the missile, no-way the projectile had locked on target given the timing.

Then, she felt it, maybe a millisecond before she even saw the much slower emerald tracer from the blast. A blaster bolt from the Defender slammed into her armor and exploded in pressure and heat that sent Rainbow Dash reeling. Rebelling with her wings and very body against physics itself, Rainbow Dash desperately shifted herself to get a view on Valarus’s X-wing. To her great relief, Valarus rolled her ship and pitched it away from the path of the missile. However, a hailstorm of emerald bolts caught the craft in the front, tearing through the nose-cone and front sections of the ship before the canopy itself was blasted open.

Rainbow Dash looked on in shock for a moment, somehow hoping to see Valarus had ejected out of the vehicle, but no ejection seat could be seen escaping from the wreckage. There was simply nothing left to save.

Rainbow Dash snarled and flapped as hard as she could, moving once again dive at the enemy fighter. She rolled and juked up and down, left and right she continued forward, keeping out of the path of the deadly blaster fire tagged with emerald tracers. True, the bolts themselves traveled far too fast for even her to see, but her small size and fixed position of the laser cannons on the enemy fighter meant keeping out of their path was relatively easy.

Rainbow Dash caught a glimpse of the Crimson armored pilot inside the craft who either failed to note Rainbow Dash was on a direct collision course with his ship or perhaps welcomed the opportunity to end up in some mutual kamikaze situation with the pony.

Images of crashing through the Defender’s front and smashing into its engine components flashed through Dash’s head as did the realizing that she simply didn’t have the mass to tear through the ship and end up on the other side. Her armor was mostly indestructible, but it did have its soft point like the many joints so that she could move in it as well as the transparisteel faceplate that probably wouldn’t survive. Grimacing as she realized she liked her face non-melted, she jinked down to her right at the last moment and smashed her heavily armored hooves into a collection of the ship’s maneuvering jets. Phrik collided with titanium to the sound of metal bending and tearing as bits of debris went everywhere. Rainbow Dash had hit with nearly enough force to tear the Defender’s pylon from the pilot pod, but was once again sent tumbling away from her opponent, this time to the sound of alarms inside her helmet and the sight of flashing on her HUD letting her know both her shock hooves and inertia dampeners were not having a good time. She ignored them and flapped against her own spiraling inertia until she was once again level, this time she searched for the damaged Trip immediately and bolted fast in the direction of the still plummeting spacecraft.

“Rogue 13, report!” Wedge’s voice called over the com. “What happened to Rogue 8?!”

Rainbow Dash grit her teeth. “She’s gone, Wedge…” Rainbow Dash reported with a note of melancholy. She was sad, yes, but loss was something she was something she was getting a lot more accustomed too. But that doesn’t mean I have to be okay with it, she thought as she sped towards the Defender even as the pilot did their best to regain control. “But I’ve crippled the Trip that did it. I’m about to finish it off!”

“Negative, Rogue 13. Luke needs your help!”

“But, Valarus—”

“She’s dead, Dash!” Wedge said harshly over the com. “And Luke’s next if you don’t pull your head out of your tailpipe and help him out.”

Rainbow Dash grit her teeth and took a deep breath. The damaged TIE was so close she could practically feel it already.

“Rainbow?! Do you copy?”

Rainbow Dash flapped with all her might and pushed forward, causing the sky to split with a loud boom as a rainbow shockwave emanated out from her. She followed this up with banking and changing direction. The blast probably wasn’t close enough to destroy the fighter outright, but if the pilot thought he was having a bad time before…

“Rainbow Dash!” Wedge hollered over the com.

“I copy, Rogue two,” Rainbow Dash said in a controlled tone as she brought up Luke on her HUD. “Heading towards Rogue Leader’s position now. Over and out.”

Starlight Glimmer began teleporting the moment she sensed that complete annihilation would be what awaited her if she stayed at her physical location a moment longer. This was, unfortunately, a moment or two after Tempest’s magical Force lightning touched her, set her teeth on edge and set every hair on her purple coat to its full upright position.

Thankfully, it was still before the ‘Force storm’ portion of Tempest’s attack could hit and start detaching molecules that she desperately needed from one another. Still, a surge of energy ran through her body, flooding her touch receptors with pain, which made them that much more unreliable as they attempted to hop to the front of the line of her priority list and override her brain with the notion she needed to flee and tend to her wounds. She dedicated a portion of her magical and Force powers to numb the pain so her body would stop being overly concerned with its well being. Tempest was unleashing an enviable amount of power and Starlight needed to, first, not be disintegrated, second, not let her friends be disintegrated as they provided valuable company and support in such situations, and third, establish that she was, in fact, more skilled and more powerful than Tempest.

There was a smattering of priorities after that, but they didn’t finish ‘in the money’ as they say, so why bother?

Rematerializing a split second after Tempest’s Force storm ate up the spot she had occupied moments before, she quickly reached out with her senses and noted with not an unduly amount of satisfaction and happiness that Twilight had likewise avoided being obliterated. Despite Twilight’s near-constant nagging, she was still a welcome presence in Starlight’s life and a constant reminder that there were higher summits to conquer in regards to magic… Maybe not ‘the Force’ so much… That’s what Luke was for and perhaps the odd cavalcade of Sith touched beings that seemed to cross sabers with Starlight and her friends.

