//------------------------------// // Chapter 28 // Story: Star Wars EQG: Episode 1, Harmony of the Force // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// "Many centuries ago. Before the time of the Sith and the Jedi. When the Dark and Light side of The Force were still beginning to form, there existed a being whose powers with The Force were like none seen before or since. This being could use The Force in ways, many believed impossible. And all believed unnatural. They could infuse The Force into anything and give it a form of life. Whether it be an inanimate object or a body whose spirit had left the material world. Using this power, the being created an army that he used to conquer and destroy all that stood before him. But one of his greatest powers, came from the discovery of a crack in the universe. A tear that led to a realm where nothing existed. No light, no dark, no time itself. This crack led to another realm, but it could not be opened by normal means. Wishing to know more about this new universe, the being used all their knowledge of The Force, along with their talent for science and alchemy. Eventually, he was able to create a doorway to this universe. Made of a special rock, he created an archway that he could use to hold the crack open. Using three specially designed keys and the being's own Dark Force Power, they were able to open the crack within the doorway. There, he discovered that no physical object could enter this realm without being destroyed. Choosing to make the ultimate risk, the being used all his power with the Force to remove his spirit from his body. In this state, he was able to enter the realm of nothing and discovered his spirit could survive within it. And once his spirit returned through the gateway, he could return to his body. Having completed his journey, the being chose to close the gate and return the crack to the way it used to be. For many years, the gateway remained closed and the being carried on with his life. But as he grew older, he realised there was one thing he could not defeat. Death. No matter what dark powers he wielded, he could not stop his body from ageing. And with so much of the galaxy left for him to conquer, he feared he was not ready to pass on. He needed a way to survive. And he soon realised he had one. Giving his minions instructions, the being returned to the gate and opened it. There, he walked through the gate and his physical form was reduced to nothing. But his spirit remained and when the gateway closed, time ceased to be for him. Though years passed on the outside, it was only moments for the spirit. Years later, the being's minions returned with someone just as strong in The Force as their master. And when they were brought before the gate, it was opened and the spirit escaped. The being inhabited the one that had been brought to it, their dark soul corrupting the spirit of the innocent that had become its new body. And so the being returned to the universe, ready to continue their twisted legacy for as long as their new body held out. And when the new body aged to the point of death, the process was repeated. And so a dark cycle of death and rebirth was formed, with the entity stealing body after body. This went on for many generations, with the Galaxy suffering under the evil being's rule. It seemed that every time the entity possessed something, their dark half grew more and more. Until there was nothing but darkness processing the bodies. But as the being's time to enter the gateway came, a group of young Force Wielders rose to make sure he would never return. The First Jedi. When the being entered the gateway, they attacked and defeated the entity's minions. Once they were all defeated, the Jedi took the three keys that were needed to open the gate and destroyed the gateway itself. This would ensure that the dark being could never return, forever trapped within the world of nothing it called its sanctuary. The first Jedi took the three keys and hoped to destroy them, but could not. Whatever the being made them from was too strong to be destroyed. So, they chose to hide them away. In places they hoped would never be uncovered again. They feared that if the keys were ever found, the dark being would return and infect the Galaxy once again." Twilight finished reading part of the book and looked up at the Jedi Master's Council. The Masters all shared a worried expression, whilst the others who were there weren't sure what to think. Shining Armor, Cadance, Ruby, Tidal, First, Heather and Spitfire were also there, having been asked there due to their own interactions with the Sith. Shining was the one who spoke up. "So the relic Twilight managed to get. That's one of the keys that'll unlock this gateway and let this dark being return?" "It's possible," Celestia agreed. "However, we shouldn't jump to conclusions. This book has no images of the relics within it. The only reason we believe they are connected, is because some of the symbols in the book are the same as the ones on the temples. But that doesn't necessarily mean they're linked. They could have just been written using the same dialect." "Celestia's right," Luna nodded. "Twilight, you managed to figure out a translation for this book. Is it possible to use this translation to find out what the images on the temples say?" "It's possible," Twilight nodded. "I'll need a little time to figure it out. But, what if that relic is a key to unlocking this gateway? Do you think the Sith are trying to awaken this dark being?" "It is possible," Celestia nodded. "If this being did possess incredible power, them returning could allow the Sith to spread their evil throughout the Galaxy." "Then we should definitely destroy the gate key," Skybreaker announced. "The old Jedi might not have had a way to do it, but this was probably before they had Lightsabers and other ways of getting rid of it. We might have gotten it away from the Sith, but there's no guarantee it'll