One of the very first lessons that Celestia had given Sunset had been about how no plan, no matter how well thought out, worked out the way you imagined them.
She had drilled into her students the importance of backup plans, of contingency after contingency, and most importantly the ability to improvise when a situation goes “belly up” as she would sometimes say.
But as Sunset followed the Equestrian (who she still hadn’t learned the name of) she couldn’t help but feel that maybe she should have paid more attention in those lessons.
They had come across a few Stormtroopers and other imperials milling about the hallways as they sprinted full-bore away from where Sunset assumed Vader and the other two Equestrians were, but they hadn’t been stopped, nor had they stopped when asked why they were obviously breaking procedure and running away from something.
They weren’t heading back towards the Skiffs, Sunset recognized that, they had run in the opposite direction from them, so Sunset assumed they were heading towards a hangar or shuttle bay, but she couldn’t really be sure and she couldn’t ask as she was to focused on keeping her breathing even with the Force.
Running down a few more corridors, the Equestrian took a sharp left causing Sunset to overshoot, cursing her impromptu partner's lack of communication; she managed to stop and turn back towards where the Equestrian girl had gone.
Jogging this time so as to not miss the turn, Sunset came to a quick halt upon entering the room her companion had turned into. Glancing around, Sunset noted with satisfaction that they had managed to enter a small hanger, perhaps the girl’s lack of communication could be forgiven this time. She was about to voice those thoughts when she finally noticed her companion.
Her eyes widened at the sight of the girl on her knees, her hand on her head as if fighting back a headache or bad memories. She was rocking back and forth; mouth open as if to scream but no sound would come out.
Sunset quickly moved to the girl’s side and immediately went to grab her “Hey are you…” the moment her hand contacted the girl's shoulder it happened. Everything zoomed out as if brought out of focus, a ringing entered her ears that she felt more than heard.
She could taste blood in her mouth…was that her blood? Her eyes felt like pits of fire…or was that ice?
Sunset knew it didn’t matter
Did she?
She felt…cold…
No…hot
She could hear the breathing…the laughter of those she thought would never betray her.
But they did…
“You have failed me again.” The Dragon said, gazing down upon Sunset with his cold lifeless eyes.
“P..please...I tried…I tried to do what you asked!” That response only earned her a sharp backhand from him.
“Trying is not good enough,” There is no try “you either succeed or you fail, there is not an In between.” The Dragon felt…annoyed, he wasn’t angry…not yet but Sunset knew that was only a matter of time.
She bowed her head and mumbled a quick yes master He’s not my master… This is wrong hoping to avoid further punishment from him, but alas it wasn’t meant to be.
“Stand, Sonata Dusk” That’s not my name “ Since you cannot seem to find the proper motivation to draw upon the Dark Side on your own,” He pushed her across the room, using his Magic the Force slamming her against the metal wall. “I will be forced to motivate you.”
With a flick of his wrist, she was lifted off the wall and slammed into the ceiling face first, her nose breaking and her ribs cracking at the sudden impact. He then dropped her, causing her to crash and shatter her shoulders, she couldn’t even scream, all she could do was whimper and groan as the Dark Lord slowly stalked towards her.
“Pain is one of many paths to the Dark Side my apprentice” If the Dragon could spit the word through that mask of his he would have. “Stand, use that pain to bolster your powers!” he commanded, but it fell on deaf ears, and only her whimpers of pain followed the order.
Growling the Dragon reached out his hand and forced her to him, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her off the ground. He began to slowly squeeze her windpipe, causing her body to react as she began to hit his arms with her fists and kick at him with her legs…albeit weakly “Ah, perhaps it’s not the pain that will motivate you towards the Darkness…but Fear…survival is a powerful motivator after all.”
Again though, she didn’t show her aptitude for the Force. For the abilities that he had seen when he had confronted them. So, the Dragon let her drop…and pondered.