Speaking of which, she fired off a bolt of pure energy in Tempest’s direction, only for the mare to jump out of the way. Starlight fired off another and another. Of course, Tempest responded by swatting the next few energy beams off course with her lightsaber. Starlight frowned and redoubled her efforts to hit Tempest, though the mulberry unicorn’s ability to not be on the path of deadly, matter annihilating beams or deflect said beams with some skillful use of magic and enhanced magnetic shielding was outpacing Starlight’s ability to send said beams downstream.

“Starlight! Starlight!” Twilight called out as she quickly put up a shield to absorb a few errant blasts rebounded from Tempest’s saber. “Stop! Stop!”

Right, and Tempest kept deflecting the magical force blasts back towards Twilight with startling accuracy, though Twilight was quick to put up her shield and even managed to deflect a beam back towards Tempest with her own lightsaber, turning things into the universe’s most colorful, whimsical, and dangerous game of tennis.

“Starlight! Our BASE!”

Starlight reached out with her senses and took note that a few of her blasts HAD been redirected back at the stout durasteel base on top of the plateau which almost looked and sounded to be throwing some sort of impromptu celebration with all the massive firework explosions and scarlet blaster fire being shot into the air, except of course, it was being attacked by some sort of Sith shuttle or something. Well, having her blasts redirected there wouldn’t do! That durasteel might as well be paper mache as far as the disintegrating power of her blasts were concerned, and more of her friends were in that base! Also, Han and C-3PO! And life just wasn’t as rewarding without a few entities close by who lived in constant mortal fear of her power.

Also, some other allies who helped distract enemies and could go get things for her when she didn’t feel like doing it herself where there… They were replaceable, sure, but that usually took some time…

The main thing was having the base wiped off the planet would be mostly objectively bad. Though, the constant stream of anti-starfighter blaster fire and accompanying ‘fireworks’ that had basically been weaponized let her know that the base must still be mostly intact.

Starlight and Twilight took up a defensive position in between the base and Tempest. “Okay then, what do you suggest?” Starlight said.

“I’m thinking!” Twilight barked out in reply.

Starlight sighed. “Well, that’s not very helpful!”

Starlight felt the annoyance of Twilight, but before the alicorn could slip out a verbal protest, Tempest fired off another blast of her Force lightning storm. It missed Starlight and Twilight completely, but Starlight immediately deduced that wasn’t its target.

Well… We’ve lived in WORSE places… Starlight thought somewhat dejectedly as the energy soared directly to the large metal blast doors of the base.

Twilight let out a startled yelp and immediately teleported in front of the blast, putting up another shield as she did.

Starlight sighed even as Twilight’s shield absorbed and dissipated the attack. “See! Do you think Tempest needed to think about what you’d do if she did that?” Starlight’s attention suddenly snapped back toward Tempest, saving herself from sudden decapitation by blocking the incoming red saber with her blue one. Using the opening, she focused on the Sith's broken horn and took a swing with her green saber.

Tempest shifted her body out of the way and to the right. “Of course I didn’t,” she replied. She suddenly twisted her entire body and swung it to her left, catching Starlight in the face with an armor covered hoof. “As I said,” Tempest said as she readied both her saber and horn for another attack. “You’re both predictable!”

Her thoughts suddenly jumbled like so much brain smacked hard against skull via armor-plated hoof to the head, Starlight immediately raised a shield and put her lightsabers in a defensive position, just in time to ward off another lightsaber attack and blast from Tempest. Tempest charged forward as Starlight quickly lowered her shield and charged her horn full of deadly magical energy to counterattack Tempest. However, the Sith was fast and opted to jump to Starlight’s right and expertly bucked Starlight’s abdomen with her two back hooves.

Starlight felt the searing pain from her ribs and the air escape her lungs, and for a moment, the world was no longer just molecules, Force energy, and magic flying about, but pain and what she could see and sense around her without the constant use of the Force.

She opted to fire off her blast of magic anyways.

Tempest deflected with her lightsaber.

Starlight grit her teeth as Tempest’s horn fired off another shot. She tried to maneuver her sabers back to defend herself, put up a shield, and refocus her senses all at once but her body hitting the ground and sending her rolling sideways across the increasingly ruined meadow made focusing exceedingly difficult.

For a moment, she caught a glimpse of the blast of Force and magic that might very well be her undoing, but a bolt of white energy suddenly pierced the maelstrom and it dissipated harmlessly. Twilight suddenly appeared in a magenta flash in front of Starlight.

With another glow of her horn, Twilight put up a shield around herself and Starlight. “Are you okay?” she asked with a touch of concern.

“Fine!” Starlight shot out as she got back to her hooves, her perception of the world once again being reduced to its base components of matter, magic, and Force energy. “Just ticked off,” Starlight added gruffly. Her body, of course, was letting her know that it was in fact, not all that fine, but it didn’t get a say in the manner at the moment. “How’s the base?”

No sooner had the question left Starlight’s lips than a roar of an explosion from the direction of the complex let itself be known. The ponies took a quick glance in the direction of the blast to note the blast doors were now sailing through the air like kites being buffeted by heavy winds.

Twilight swallowed. “It’s been better!”