remain safe. We should take this chance to destroy it before they can get their hands on it." The others all agreed, not wanting to risk the Sith getting their hands on it. "Very well." Celestia looked around. "We should let the rest of the Order know about this as well. I'll give you the chance to let your students know about what we've learned. But until we've confirmed this is what Sombra is after, we must be careful who else knows about this. Anyone outside the Order may not understand what this means. Therefore, I suggest we make sure this information doesn't leak to the public." "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Cadance asked. "The Jedi have never had a reason to hide anything from the public before. If we keep the public in the dark about this and it's brought to light, they might think we're hiding something." "Maybe," Celestia nodded. "But we're dealing with a situation here that's never been discussed before. An evil Force Being, intent on spreading chaos throughout the galaxy. If this is discovered, there's no telling the kind of panic it could spread. We must try and prevent this from getting out. Twilight." "Yes," Twilight stood to attention. "Your new friend, Sunset. I think it would be best if we kept this from her. Nothing against her. But until we know more about her, I think it would be best if we kept her in the dark about this." "Okay," Twilight nodded, "I understand." "Where is Sunset, by the way?" Celestia seemed more curious than she had to be. "Oh. She's spending time with some of the younglings. I thought she might have an easier time controlling her abilities, if she did some of the games younglings play to improve their skills." Down in one of the courtyards, a bunch of younglings were standing in a circle. Sunset was amongst these younglings, the teen feeling very out of place surrounded by a bunch of young Jedi. But Twilight had suggested it and she couldn't think of a reason to say no to it. So there she was, watching as a bunch of kids messed around with something floating in the air. That thing was a bunch of gelatinous substances, which squished and squeezed in many different ways. Spike was currently using the force to make the substance float, pressing it in certain areas to make the thing change shape. And slowly, it formed some kind of long necked creature with six legs and a tail. "It's a brontodrone!" Scootaloo then cried out, with Spike smirking. "Yes!" The slime returned to normal and he threw it over to Scootaloo, who used The Force to stop it from falling onto her. She then started reshaping the gel into a new shape, focusing hard on every fine detail. "A triangle!" Sweetie cried, but Scootaloo said nothing. "A pizza?" Another youngling asked, with Scootaloo staying quiet. She kept it in a triangle shape, but tried to give it more three-dimension. And then, Sunset caught on to what it was. "It's one of those ships," she stated. "The Delta-X." Scootaloo smiled and nodded, the ship returning to its gel form as she threw the jelly towards Sunset. The girl raised her hands and whilst she could easily lift it with her Force Skill, she had to make it look like she wasn't a master of the art. As such, she pretended to struggle with the jelly. "You've gotta imagine what you want it to be," Applebloom told her. "You've gotta have a clear image in your mind." Sunset sighed, feeling like this was a total waste of time. Her own training had given her complete control over The Force. Unlike these Jedi, that could only manipulate The Force and have to convince it to do their bidding, she could easily make it do whatever she wanted. She had been able to for years. Ever since her training had begun. Years ago. On a desolate planet in the outer rim, a five year old Solara was trudging through the heavy wind. And she wasn't alone, as her master was also there. Lord Sombra, the Sith lord that ruled over their small bug growing legion of Dark Force users. The man walked through the wind without any trouble, whilst Solara felt like she would be overwhelmed at any moment. At one point, the wind picked up a bunch of dirt and threw it into her face. She cried out, the sand and dirt digging into her skin and feeling like she was being stabbed by a million tiny needles. This caused her to fall to her knees, her strength leaving her. Sombra stopped and looked back at her. "Stand!" "I can't!" She cried, covering her eyes to keep herself from being blinded. "The wind's too strong. The sand hurts." "STAND!" Sombra ordered. "If the sand hurts, then use that pain to make you stronger. If you don't want to feel the pain anymore, keep the sand and wind from hurting you. The Force can create a shield that will protect you. But you have to focus and command it to protect you." Solara tried to do that, but she couldn't. The Force refused to answer her. "I can't." Sombra said nothing and simply turned away, walking off through the sand storm. "Wait!" She started crawling along the ground, doing her best to keep from being overwhelmed by the wind and dust. But still, she was unable to keep going. "MASTER!" Sombra disappeared into the dust storm, leaving her there to be buried in the sand and dirt. After several moments, she felt her strength leave her and she fell face first into the dirt. The wind began to pick up and send more of the debris slamming into her, some pits even ripping into the clothing she was wearing. And slowly, she was beginning to be buried by the dust. Her eyes slowly began to close, as more and more of the dust covered her body. And just as she was about to be completely covered by the dust and sand, her eyes shot open. Suddenly, the dust and sand covering her eyes exploded off of her. It swirled around her body, the wind being pushed away from her as well. She pushed herself up to her feet, The Force around her pushing everything away from her. The only thing that got through was the incredibly weakened wind, enough to allow her to breathe whilst