“Perhaps,” he began “I should just kill you all and be done with it,” He began to unhook his lightsaber. “It seems that trying to train you has been nothing but a waste of time, consider our arrangement finished.” With that, his saber sprang to life and he glanced down at her one last time “Any last words, my failure of a student.”
Sonata Shimmer just looked at him through broken teeth and a shattered nose. Her fear gave way to a broken grin, she didn’t answer with words, she just weakly raised her hand and pointed behind him.
The Dragon turned just in time to see five Stormtroopers from his 501rst Legion break through the door and begin opening fire on him. He made his way across the room quickly and easily cut down the troopers, but not before noticing the slight taint of the dark side upon their minds, though that didn’t stop him from killing them.
After they were dealt with, he turned to Sonata and saw what he was looking for. There was anger in those eyes. A hatred for him and for the situation she was in…perhaps he was wrong about her after all.
Get out!
Sunset’s sisters hated her.
She knew that because she could feel it in the Force.
So why didn’t Sonata know?
As they stood in Infront of Vader for their daily lessons, Sunset could feel the hatred and jealousy rolling off her sisters (though she didn’t know their names) While Sonata remained ignorant.
The Yellow one was a jealous anger. Jealous that Sunset and Sonata still had their gem, that they were learning things that neither of their two sisters were given a chance to learn. That they had been spared.
The Purple one was just…angry. Angry at the Yellow one, angry at Vader, angry at Sunset and Sonata.
How had Sonata not noticed?
I SAID GET OUT!
Sunset gasped as she was thrown across the hanger. The girl she had been trying to help glared at her, the gem around her neck glowing bright hot red as the Dark Side rolled off her like a wave. “Why were you in my head!” She growled hand outstretched and nose bleeding.
Sunset ignored her own nosebleed, and instead pushed back against Sonata with her own power, easing the pressure that held her against the wall, allowing her to breathe again “I just wanted to help you! You were on the floor in pain!”
Sonata scoffed “You just wanted to help me!?” She growled “Does helping include rummaging through my thoughts? My memories!?” she hugged herself tightly with a shiver, the pressure in the room easing slightly as the stress and fatigue hit Sonata all at once.
“I…” Sunset paused walking slowly to her “I really don’t know how that happened…”
“How can you not know how you did what you did?” Sonata looked at Sunset, both in confusion and irritation “Ripping someone’s memories out? Reliving them? That’s a very advanced skill in the Force. I’ve…never heard of it being something passive…”
Sunset Shrugged “yea well…I’ve always been kind of weird when it came to the mystic arts, be they the Force or Magic back home.”
“No, Seriously” Sonata slowly uncrossed her arms and whipped her nose bleed away before continuing “That is something that takes effort to do…Trust me I’ve been tortured enough by my mas…by Vader to know what invading a mind feels like and how much effort it takes for a powerful Force user to do it to another.”
Sonata tapped her gem “My gem powers me up in the Force, at least a little bit, so I’m at least somewhat powerful and even then, I’ve learned to protect my thoughts by necessity, you shouldn’t have been able to just slip in as you did.”
After a moment of staring at Sonata, her eyes roaming around Sonata’s body for a few moments, making the siren blush before Sunset grunted “maybe it’s the giant hole in your shields that let me do it…” she smarmily remarked.
“W…what.” Sonata’s embarrassment slipped away with that comment, instead, it was replaced by white-hot fear.
“Yea, I never noticed it before, because we were in such a hurry, but there’s a giant…I want to say wound in your shield. It’s like someone took a battering ram and smashed through them, was that why you were in pain before?” Sunset rubbed her chin as she spoke, her mind going through other possible scenarios before Sonata interrupted her line of thought.
“No…no one broke my shields…” Sonata mumbled, “The only thing I remember before collapsing was the sound of breaking glass and then pain…”
Whatever Sunset said in response was drowned out as Sonata closed her eyes and began searching herself. Lo and behold there was the hole the Pony…no Sunset had talked about. She still felt the pain, but it was dulled, at least for now. Inspecting the hole, she noticed the remains of two bonds she used to share with her sisters drifting in the metaphysical wind.