Strapped to a heavy black seat with a screen in front of him and his hands on two control sticks, Han Solo took a quick moment to collect himself after the rumbling of the explosion which rocked the base passed. He uttered a quiet curse under his breath. The pilot of that combat shuttle had played him and his comrades perfectly, keeping them busy defending themselves and the top of the base before it could get a solid shot off at the entrance. He took his right hand off one of his weapon’s control sticks and tapped the side of the headset he was wearing. “Leia?”

“I’m fine, Han,” came Leia’s even response.

Smiling inwardly, Han continued, “Trix—”

“The Grrrrrrreat and Powerful Trixie is fine as well,” a voice announced haughtily over the com.

Han suppressed a grimace. It was cold comfort that the crazy magical ponies on his side were about as likely to do him in as the ones that actively were trying to kill him, though Trixie might be the only one to do it from an aneurysm brought on by sheer annoyance. “Col? How we doing?”

“That explosion took out the main doors,” a gruff male voice answered. “I’m getting the gang into position. We’ll give those Imps hell.”

“Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Han replied dryly.

“Han, the shuttles coming back for another run,” Leia replied over the com.

“I see it, Leia. Trixie, keep an eye out for more of those torpedoes.”

Trixie’s replied, “You expect me to explode a rocket out of the air by launching my own rockets, at it, General?”

“Look, I know it’s a tall order, but—”

A titter interrupted Han. “Trixie loves it when you give her a challenge.”

Han rolled his eyes. “Great, don’t get cocky,” he said as he returned his hand to his control stick and motors rotated his seat to face the oncoming shuttle before he lamented the wasted breath spent on the four words that made up that sentence. His quad-laser battery filled the sky with scarlet bolts, soon joined by shots loosed from Leia's own battery. The cacophony was quickly joined by several colorful explosions, rocking the air around the shuttle.

Fortunately, Han was seeing this through the screen in front of him. He was quickly coming to the conclusion that being exposed to Trixie's arsenal for prolonged periods of time would mean he'd eventually have to be fitted for cyber ears.

Possibly new eyes as well.

On the bright side, he wondered if that would mean he'd be able to selectively mute the little gremlin disguised as an impossibly bright quadruped’s ongoing, third person diatribes. Maybe even tint out the absurd level of pastel colors he'd been forced to look at day-in and day-out. That might be nice.

Even slightly removed from battle, Han could feel and still hear muffled explosions from his gunner station. These came both from Trixie’s modified rockets and the smattering of blaster fire the shuttle was unleashing on the base. Thankfully, the base’s ceiling proved too thick for what must have been some heavily-modified, top of the line blaster-gas spitters, but for all the shots that were connecting with that shuttle, it just kept on making run after run, meaning its shields, hull, and maneuverability were in a class all of its own.

It must be nice to have near unlimited credits to throw at ships. “Hey Leia, any chance you can channel the powers of the Force and friendship and rainbow blast this thing out of the sky?”

“I’m trying, Han,” Leia replied with a heaping splash of annoyance added to her voice.

“I was joking,” Han clarified.

“I wasn’t,” Leia replied.

Trixie’s growl of frustration cut into the conversation. “Oh! It’s getting away again!”

Han watched the back end of the triangular shuttle as it cut up and away from the base. “Relax, your worshipfulness.”

“I didn’t say anything!” Leia protested.

“I was talking to Trixie,” Han countered.

Trixie replied with another titter. “You do know how to talk to a mare, General.”

This time, Han failed to suppress his grimace; Trixie was easy to sooth, but the price was high. He refocused his attention on the shuttle and caught a flash of green from its backside before his screen went dark and sparks flew out from around it along with a somewhat alarming amount of fire and klaxons telling him to get the hell away. As Han unbuckled himself from his seat, two thoughts crossed his mind. First, he should have known an Imperial shuttle had aft laser cannons, and second, he really hoped that exchange between the two girls wasn’t his last conversation ever.

Chapter 4

With a deep breath and a bit of concentration that wasn’t quite second nature, Luke Skywalker pushed the feeling of loss from his mind and concentrated on the task at hand. Years of using the Force and several very tense occasions and close calls with the dark side had made it apparent why attachments were exceedingly hard things to keep in one’s life if maintaining a ‘bright balance’ with the Force was one’s goal. Fear, anger… these often led to a desire for control.

There was always… something out there beyond the light, whispering dark promises to Luke when he just didn’t have the strength or near omnipresence to prevent loss from occurring in his life.

War meant his life was ever full of loss, however, this was ‘normal’, relatively speaking, for Luke. What was new was the sensation that he could reach into the well of the living Force, pluck out Valarus and… Well, he wasn’t sure exactly. Still, there was a new and rather sudden ‘disturbance’. Or rather, an epiphany telling him that someone losing a body was more “inconvenience” than anything else and that he could opt to have Valarus back if he so desired it.

Unsurprisingly, this notion was absolutely soaked with dark side power.

Luke opted to file the new premonition away for future discussion with Twilight. A feeling that he should bank down and to the left with his vehicle now ran through Luke’s mind and instinctively nudged his hands so that the starfighter began a change of course. This was followed by a feeling of pure, destructive power tearing through the sky he had occupied. A split second later, and far too late for him to have done anything about it had he not already moved, he watched the electric blue bolt of destruction fly over his canopy.