keeping the sand and dust from touching her. She marched through the storm, heading in the same direction she had seen her master go. And eventually, she spotted a ship in the distance that her master was standing under to keep himself shielded from the wind. She trudged towards it, Sombra looking happy to see the vortex swirling around her. "Good," he nodded. "I see you managed to awaken the full power of The Force. Now, you must learn to control it. Keep it around you, but let it shrink down so it doesn't become a full on tornado." Solara closed her eyes and tried to make the Force shrink. She knew she wouldn't be allowed on the ship until she got it under control, so she focused as hard as she could. And slowly, the swirling vortex around her began to weaken and shrink until it was almost touching her skin. The wind was now slamming into her again and whilst she looked unbalanced for a moment, she managed to get herself to stay upright. The wind and dust slammed against the barrier, but that was all it touched. Solara remained unharmed by it, with Sombra nodding. "Good. Remember this feeling. Remember the power you can wield. The Force is yours to control. It is a tool, that will obey your every command. But only so long as you have the will to bend it." He turned away and walked into the ship. "From now on, I expect you to be able to command The Force to this extent without needing to be in danger. If you can't, I'll bring you back and leave you here for a month. If that doesn't give you the control you need, nothing will. And If you can't control The Force, I have no need for you." Solara gulped, but nodded as she followed Sombra into the ship. From that day, she never had any issue controlling The Force. She became a master of manipulating it, Master Sombra being quite happy to see this. "Sunset?" The girl was pulled out of her memory and looked over at Spike, he and the rest of the younglings looking at her curiously. "What is that?" Sunset looked up and her eyes widened, seeing the jelly was taking the shape of someone. And not just anyone. It was turning into Master Sombra. "Nothing!" She quickly reshaped it. "Sorry. That's not how I wanted it to look." The jelly soon turned into an image everyone knew. "Is that a Lightsaber?" One of the kids asked. "Exactly!" She threw the jelly towards him. She began to sweat bullets, fearing these children would figure out her secret. But they quickly seemed to forget about her mishap, as the kid started changing the jelly into some kind of elephant shape. Sunset just watched, as the kids laughed at one of the funny shapes another youngling made. Eventually, they stopped after everyone had managed to get a turn. "Anyone else feeling antsy?" Spike asked, the others nodding. "We should do something more active. Any ideas?" They all thought about it, until one of the younglings had an idea. "Oh, I got one. Let's go see if one of the training rooms is empty." Before Sunset could make an excuse to get away, she was being dragged out of the courtyard towards the holodeck. They found one that was empty and as they ran inside, the kid started programming it. "What exactly are we going to be doing?" Sunset asked, as the kid laughed. "Ever hear of a water balloon fight?" The other younglings cheered, as the doors opened and Sunset was once again pulled inside. There, she found some kind of colourful battlefield. There were wooden fences everywhere, along with several areas one could climb up to and swing around on. Behind several of the fences were buckets, full of water balloons. "Game on!" Spike yelled, as a bunch of dots suddenly appeared above them. These dots were either red or blue and Sunset's was red, Sweetie pulling her over to the side of the field with red buckets and walls. The blue side, with Spike and Scootaloo on it, quickly ran over to their side of the room and the younglings started grabbing balloons. "What are we doing?" Sunset asked, only for her senses to suddenly kick in and make her duck. Moments later, a water balloon sailed overhead and almost hit one of the younglings. "Water balloon fight," Sweetie told her. "You've never been in one?" Sunset was about to say no, but then remembered she was supposed to have amnesia. "Not that I remember." One of their group then used The Force to lift a balloon before sending it flying at the other side, where it hit one of the younglings. Sunset watched as the blue dot suddenly morphed into a light, which surrounded the youngling. "If you get hit, you're stuck where you are until your clothes dry out." Sweetie pointed at something Sunset hadn't noticed before. A red flag. "We've gotta capture as many of them as we can, so there's nobody that can stop us from taking their flag. Sunset let this info sink in, as the water balloons started flying all over the place. She cried out, doing her best to keep from getting hit. She quickly hid behind one of the walls, as some of the younglings on her side got hit and trapped inside a forcefield. She looked around and heard the younglings laughing, some of them climbing up ropes with water balloons floating around them. As some swung around, they dropped the balloons towards some of their opponents. A few were hit, whilst others managed to catch the balloon in The Force. It was all out war, but the kids seemed to be having fun. As Applebloom jumped down behind the wall with her, she picked up a balloon and turned to her. "Ain't ya'h gonna play?" "How is this supposed to help you learn to control The Force?" Sunset asked, as a kid charged past only to get a balloon to the face. "Shouldn't you be trying to solve some kind of puzzle or task with The Force? How does throwing water balloons around make you better Jedi?" "I guess it doesn't help much," Applebloom shrugged. "But it's not always about training." She leapt out from behind the wall and threw her balloon at Spike, who caught it in his telekinetic hold before throwing it to the side. But this caused him to