She tried finding the bond with Vader for a solid minute before she realized that the hole in her mind was the bond with Vader. Vader had obliterated it and with it any hope she had of hiding from him, at least until the hole closed naturally.
Opening her eyes, she was about to relay this information to Sunset when the pony tackled her to the ground. She was about to scream out at the betrayal when a dual-bladed lightsaber flew over them from behind her.
It was then that Sonata noticed Adagio dropping down from a vent above them, kicking Sunset off her. She pulled out her own crimson blade and blocked Adagio’s oncoming swing, using the force to push her sister away so she could stand.
Adagio grunted and smiled “You were supposed to aim for the head Aria.”
Sunset’s own lightsaber snapped to life as Aria Blaze made her way down the opposite end of the hanger, her blade spinning back into her hand with a call from the Force. “Well, I thought you’d be upset if I stole all the fun.”
Adagio laughed as the two slowly began to circle Sonata and Sunset. Sunset followed Adagio while Sonata did the same for Aria.
“Why…” Sonata growled out, “Why would you break our bond?!” She cried out “We’re sisters!”
Aria laughed a cackling laugh “Sisters? You betrayed us!” She didn’t make a move to attack; she just twirled her blade once before getting into the standard double-bladed stance.
“I betrayed nothing!” Sonata growled getting into the aggressive stance of Form VII, the floor denting as the Dark Side answered her call
Adagio kept her yellow eyes on Sunset while she spoke, “You betrayed us by not dying on that planet traitor.” She brought her lightsaber up into the Makashi salute “You traded our gems, our power, for your own safety, privilege, and greed” her voice was apathetic, her anger reserved and coiled, waiting to be released.
Sunset instinctively raised her saber above her head, her left arm loose and pointing at Adagio with two fingers but she didn’t speak, she just waited for someone to make the first move.
She didn’t have to wait long, as Sonata rushed Aria with a flurry of swings, with an intensity and anger that even surprised Aria. “HE DESTROYED THEM!” she screamed through her swings.
Aria back peddled, her twin blades blocking blow after blow, but the defense was clumsily, poorly timed, and only successful because of Sonata’s own shoddy blade work. She dodged as Sonata swung too wide and kicked her sister away before shouting back “AND YOU LET HIM!”
Adagio took that as her queue to strike, thrusting towards Sunset with the tip of her blade. Sunset knocked the blade out of the way with ease, something that shocked both her and Adagio. Using the momentum, she swapped to Form Four, flipping over Adagio and swinging at what she thought was her unprotected back, only to be intercepted by the siren's crimson blade. Jumping back to avoid a follow-up swing, she was surprised when one never came.
Instead, Adagio quickly turned towards Sunset and once more took up the Makashi defensive stance “Kitty's got claws.” Adagio nervously chuckled, Something Sunset picked up on immediately.
‘These two’ Sunset glanced over at Sonata’s fight which was devolving quickly out of basic lightsaber forms and into angry swings and force powers ‘No these three, they’ve never been properly shown how to fight with a lightsaber’ With that Sunset quickly closed the gap between Adagio and herself going for a quick upwards swing that was hastily blocked.
“You’ve never held a lightsaber before have you?” Sunset mockingly asked as their blades locked.
Adagio growled at her “Yes, I have!” she tried to Force Push Sunset away, but only caused her opponent to brace herself slightly.
“You were probably just handed one and told to practice, weren’t you? Maybe given a book or data chip with instructions on the forms but never shown them or put them into practice?”
“BE SILENT!” her opponent roared, her command making its way into Sunset’s ears, but it was quickly ignored.
Sunset just rolled her eyes at the weak attempt at dominating her mind, and instead reached back with her hand and gave her opponent a Force Push of her own. This caused Adagio to fly backward and crash back first into one of the shuttles, knocking her out immediately and probably breaking a few bones as well if Sunset had to guess.