Clearly protesting the proximity to such blasts of wanton destruction, R2 howled a frightful screech. A screech that turned into a moan as the micro storm of destruction struck a far off mountain peak and turned the elevated land into a plateau seemingly suffering a freak dust storm.

Luke’s entire X-wing shook from the blasts trailing aftershock, but impressive as the blast was, there wasn’t a lot he could do against Starlight’s likely goaded attacks that were turning the once pristine landscape into a 360-degree warzone of craters and missing hillsides. Reaching out with his senses, a few things became very apparent, the Crimson TIE Defenders suddenly had put some space between him and the magical FORCE battle he was rather close to and Tempest had Twilight and Starlight on the ropes. Likely because Tempest kept baiting traps and Starlight kept taking the bait. This wasn’t such a big deal for Twilight and Starlight but… Luke glanced at the mountain…

One misdirected shot, orchestrated by Tempest or just fired off haphazardly, and the base and likely everyone inside it would be reduced to dust.

Another pillar of electric blue-colored molecular destruction flew in front of the X-Wing much to R2’s infinite protest about ‘Not wanting to be disintegrated into a state far beyond the potential for recovery!’ among a few choice words unsuited for polite company.

He really needed to have a talk with that droid about his language.

“I get it, R2!” Luke snapped. Not very ‘Jedi Master’ of him, but even as some akin to his closest non-pony companion, R2 objected to the general state of affairs quite often for a droid that had only been shot a handful of times.

Luke pointed the nose of his X-Wing towards the mass of conflicting energies below. “R2, on my mark, pull up as fast as you can and take control of the fighter…”

R2 replied with a series of worried-sounding beeps.

Luke shook his head and began to undo his safety harness. “Something I hope I won’t regret.” He closed his eyes and concentrated on a sense beyond his sight or any of his other basic, biological senses. He was approaching the ground FAST and R2’s pensive beeping had just about built into a screech.

With a flick of his wrist and a few motions of his fingers, the X-Wing’s canopy flew open. “MARK!” Luke screamed as he ignited his lightsaber and gave himself a heavy telekinetic push towards Tempest Shadow.

The already quite lively battle suddenly hit a crescendo as several unexpected things unfolded over the course of a few seconds.

Eager to continue functioning, R2 pushed the Incom T-65 to its absolute stress limits as he pulled the fighter up so that it would continue to travel through open air and not make a go of attempting to tunnel through solid ground.

Luke breathed an internal sigh of relief even as he pushed out thoughts of external distractions as well as a voice that sounded an awful lot like Obi-Wan muttering, “I hate when they do that…”

Luke made for a rather odd, noticeable projectile with his ignited green blade and orange flight suit. Even if Tempest hadn’t visually noticed the lightsaber-wielding human MISSLE flying in her direction, her senses had already alerted her to the fact that she needed to do something aside from continually goading and counterattack her two opponents if survival was a priority. She took a wild swing at Luke as he approached and felt a malicious joy well up as he batted her lightsaber away.

In a mere moment, Tempest had already begun attacking with deadly lightning from her horn. And within half a moment she found herself rolling and bouncing across the flat grasslands as Luke followed up his first attack with a Force push. Tempest’s shot went wild as she responded to Luke’s attack with several undignified half-curses which she couldn’t finish because it was extraordinarily difficult to even curse when one had gone from ‘feared Lord of the Sith’ to ‘pony-sized runaway shock ball’. Once again, Tempest’s Force sense let her know that she needed to change the situation very rapidly otherwise someone else would be changing it for her. Concentrating with such speed that Tempest could feel her already achy head explode into pain, she telekinetically steadied herself and placed her armored hooves back on the ground just in time to begin dodging electric blue bolts of energy from Starlight who was ever the opportunist.

Tempest felt for her lightsaber, which she found quite quickly, and willed to her just as fast. Magical beams were soon being swatted away by her crimson blade, but her body ached with pain. Even her considerable endurance, training, and dark side rage, she was beginning to fail to keep the agony of under oxygenated and overworked muscles at bay.

Luke, who would be the first to admit his plan had several flaws in it, was relieved to find a familiar shimmering purple aura had stopped him from relying on his flight suit and helmet to protect his body as he had quite overspent his focus with his two attacks and didn’t quite have the mental quickness and Force/magical wherewithal to prevent a collision-course with the ground.

If Twilight asked him “what he was thinking” for pulling a stunt like that, he resolved to tell her that it was ‘the will of the Force’. This would at least shift the conversation away from reckless behavior and towards a useful meditation exercise. Or at least an interesting philosophical debate with the attractive mare.

Twilight’s mind reeled with what could possibly be an appropriate response to what she had seen.

She decided to take a short break from her reality in which she had just prevented the death of a mentor who was trying to save her from one of her best friends who was trying to kill her.

… Now, that of course SOUNDED absurd to the outside observer, but Twilight had found the occasional attempt on her life added an extra level of depth to specific friendships; be it Sunset, Tempest, or Pinkie Pie.