hit one of his own team, the dragon-like alien flinching. "Sorry," he called out before he was hit by one of Sweetie's balloons. "This is ridiculous," Sunset frowned. There was no way this would help them become better. No wonder the Jedi were doomed. Sunset had had real combat training. Training that didn't involve water balloons and capture the flag. Training where one misstep would lead to pain and possible death. Years ago, a ten year old Solara was running around an arena that was being attacked. Above her, a bunch of robots were flying around. They were flying saucer robots, with a bunch of laser blasters coming out the sides of the metal disk. As they flew around, they unleashed laser after laser at the girl. She screamed, wanting this torture to end. But the only way it would end was if she died or the robots were destroyed. Solara spotted part of the arena with a pile of stones, which she quickly ran too and leapt behind. The drones fired at her and she could only hide in terror, as the stones were slowly blown to dust. She looked up at the wall of the arena and spotted her master, staring down at her with a disapproving look. Clearly, he didn't want her to simply run and hide. He wanted her to fight back. "I don't have any weapons," she had told him before the fight started. And Sombra had responded with a simple phrase. "The Force is the only weapon you'll need." Solara heard another explosion and cried out, as one of the drones flew around the wall and pointed its blaster at her. She screamed and thrust her hands forward, causing the robot to be thrown backwards and crash into the side of the arena. The machine was crushed and parts went flying in all directions. Solara sighed at the sight, but another blast made her scream and several drones flew around the rock pile. She tried to escape, but one of the blasts hit her leg and she screamed in pain. She fell to the ground and the drones began to get closer, but Solara quickly acted and spun onto her back. She screamed, as she reached out to grab two of the drones with The Force before slamming them into one another. They exploded, Solara quickly throwing them towards the other drones. More explosions followed and Solara did her best to destroy as many as she could, smashing them into each other until only one was left. It fired several more shots and Solara was forced to get up and jump to safety, landing on her leg and crying out in pain. But she kept fighting and grabbed two of the largest rocks she could find, throwing them both at the drone. It fired at them, but she moved them out of the way whilst jumping back. She then slammed them into the sides of the drones, sandwiching it between them and crushing the machine. As the machine fell to the ground, Solara fell as well and looked over at Sombra. But he had already left. Clearly, he wasn't impressed with her getting hit by the laser. If she wanted him to stick around, she would need to improve. So, she began to drag herself along the ground towards the exit. She would need to get her leg looked at herself, because nobody was going to help her. How else would she grow strong? Sunset was pulled out of her memories, by a youngling falling to the ground covered in water. As the forcefield appeared around them, Sunset looked around and spotted Spike had been freed from his time out and was trying to get the flag. "Sunset!" She heard Sweetie call out, "stop him." Sunset frowned, unsure if she should mess around like that. Suddenly, the doors to the training room opened. Everyone looked around to see Flash, Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Iron, Thorax and Trixie step into the room. Even Shining and Cadance were there. Sunset expected them to start telling the younglings to stop messing around and get back to real training. But to their surprise, they all smiled. "Sweet," Shining laughed, "water balloon fight." "Mind if we join?" Flash asked, as the group were suddenly given a differently coloured dot. "What?" Sunset asked, as Flash, Shining, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity and Trixie were on the blue team. Meanwhile, the rest joined the red team and Cadance rushed over to stop Spike as he leapt for the flag. The next thing he knew, he was floating in the air out of reach from the flag. "HEY!" He cried, flailing around trying to grab the flag. "No fair!" Cadance threw him back across the room, as she and the rest of the red team took a defensive position behind the walls. As the blue team ran over to their side, Rainbow picked up a water balloon and laughed. "I love the smell of balloons in the morning." Sunset couldn't believe this. It was one thing for a bunch of younglings to waste their time on such a game, but a bunch of Padawans and two knights. What was going on. "Eat water!" Flash cried, throwing a trio of balloons in their direction. But Twilight stood up and grabbed them before they popped. "Actually, you drink water!" She threw them back and Flash was hit by all three, getting thrown backwards as Twilight laughed. She then noticed Sunset's confusion and knelt down besides her. "You alright?" "Why are you doing this?" Sunset asked, as Applejack threw a bucket's worth of balloons towards the other side. "What's the point of this training?" "Training?" Twilight asked. "I guess it's training, but this is really just supposed to be fun." "Fun?" Sunset asked, as Rainbow grabbed some more balloons. "Geez, you gotta get out more." She held up the balloons and threw them. "FUN!" The water balloons sailed over the battlefield and hit Pinkie, Rainbow attempting to run over and grab their flag. But Fluttershy appeared from behind a wall and threw a balloon at her. It slammed into Rainbow and knocked her back. "Come on!" Twilight handed Sunset a water balloon. "Let's have some fun. We could all use it, with everything that's happened." Sunset stared at the balloon, taking it and wondering if she was serious. She might have thought this was