Turning back toward Sonata’s fight, her guess had been correct about neither of them really knowing how to fight with a lightsaber. Sonata’s own saber lay split in half on the floor, while Aria’s was knocked out of her hand with a quick Force Push from Sonata, who then proceeded to tackle her sister and angrily pummel Aria in the face with her fist.
“I DIDN’T DO IT!” She shouted, fist after fist landing on her sister’s face “I DIDN’T BETRAY YOU!” Her eyes were yellow, and her gem and the Dark Side were all but telling her to keep going, to destroy her sister for her insolence. She pulled back a fist for one last punch, to hopefully end her former sister's lies forever when someone stopped her.
Looking up she noticed that the girl… was Sunset holding her hand, a frown on her face as she slowly pulled Sonata off the blood form of Aria Blaze.
“Bring it down, Sonata.” Sunset whispered, “Come back, don’t let it control you.” She ignored the dark voice in the back of her head calling herself a hypocrite. “look at her.” Sunset pointed to Aria, who Sonata looked at out of the corner of her eye “She’s beaten, she’s done, just let it go, and let’s get out of here.”
Sonata’s eyes didn’t return to their normal purple color, but she did nod, and begin to calm down.
Sunset was about to try and talk her down some more when the sound of boots on metal and heavy breathing reached her ears. Turning she saw the Dark Lord make his way into the hanger, surprisingly no contingent of troops or other dark acolytes with him, just himself, lightsaber already in hand.
He glanced at the still form of Adagio and the still groaning form of Aria before looking at the two girls standing in defiance of him. “Such disappointments.” He glanced at Sonata, who Sunset had instinctively pushed behind herself. “You, most of all, Sonata Dusk.”
“Leave her out of this!” Sunset growled her green saber held at the ready.
Vader didn’t even look at Sunset as he spoke “You could have had your freedom, your sister’s freedom.” He slowly began to circle the room “But instead, you chose to harbor thoughts of rebellion, of betrayal.”
Sunset didn’t notice Sonata’s face paling, though she did feel her panic spike through the Force.
“You did the first half of your job marvelously, leading her here.” Vader pointed the tip of his saber at Sonata, “But then you had second thoughts, like a coward.”
Sunset growled “What the hell are you talking about!”
If Vader wasn’t wearing a mask, she’d probably see his smile “Why, the fake distress call.”
Sunset felt her heart stop. ‘The what’
“I made a deal with her,” The Sith began, ignoring Sunset’s rising panic and fury “That if she sent out a call through the Force, Something that would lure the last remaining Jedi to me, I’d let her and her sisters go.”
“W…. what!?” Sunset’s arms were shaking, her hands clamming up.
“Isn’t that right Sonata?” Vader slowly started walking forward “Her…for your sisters.”
Sonata backed away from the shaking form of Sunset Shimmer and the slowly advancing form of Darth Vader. “but…You…you lied…”
“Did I?” Vader asked, “I merely said bring her to me, and you’d be free, I never said what form your freedom would take.” He looked directly at Sunset for the first time since entering the room. "As for you, I know for a fact you are no Jedi Knight, you're barely even a Padawan." He mocked her, "But thanks to your recklessness and your ship's flight logs, we know exactly where your master is. Congratulations, are in order, you've doomed not only yourself, but you've also doomed your master as well."
Sonata knew what he was saying was a lie, she was there when Sunset arrived, and no information was given that could have given away the location of Sunset's Jedi Master. Sunset didn't know that though, and that statement, along with Sonata's betrayal was too much for her.
With a feral scream, she unleashed the same Force Repulse she had done on Dagobah. Flinging Sonata and Aria across the room and ripping apart the metal floor underneath her. Vader stood his ground, his Force Wall protecting him from much of the attack.
Sunset then launched herself at Vader, their sabers locking, causing the Sith to take a step back for the first time in a long time.
He didn’t need his helmet off to know that Sunset’s eyes had bled yellow.
And as the fight began to really pick up speed with blow after blow being exchanged between the wannabe Jedi and the Sith Lord, all Darth Vader could think was…
All too Easy.