So, to that note, Luke, being someone who spent a lot of time with Twilight and would want to see her safe, would - naturally - come to her aid, even if Tempest was likely just misguided and probably wouldn’t SERIOUSLY hurt anyone. (and-no-doubt-those-attempts-at-getting-Starlight-to-destroy-the-base-where-COMPLETE-misunderstandings), so naturally Luke would do something like send an X-Wing into a death spiral before heroically ejecting at the last minute to deflect a potentially life-ending threat and WHY THE HECK DID TWILIGHT JUST NEED TO SAVE A JEDI MASTER FROM BECOMING PASTE ON THE GROUND OF SOME UNKNOWN, OUTER RIM PLANET? WHAT THE BUCK EVEN WAS HER LIFE?!

Okay, calming thoughts! Luke must have known she’d be able to save him and made a very calculated risk… Not a risk at all, in fact! More an opportunity for Twilight to show she was on top of her new abilities like Twilight acing a pop quiz that was delivered to her via crossbow bolt.

...Twilight reminded herself to fess up to another round of subjecting Spike to a few moments that where perhaps too “Twilight” and too “real” for the little dragon.

What was she thinking about again? Why was Luke strolling up to defend her? Oh! “Nice thinking, general! Tempest will never be able to hit Starlight or I if you’re just concentrating on keeping us safe.”

Starlight’s expression tightened as she fired off a few more bolts of energy. “How come you never praise me when I do something impressive, but when Luke pulls off stuff that’s crazy by my standardsyou’re all ‘I dropped an egg for you, General!’”

Twilight grimaced as she began to deflect some of Tempest’s return shots and fired off a few of her own. A sharp glance at the pony next to her suggested it was the conversation and not the battle that warranted the less-than-happy expression. “Starlight! Okay, for starters, Luke never says anything like ‘I dropped an egg for you!’ And—Ghah!” Twilight quickly put up a barrier just in time to dissipate one of Tempest’s blasts that would have probably given her some facial features that would have matched Tempest’s on some level.

This simply gave Starlight more opportunity to continue her diatribe which had taken on a somewhat envious tone, but toward whom, Twilight was not certain. “Well, of course,he wouldn’t! He’s male and doesn’t have eggs. He’d say something like… the Force has spoken to me and TONIGHT is the night to fill my sack full of seed destined to bring balance and harmony to the galaxy!’”

Twilight let out a heavy sigh, then a groan, as she watched Luke stroll into position in front of the mares. He wordlessly began running defense for both ponies with his lightsaber with a grin that spread from ear to ear showing that he had, in fact, heard everything with his improved senses and he wasn’t about to chastise Starlight or ask her to cease this infuriating line of conversation.

Starlight, for her part, showed no signs of stopping. “ ‘Breed me, oh Child of the Chosen One!’ ” she cried dramatically over the continual din of exchanged magic and lightsabers humming with energy and hissing as they deflected magic bolt after magic bolt. “ ’Together we shall fill the galaxy with our double-ultra-mega-SUPER Chosen magical Jedi offspring!’ ”

“Okay, I might not be the most romantically inclined mare, but I’m CERTAIN I could come up with a better line than that!”

“Honestly, you’ve already come up with several. Also, do I get a say in this?” Luke chirped mirthfully.

“I’m sorry, Luke!” Twilight said. “She just keeps going on like this!”

“Of course you get a say, General!” Starlight cheered, her tone taking on a more playful note. “How many scores of children do you want to start your unending dynasty of peace and love with?”

“Wha-SCORES?!” Twilight bleated anxiously.

Luke continued to swat energy bolts out of the air almost effortlessly. “Geez… At least two.”

“Two?! Luke, I don’t think I’m ready to be a mother to 40 chi—AH!” Twilight let out a startled yelp as Luke’s lightsaber fell within a few inches of her face, deflecting a bolt that probably would have made the scar aspect irrelevant and things more of a ‘closed casket’ situation. “IS THIS REALLY THE TIME FOR THIS CONVERSATION?!”

Starlight smirked. “Tempest has made no less than seven tactical blunders since we started talking about magical Force foal-babies.”

Twilight paused for a moment and reached out toward Tempest. The unicorn Sith was haggard at this point and frustrated in a way that wasn’t conducive to fueling any sort of attack or ability except her lightning blast which lacked the range to be effective at this point. Her armor had even taken a few hits and was smoldering in a few places.

Tempest, it seemed, was acutely aware she had stopped being taken seriously as a threat and this had completely thrown off her emotional state. Given she was also outnumbered three to one, all the trio had to do was keep up the pressure.

Twilight machine-gun fired off her magic at a snarling Tempest as she shouted, “400 babies!” as if it were a battle cry.

Luke responded with shocked laughter that was echoed by Starlight.

“Luke?” Starlight began. “Can you even handle that many kids?”

“Well, my Jedi training was pretty useless in terms of child-raising, but I’m sure Leia, Han, and Chewie could help babysit,” Luke replied.

“HAH!” Starlight exclaimed. “The heroes of the rebellion reduced to babysitters. I’m sure they’ll all love that.”

Tempest let out a roar of furious irritation. While Twilight was continuously leaving herself wide open, Luke was completely focused on swatting away anything Tempest shot or deflected in the direction of the trio. Worse off, despite appearing as if she were completely unfocused on the battle, Starlight had managed to maintain complete control over the situation even as Tempest was unrelenting in her return fire.

To think, almost complete control over her! And as easy as it should have been to focus that feeling of anger into power—

“So, how many kids do you think Han and Leia will have?” Luke posed.