ridiculous, but she needed to do something to make the Jedi more comfortable around her. Maybe this would work. She got up and threw the balloon towards Rarity, hitting her in the face and making her gasp. Sunset flinched, thinking she would get angry. But instead, she laughed as the forcefield appeared around her. "That's it!" Twilight cheered, as a bunch of balloons shot towards them. They ducked, barely managing to avoid getting hit. They both grabbed a balloon and threw them back, missing but they got to watch Shining do a hilarious dance in order to avoid them. Seeing it, Sunset, couldn't help but giggle whilst the others laughed. But then a balloon flew towards her and she had to bend backwards to dodge. She almost fell over, but Twilight caught her hand. "I gotcha!" The pair smiled, as Twilight pulled Sunset back up and the pair chose to run towards some of the areas that they could climb up. As they did, they did several flips and jumps to keep from behind hit. Sunset saw one going towards Twilight and before it did, the red and yellow equestrian caught it with The Force. She then threw it back, hitting Shining right in the face. Sunset couldn't help but burst out laughing, as she watched Shining fall to the ground like an idiot. She and Twilight then started climbing a rope ladder, the rest of their team protecting them as they got to the top. "You ready?" Twilight asked, handing Sunset a rope. Sunset took the rope and nodded, the two leaping off the platform they were on and swinging above the blue team. As they did, the rest of their team threw a barrage of balloons that the others had to protect themselves from. Twilight was the first to land on one of the walls, planning to leap over to the blue flag and grab it. But before she could, Spike was freed from his forcefield and threw a balloon at her. The water splashed all over her, Twilight crying out as she fell off the roof. "Twilight!" Sunset landed, as Twilight was consumed by her forcefield. Sunset suddenly found herself the target of several balloons, which flew towards her. But she managed to avoid them all with some impressive flips and rolls. To say everyone was surprised by this was an understatement, Flash jumping forward with a balloon in hand. "Ahaa!" He threw it, but Sunset grabbed it in a Force covered hand before spinning around. The next thing Flash knew, the water hit him in his chest and he was knocked back. The other reds launched their own attacks, forcing the blues to take cover. This allowed Sunset to leapt up and grab the flag, pulling it off the spot it was hanging from. The blues saw this and tried to hit her with a balloon, but Sunset leapt into the air and threw the flag towards her side. The flag fell towards the ground, a blue team member leaping to try and grab it. And as Sunset was hit by a balloon, Iron reached out with The Force and pulled it towards their side. Sweetie caught the flag and held it up, everyone cheering as the room buzzed and announced victory for the red team. The forcefields vanished and everyone saw who had won, those on the blue team looking annoyed whilst the red team rushed over to their hero. "Sunset," Cadance laughed, "those moves were amazing. Where did you learn to do stuff like that?" Sunset wasn't sure how to answer that question, simply telling them she had no idea. They seemed to accept this and suddenly, Sunset was lifted into the air and carried on several people's shoulders. As they did, they started cheering Sunset's name. This caused Sunset to feel something. Something he had never felt before. She had never been cheered for before, so this was a completely new experience for her. She seemed...happy. Even though there was no point to this victory, she felt happy she had managed to win for her team. And even though she had won plenty of times before, this felt different somehow. Better, though she didn't know why. Once the celebrations were over, everyone headed out of the training room. The water that had drenched their clothes, completely vanished once they were out of there. Everyone was still in a good mood, whilst Sunset followed Twilight towards the girl's room. "So what are we doing now?" She asked, as Twilight took out her Lightsaber and showed it to her. "I need to do some maintenance on my Lightsaber. I've been so busy lately, I haven't had any chance to make sure our little adventure didn't cause any issues. I don't know if you're interested in Lightsaber repairs-" "It's cool," Sunset assured her. "I'd love to see what goes into making a Lightsaber. Who knows. I might end up building my own one day." Twilight smiled as they arrived at her room. Stepping inside, Sunset saw there was barely anything in it. Aside from a bed, chair, table and a small bookshelf, the place was pretty sparse. "Sorry," Twilight started straightening up her bed. "I wasn't expecting company." "It's cool," Sunset nodded. "Place seems a little spartan, doesn't it?" "I've never really needed much," Twilight replied. "Most Jedi try to get by with little to no personal possessions. But not every Jedi is able to live like that. Go see Rarity's room and you won't be able to see the floor with how much fabric she has laying around. Sunset nodded, as she looked over at the bookshelf Twilight had. There were several books, all showing different stories that she likely read as a child. As Sunset sat on the bed, Twilight sat down on her desk and began working on her Lightsaber's maintenance. Before that, she lifted the weapon up with The Force and began to take it apart. Sunset watched, spotting the green Kyber Crystal that Twilight had acquired during her gathering. Sunset wondered about that ritual, where younglings went to an ice planet in order to find and obtain the heart of their Jedi weapons. She had heard stories of younglings who had gotten lost in the ice caves, left to freeze by the Jedi. She wasn't sure if that story was true, but she wouldn't be surprised if it were. As she watched