Author's Notes:

Opening crawl for those who want it.

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.