—it was infuriatingly difficult to be the RIGHT kind of angry when your opponents wouldn’t shut up about babies!

“Those two?” Starlight thought for a moment. “Hrmm… One and done.”

“WHAT?!” Twilight exclaimed. “No way, they’re at least going to have two… probably three.”

Starlight chewed on that for a moment. “Haha. No way. I mean, maybe in an alternate unive—”

A sudden roar, courtesy of the Imperial Shuttle flying overhead toward the base suddenly cut the conversation short.

For a moment, all the Force users stopped what they were doing and took stock of the sudden change.

Tempest felt a sense of pride and accomplishment seeing the shuttle fly by. Luke abandoning the sky must have tipped the air battle in favor of her Forces. This combined with magic/Force battle near the base easing up to something with far fewer blasts capable of ripping a starship apart, meant her pilot had a much better opportunity to approach and move on to phase two.

Starlight, on the other hoof, just saw a target and prepared a blast capable of removing the shuttle as a threat permanently.

For the first time in the battle, Tempest felt a profound sense of dread. Starlight wasn’t known for leaving survivors or even recognizable wreckage of her target. Disregarding her own safety for the sake of the lives on the shuttle and the mission, Tempest quickly poured her energy into another bolt and fired it off in the direction of the three enemy combatants. She smiled inwardly as Starlight’s shot went wide, the unicorn Jedi opting to live and abandon the accuracy of the attack for the safety of a magical barrier. Skywalker also extended a hand to absorb and dissipate the energy of the small maelstrom. And Twilight…

Twilight Sparkle, safe behind two barriers took aim and fired with her magic. Tempest Shadow’s sense told her to move. Her instincts told her that simply wasn’t going to happen. Her eyes saw a bright beam of purple energy right before she felt it tear into her chest armor and send her reeling once more across the plane.

This time, Tempest didn’t curse as her body rolled almost ragdoll limp through tall grass, over soft earth, and the occasional rock. In fact, she didn’t so much as stand or open her eyes as she came to a stop, a smoking hole still smoldering from her chest plate.

“Nice shot,” Starlight said in a tone of genuine adoration. “Though, I would have gone for the head.”

Twilight let out a sigh as trio cautiously approached the downed foe, the battered and smoking base a few hundred meters behind them. “Starlight, we’ve been over this. We should be trying to preserve life wherever possible.”

“Tempest can also tell us a great deal the Death Star,” Luke chimed in. “Assuming we can get her to cooperate.”

Starlight let out a defeated sigh and glanced at her companions, “Well, if any power couple in the galaxy could get a full-blown Sith Lord to turn to the ‘light’ or at least ‘dark gray’ side, it’s you two.”

“We are not a power couple!” Twilight growled out in reply, much to Luke’s delight.

“You are BASICALLY a couple and both in the top 20, at least, of entities not to be messed with,” Starlight called out. “I’ve never met anyone more worthy of the title in my entire—”

A new sound suddenly cut off Starlight and she looked up just in time to see two torpedoes sail away from the shuttle on course for the base.

The spoken conversation suddenly changed to something much faster as the trio psychically reached out to the other to better get ahead of this new development.

“How did that shuttle slip past us?! It’s way too noisy for us to stop noticing!” Starlight ‘said’, her voice reverberating through her own head and those of her companions as time slowed to a crawl around them.

“The pilot must have powered down and gone into a glide,” Luke said. “Whoever the Empire has flying that thing could give me a run for my credits.”

“Could we concentrate on the torpedo situation!” hissed Twilight.

“I’m trying okay!” Starlight said. The torpedoes from the shuttle had slowed from the perspective of the three Force users, but they were still moving towards their target at a rapid pace. The torpedoes where nearly invisible to the living Force as they were purely mechanical in nature, such limitations ultimately DIDN’T matter to Starlight as she could just about see through the very fabric of reality if she was given enough time.

For once in her life, Starlight had no time...

The idea of teleporting to the top of the base and putting up a barrier to protect it simply felt beyond her abilities given the speed in which that would need to happen. She wasn’t confident of her ability to survive such a maneuver as well if she was being honest with herself, and one of Starlight’s most evident traits was she was always unflinchingly honest with everyone, including herself. Given that neither Luke nor Twilight had reached out to quickly solve this situation, either, it seemed the trio had simply been outmaneuvered this time and their friends would pay the price.

And then a massive light blue rocket adorned with Trixie’s cutie mark launched from the base, trailing silver sparks as it slammed into one of the torpedoes.

Immediately, all three Force user’s danger sense went supernova as an explosive shockwave and burning atmosphere approached.

Twilight extended her wings and pulled both Luke and Starlight closer to her. She and the others quickly put up barriers around themselves.

The world outside their bubble turned into fury and fire.

An explosion that was far too close to home, somewhat literally in this case, rocked the base with such Force Han momentarily lost complete sense of his surroundings. He quickly snapped to attention at the voice of Leia yelling, “Han! Han!” over his com.

In danger of being exploded or not, it felt good to warrant that level of concern from someone. What didn’t feel good where the sparks shooting out of his gunner console and the alarming amount of fire and smoke coming out from behind the flickering screens.

The preferred amount of both smoke and fire in this, or any situation, would be none.