Twilight take it apart, she was suddenly reminded of a time several years ago. When she had been tested to build her own Lightsaber. And she was sure, her test was far harder than anything a Jedi would ever do. Years ago. Aboard a ship, Solara was in one of the rooms working on something. A device that, when completed, would allow her to finally stand as an official Sith. Her Lightsaber. The dark coloured weapon was nearing completion. The device itself was finished and all it required, was the most important part of all. And that would soon be in her possession, so long as she was able to complete the task her master had set for her. "Solara," a voice over the coms stated. "We've arrived." the girl took a deep breath before standing up and heading out of the room, towards the cockpit where a bunch of bug troopers were flying the ship. Sombra sat in the centre of the large cockpit, looking out the window towards the planet they were heading towards. A barren rock of a planet, similar to the one that Solara had almost been buried on years ago. But this one felt even more dangerous. "There it is," Sombra smiled. "Where it all began." "Master?" Solara asked. "Years ago, I found you on that planet. A small child, crying for the parents that had likely abandoned her. The Force had led me to you, clearly wanting me to raise you to be the Sith you have become." Solara stared at the planet, wondering why her parents could have abandoned her there. "It seemed only fitting, that your training ends where it first began." "Yes master," Solara nodded. "What is my task?" "Down below, I sent another ship to drop off a pod. That pod contains what you need to find. The Kyber Crystal." "So, I must retrieve it?" "Retrieving it's the easy part. After you find it, you must make the crystal bleed. Using all of your Dark Force power, you will force the crystal to become corrupted. Only then, will you be permitted to return to this ship. Fail and you will remain on that planet, right where I found you." Sunset could feel fear radiating through her. She knew it wasn't an empty threat and by the looks of that planet, it wasn't a place she was gonna be able to survive. "I understand." "Then go get ready." Sunset nodded and returned to her room, gathering as much equipment as she dared carry. She dressed herself in clothing she hoped would help protect her from the environment. And as the ship entered the planet's orbit, she left and headed to the ship's airlock. Sombra was there and as they entered the planet's atmosphere, her held something up for her. A helmet. "Don't say I'm too hard on you. This helmet will help with breathing inside the planet's atmosphere. I've also uploaded a tracking device, that will help you locate the pod. We'll be landing a fair distance away so even with directions, getting to it might not be possible for you." "I will get to it," Solara assured him. "I won't fail you, master." "Be sure that you don't." Solara placed the helmet on her head, said helmet being the face that she would become known for throughout the galaxy instead of her actual face. The ship finally reached the ground and Sombra pressurised the airlock, opening it up so he and Solara could look out of the ship. The ground was still several meters away, as there were too many rocks to land. Solara looked around and found the rock-filled area was quite large. It would take a while to get out of there and those rocks were perfect for predators to hide behind. "This is it," Sombra told her. "Remember everything I taught you, or you'll end up dead." Solara was about to answer, but Sombra pushed her out of the ship. She screamed, but quickly recovered and used The Force to solidify the air below her feet. By the time she hit the ground, a cushion of condensed air broke her fall. She touched down and sighed, glad she hadn't broken anything. She looked up and saw the ship pull away, flying off to where she would meet it once her task was complete. She activated her helmet's tracker and a red arrow pointed in one direction, Solara turning to follow it. As she did, she made her way through the large and small rocks surrounding her. Thunder could be heard above her head, as some kind of lightning storm was rolling above her. There wasn't any rain, but this planet clearly didn't need it. As she made her way through the rocky terrain, she kept her senses sharp. She had to be careful. If she let her focus drop, whatever beasts lived here would likely get the drop on her. However, a small part of her wondered if this planet even had any life. It didn't seem very hospitable. She soon got her answer, as she sensed a life form. And it was approaching from the west. She turned towards it and as she did, she heard a crashing sound and dust flew up from behind a large rock. That dust flew into the air, as another crashing sound followed. Then another and another and another. Finally, the rock she was looking at exploded as something smashed through it. Some kind of boulder, covered in spikes, which crashed into the ground and rolled along at incredible speed. Solara realised it was heading straight for her and she looked around, picking a rock that she leapt up onto. She hid herself on the top and as the boulder passed, it seemed to uncurl itself to reveal a lizard-like creature standing on all fours. its body was gray in colour and it had a large tail, as long and thick as its actual body. And the tail was covered in a hardened shell with spikes, which Solara realised was what protected it as it rolled along the ground. She watched it sniff the air and realised it must have caught her attention, the girl picking herself up and jumping off the rock she was on. But the lizard smelled her and looked up, letting out a hiss as it leapt up and curled its tail around its entire body. Once it was completely surrounded, it charged forward and smashed through the rock Solara had been on. But the girl had managed to leap away from the rock and landed on