“I’m alright!” Han replied as he quickly unbuckled himself from his chair and scrambled for the dura-steel ladder that lead up onto the turret’s gunner chamber. He quickly clambered down into an open hallway then smashed the bottom of his fist against a button console by the chamber’s ceiling entrance. With a quick ‘whoosh’ a blast door closed above him. Like anything made with conventional blaster technology, the heavy turret required a highly volatile gas to function. Han would prefer DISTANCE in between himself and the remaining blaster gas if it was going to ignite all at once, but he’d settle for a few inches of durasteel in the meantime. His boots touched solid ground and he immediately broke into a jog down the base corridors. “My turret is out of commission though.”

“Mine too,” Leia’s voice replied over the commlink. “I’ll meet you on the way to the mess hall.”

“It really is just one of those days,” Han mused to himself. He raised the commlink to his lips once more. “Trixie?”

“Trixie LITERALLY hit the rocket as requested!” Trixie exclaimed. “I CAN’T HELP THAT THE PILOT IS JEDI LEVEL CRAZY AND FIRED SO CLOSE TO THE BASE!”

“Nice shot, Trix,” Han said, completely ignoring Trixie’s incredulous tone. “I’m not sure even Luke could have pulled that off.”

“…Oh… erm… Yes, no power in the galaxy can stand up to the great Grrrrrrrreat and Powerful Trrrrrixie’s superior sharp shooting!”

A series of small explosions rocked the base. No doubt the shuttle continually peppering the base with blaster fire which likely meant it had just run out of torpedoes.

At least there was something to be said about small wonders in a galaxy that was more often at war than not.

Trixie continued, “However, I am completely out of rockets worthy of taking out a shuttle and would rather not die in this transparent metal bubble.”

“Understood, get yourself to the mess hall,” Han replied evenly.

“Very well! The Great and Powerful Trixie shall comply with your request, General So—”

“Also, shut up,” Han said, “I need to talk to more than just you so we all survivethis.”

A haughty “Hmph!” sounded out over the com, but Trixie went silent.

“Col, we’re regrouping in the mess hall, what’s the base entrance situation look like?”

“The door is wide open and we’ve got the welcome mat all laid out if the Imps come to visit,” Col responded in a gruff tone laced with the barest hints of grim mirth from his gallows humor.

“They just might,” Leia’s voice chimed in over the com then down the hallway, from Han as she likewise sped through the corridor in a jog. “No dedicated bombers. Tempest attacked despite being outnumbered. This isn’t a search and destroy mission. It’s a recovery mission. They’re after our ‘guest’.”

“Understood, General,” Col replied. “Well, we’ll give them hell.”

“Copy that,” Leia said into the com as she and Han pivoted to jog side by side as the hallway met in a ‘Y’.

“Great,” Han uttered. “Maybe we can let him out and use him as a human shield.”

Leia shot Han a glare. “You know for someone who picks on Starlight a lot, you sure don’t have any trouble thinking like her.”

“Excuse me, Princess!” Han exclaimed. “I said ‘let’s use him as a shield’ not, ‘let’s put a blaster bolt in his head’!” He shook his head. “I’m just trying to be pragmatic! I’m not a psychopath!” Han narrowed his eyes. “And I hate to tear open an old wound, but you can’t tell me you hadn’t thought about firing off a few rounds into his heart more than once.”

Leia went stone cold silent. Han was right of course. Doing the ‘right thing’ was certainly something a grey area when that went hand and hand with keeping someone who thought ‘destroying a planet or two… or however many it takes’ was a reasonable way to maintain ‘safety’ in the galaxy.

Ethical issues wear further blurred by the fact that this person had technically already died once.

Slowing down the as durasteel hallway became increasingly hole-ridden and burnt, Han glanced upwards into bright daylight where once there was a durasteel roof. He and Leia strolled into an open space that was once the mess hall, but thanks to a collapsed and partially melted roof that had claimed plenty of tables it was now… well… rather ironically named. “Remind me to hand Starlight the bill for reroofing this place,” Han said to Leia, as he took a moment to admire the remnants of a table that had been flattened by a collapsed support beam that wouldn’t have been holding up any bit of ceiling had it still been upright anyhow. “Or just a new base in general.”

“That shuttle pilot blew off the doors to the base, Han,” Leia replied dryly, her green camouflage tunic sporting several burns and her helmet a fresh dent just above her right temple. “Also, they launched the torpedoes that almost took out the center portion of the base and us along with it.”

“Well, responsible or not, I’m hoping the pilot is too dead to collect anything from by the end of all this,” Han replied. Han took a glance down a connecting Hallway and sighed to himself. “What do you think are the odds—”

“There is no way Trixie is not grooming herself before she shows up dramatically,” Leia interrupted. “I’ve tried to talk to her, Twilight, even STARLIGHT about Trixie coming to terms with being a combatant actively fighting a war, but I don’t think the mare realistically wants to do anything that isn't ‘putting on a show’ for someone.”

Han sighed again, if those three had tried at one time or another to get through to Trixie, then it was best to drop it so long as she continued to be a help and not a hindrance to the cause.

Frankly, Han had no idea how a non-Force using anything could pull off the accuracy Trixie displayed, but maybe she just felt she needed to do something to stand out surrounded by others with near godlike strength. Han respected that, or perhaps it was more accurate to say he greatly identified with, Trixie’s predicament. But she was far from the only one ‘fighting the good fight’ where that meant risking life and limb to laser-sword wielding magic and Force users who were getting disturbingly good at taking out mountains, or the occasional densely populated city surface…

Han pushed the later from his mind and raised the commlink to his mouth once more. “Chewie, how’s the Falcon holding up? Any new holes I should know about?”

Chewbacca replied with a few grunts and a howl.

“Oh, no reason outside the usual,” Han replied as he saw another bolt of energy burn the air above the somewhat, now, open airbase.

Chewbacca was quick to respond with a few more grunts, trills, and concerned sounding murmurs.

“Yes, yes. Starlight is the ‘usual’ reason.”

Leia made no attempt to hide the annoyance in her tone. “Han, you may have noticed but there’s also a full Sith Lord unicorn out there who’s actively trying to kill everyone.”

“Yeah, but chances are she’ll be locked up by the end of this even if she even survives fighting Glimmy,” Han closed his eyes and shuddered as if he was remembering something particularly unpleasant. “Most don’t.”

Leia shot Han a scowl, “Okay well, just don’t… try to stay on her good side, at least, please?”

Han raised an eyebrow. “I have literally called Starlight Glimmer a murderous sociopath to her FACE and she responded with a disturbingly coy smile, a wink, and a ‘Well, thank the maker I’m one of the good guys, right Han?’” Han shook his head. “I don’t think it’s possible to rub her the wrong way, Leia and I’m more than a little worried that she likes me.”

Leia paused for a moment. “Well… uh…” Leia smirked. “May the Force be with you?”

“The Force has apparently decided the galaxy needed an entire species of super-powered quadrupeds to take an already devastatingly deadly civil war and up the ante considerably.” To Leia’s great surprise, Han leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. Giving her that lopsided grin that she had tried, and failed to learn to hate several years back, he added, “I think I’ll stick to trusting my blaster, Chewie, and you.”

Leia let out a laugh and pointed upwards at herself. “Jedi Knight in training,” she reminded.

Still smiling, Han shrugged. “No one’s perfect.”

“Speak for yourselves!” Trixie’s voice bellowed out as her silhouette appeared in a puff of smoke. “For no mere mortal can compare to the majesty of” —

Han sighed. “Do you think she hid and waited to make an entrance?”

— “the Grrrrreat”—

Leia smirked. “She must have, otherwise…”

— “andPowerful Trixie!”

“How did she just show up on such a great line?” Han posed rhetorically.

“Please hold your applause!” Trixie stated as she stepped out into the light. Her main, hat, and cape all looking pristine despite the hazards of increased temperatures, fires, and smoke she most have encountered earlier in the day.

Han took a quick mental note that no one present was applauding, but he had long since learned it was quicker to let Trixie play out her delusion than bog down the conversation with things like ‘facts’.

“Now then” Trixie began. “Shall we—”

Leia suddenly flinched as if she had been hit by a sudden electric shock and turned in the direction of a third hallway. “We need to get out to the hanger, NOW!” she shouted as she broke into a sprint.

Han followed. “Leia? What’s wrong?”

“I think you’ll find out soon enough,” Leia murmured as she reached for her blaster.

“But Trixie has so many more lines prepared!” Trixie whined as she galloped after the two Rebel generals.

Comlinks suddenly crackled to life. “Generals? Are you there?” Col asked.

“We’re here and inbound, Col,” Han answered. “We’ll be there shortly.”

“Good,” Col said into his commlink, the whiskers of his mustache and goatee nearly brushing against it as he peered over the scope of his blaster with his ‘normal’ right eye and his cybernetic patched left eye. The white, if rather scorched, shuttle had already deployed a smokescreen, and sounded like it was landing somewhere well beyond the reduced visibility of the artificial smoke that was beginning to waft into the base. “Those guests I mentioned have arrived.” through the haze of smoke, Col Serra’s patch picked out something moving and… glossy moving quickly towards the base. “And they like wearing ‘black’ if you catch my meaning.”

Col heard something that more or less sounded like an ‘affirmative’ but had already put the commlink away as he steadied his blaster rifle. He waited for another hint of motion behind the thick smoke, jerked his weapon so the barrel was pointed as accurately as his cybernetic eye could calculate, and squeezed the trigger. “OPEN FIRE!”

Seeking cover behind a heavy durasteel crate a few yards across the hanger, Chewbacca let out a roar and fired off a bolt from his bowcaster. Col had picked out his cover as he continued to lay down suppressing fire from his own position behind a collection of heavy drum barrels, the bases latest dehydrated ration shipment. Around Col and Chewbacca, a mixed group of men and women of various species similarly let loose with everything from heavy blaster pistols to repeating rifles.

Even the “Ground Buzzer” blaster cannon of the Falcon was pouring out blaster bolts. Honestly, it seemed like things were going quite well…

Then return shots began to lance out from the smoke and Col and Chewie watched many of their friends and comrades take wounds and fatal shots in the first volley of return fire.

As Col watched several thermal detonators fly out of the smoke and towards the cover of his allies and himself, it became painfully apparent that ‘Death Trooper’ wasn’t just some a name some upstart Moff came up with because he thought it sounded menacing.