another, which she quickly jumped off to another rock before it was also smashed. She kept jumping from rock to rock, the lizard smashing through the ones she was just one. She quickly began to tire, but couldn't stop for fear of being crushed. After what felt like hours, she reached the edge of the rock field. The arrow was pointing towards an area of the ground that appeared completely flat. If she leapt out onto that, the creature would catch up with her in seconds. But Solara soon spotted a bunch of holes in the ground, which she realised were her only means of escape. So she jumped off the final rock and fell into one of the holes, sliding down it until she reached the bottom. And as she did, the curled up creature stopped and unfurled itself. It stared down into the hole, but it was too large to fit. Solara sighed, as she looked around. And to her amazement, the hole had led to some kind of tunnel. Multiple tunnels, actually, all going in multiple different directions. And as she walked through the tunnel, the holes above her were allowing some of the light to flow inside. As she followed it, she heard movement and the creature was following her. It stared through the holes, glaring at her every time it spotted her. Solara did her best to out-manoeuvre the creature, ducking into several tunnels whenever it tried to follow her. Eventually, she managed to lose it and ran down any tunnel leading in the direction her helmet was showing her. After a while, the arrow changed from red to yellow. She realised she must be getting closer and eventually, it turned green as she came to the end of a tunnel. There was a hole above her and she quickly leapt up and out of it, finding herself in front of a large mountain. The arrow pointed towards it and Solara spotted a hole in the base, which she stepped through into the mountain's interior. That was when she found the mountain was ring-shaped. The tunnel led into the inner part of the ring and she was soon inside, the arrow flashing. In the centre of the ring was a metal sphere, which looked like it had been purposefully placed where it was. She stepped forward and as she did, her helmet beeped along with the pod. And soon enough, part of the top pulled apart from one another and folded into the rest of the sphere. This caused a light to flow out of the pod, Solara looking inside and seeing a small pure crystal. She reached for her belt and took off the inactive Lightsaber, placing it down on the ground. She then reached inside the pod and when her fingers touched the crystal, she felt a slight spark of static electricity. She hissed, but didn't let that stop her from picking up the crystal. It almost felt like the Kyber was fighting against her, but it couldn't fight hard enough. She raised the gem and held it in her hand, as she placed her other hand over it. She closed her eyes and focused all her effort into infusing the Dark Side into the crystal. But something didn't feel right. The gem refused to change colour. She felt its power pulse and as she grunted, the Dark Side refused to enter the gem. After a minute of trying, she stopped and panted. The crystal refused to change. "No," she whispered, "why?" But before she could think of an answer, a sound caught her attention and made her look around. Up on the wall of the mountain was a creature she had seen before. The lizard, with its large spiked tail. The lizard hissed as it stared at her, then leapt off the mountain and rolled up to fly towards her. She barely managed to grab her Lightsaber and leap out of the way. When she did, the creature slammed into the pod and destroyed it. As she rolled away, she placed the Kyber Crystal into her Lightsaber. The device powered up and when she hit the button, a bright blue blade extended from the weapon. The lizard rolled towards her and she roared, slashing at the creature and cutting through its armored tail. The beast roared at this and uncurled, a burning gash running through part of its tail. As it did, Sunset charged and tried to slash at it again. But before she could, it spun around and its tail slammed into her side. "AUGH!" She was thrown away and crashed into the ground, her weapon flying out of her hand. She moaned and pushed herself up, only for the lizard to leap at her with its claws ready to cut into her. She gasped and held up her hands, catching it in The Force. But it was so heavy, she could barely hold it up. It snarled and hissed, whilst Solara did what she could to keep it away from her. Fear coursed through her, as she thought about what would happen if she didn't find a way to beat this creature. Memories of her time training under Sombra, flashed through her mind. Every difficult task he had thrown at her, refusing to let her mess up even once. Every scratch and broken bone she had endured. It had all led to this moment. To make her strong enough to survive against anything. And if she failed here, she would never get off this planet. That thought caused all the fear she felt to vanish, replaced by anger. Anger towards this beast for attempting to kill her. Anger at Sombra for forcing her to do this. And anger at her parents, the ones that had ditched her here so long ago. In the past, thinking about her parents had always caused her to feel pain. But now, that pain was being morphed by the anger into something else. Pure hatred. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" She screamed, her rage fuelling her Dark Force power and allowing her to finally throw the beast away from her. As it went flying in the other direction, Solara picked herself up and reached for her Lightsaber. It flew into her hands and as it did, the blue blade that appeared began to flicker. The creature pushed itself up and saw Solara, walking towards it. Though it couldn't see her eyes, it seemed to know what she wanted. For it to suffer. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" She charged, like a mad-woman possessed. Later on, Sombra stood on his ship's cockpit staring at the mountain. Solara had been gone for several hours and whilst Sombra was sure she had found the crystal, she had yet to return. He frowned, wondering if she had failed to make it bleed. But as he was about to send a drone to see what she was doing, a figure appeared in the distance. The figure moved closer and the bug troopers used a zoom function on the cockpit window, allowing them to see it was Solara. The twelve year old looked like hell, her clothes ripped apart and her helmet cracked. Blood covered parts of her clothes and as she walked, she was dragging something behind her. The head of the lizard she had slain. When she got close enough to the ship, she threw the lizard's head in front of her before holding up her Lightsaber. And when she activated it, Sombra smiled seeing the red blade she had created. "Excellent." "Sunset? Sunset!?" The girl's eyes flew open, as she looked around at Twilight. The purple equestrian had completed her maintenance and her Lightsaber was back together. She stared at Sunset, clearly curious why she was suddenly spacing out. "You okay?" "Err...yeah. I'm fine. I was just...imagining what kind of Lightsaber I'd build if I ever got the chance." Twilight smiled. "Well it's not really a matter of what you want. It's what feels right in your hand, when you have your crystal." Sunset nodded, as the pair were finally able to get up and leave the room. Neither of them had any idea what they would spend the rest of the day doing, but soon got into a discussion about the different kinds of Lightsabers there were and what Jedi wielded them. Meanwhile, Celestia, Luna and Skybreaker were in a workshop. The key Twilight had recovered, was currently on a work bench with a large laser hanging overhead. "Preparing to destroy the key!" Skybreaker announced, as he and the sisters placed goggles over their eyes. "Fire!" He hit the button and the laser fired, the bright beam firing down and hitting the key. The key glowed, as the laser struck it. But as the Jedi Masters watched it burn, they noticed the metal didn't even seem to be warping. They continued battering it with the high powered laser for a full minute before Skybreaker switched it off, the lot of them frowning when it wasn't even scorched. "How is that possible?" Luna asked. "This laser is designed to cut metal, that can handle the heat of the sun. What in the universe is it made of?" "Good question." Celestia used The Force to lift it up, as they examined it closer. "This key was made using Dark Side Alchemy. Just be thankful that art has been lost. Imagine the battle droids this thing could make if the Sith got their hands on it." "Speaking of battle droids." Skybreaker turned to them. "The Sith have been rather quiet, haven't they? There hasn't been any sighting of them since the attack on Gemmax. You think they're planning something big?" Celestia nodded. "No doubt, losing this key has put a halt to Sombra's plan. He'll either abandon it and come up with a new plan, or attempt to take this key back. That's why we need to find a way to destroy this object as soon as possible. If we don't, Canterlot will be constantly under threat from Sombra's attack." "She's right," Luna nodded. "I'll keep looking into ways of destroying it. In the meantime, we need to stay on alert in case our Sith friends decide to come calling." The other two agreed and as Celestia finally touched the cooled down relic, they headed out to continue their work. As Celestia headed to her chambers, she was suddenly met by Shining Armor. The young equestrian knight had a serious look on his face. "Shining Armor. Is there a problem?" "Master Stax just contacted me." Celestia raised an eyebrow at this. Stax liked to go quiet when conducting his missions. He was one of the best Jedi Knights she had, but also one of the most frustrating. His preference to go where he wanted to go and fix issues he decided needed fixing, had caused problems for the Order on more than one occasion. But he was always there when they really needed him, which was the only reason they put up with it. "I'm guessing whatever he told you, is something you feel needs to be told to me." "He's found Sith activity. And this one's inside Republic Space." Celestia frowned, knowing that couldn't be ignored. "And that's not all. The planet is one we're familiar with." Celestia raised an eyebrow. "You think Flash will be willing to return to where we found him?" Now Celestia understood. On the planet of Shikoya, Armalum was standing atop a large stone mountain. The flattened mountain had his ship on it, where droids were currently pushing boxes of something onto the craft. As Armalum watched, someone stepped up to him. "Your shipment has been fulfilled." Armalum turned to a satyr-like alien, who was dressed in fancy clothes and had small black horns on his head. "You've done well," Armalum nodded. "But we still need more." "How much more of this stuff do you need?" The satyr asked. "You've been mining it for who knows how long. What could you be building that needs this much Vack Stone?" "That's for me to know and for you to find out. And I wouldn't be complaining, if I were you. My requirements are what's keeping you in business. Just be glad we forgave you, for missing that one shipment." "That wasn't our fault. Those Jedi destroyed the mine and freed my slaves. My father was not happy about that." Armalum nodded, as the last box was finally stored in his ship. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again. if the Jedi show up, destroy them." With that, he got on board and the ship began to take off. As the satyr watched it vanished, he thought about those Jedi. "oh, I'll destroy them alright. The males at least. Those Jedi are going to wish they never met me." What he didn't realise, was that a Jedi was currently in his midst at that moment. And he had sent a message to Canterlot, asking for help taking this mining operation down.