A calm and breezy morning brushed over the calm city of Canterlot under the rule of Princess Twilight. All the innocent ponies were busy with their day-to-day jobs as Equestria was in such a state of peace that even Twilight could kick back and relax. Of course, this being Twilight, the only way she can kick back and relax is by keeping herself busy with to-do lists and tasks to do.
“OK, so have we done today’s laundry?” Twilight asked Spike as her trusted advisor and best friend looked back at her through the 5th to-do list for the day.
“We’ve done that hours ago, Twilight. Can’t we do anything else? I’m aching all over,” Spike said as Twilight sighed at the young dragon.
“Spike, I’m only making sure everything is all set. I’ve got an important date with Discord and I want everything all set up for when he gets here,” Twilight explained as Spike perked up.
“Ohh, a date I see,” Spike teased as Twilight groaned at the thought.
“Not that kind of date! Discord said he had something to show me with his chaos magic. That’s all,” Twilight said as Spike snickered at Twilight’s explanation.
“Sounds like somepony with a crush would say,” Spike said, continuing to tease Twilight.
“Did I forget to mention Rarity is coming along?” Twilight asked, catching Spike off guard.
“Wait, really?” Spike asked, as his purple scales turned pinkish-red in response. Twilight laughed as Spike’s scales turned back to purple and realized the prank Twilight played.
“Haha. Very funny,” Spike said, going over the list in his hand one last time. As Twilight and Spike were busy setting everything up, a bright yellow light flashed into the room, revealing the entity of mischief and chaos himself.
“Hello again, Princess Twilight!” Discord said as Twilight and Spike were used to Discord’s shenanigans at this point.
“Hey Discord,” Spike said, rolling up the list and tossing it aside.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting up with you about?” Discord asked as Twilight took out Discord’s invitation.
“Oh! You said you had something to show me? Something about using your chaos magic to help others or something. I can’t tell though, your hoofwriting’s a mess,” Twilight said as Discord looked back at Twilight in confusion.
“I...think there must be some mistake. You were the ones who invited me, Although what you’re saying does sound like something I should do, what with all that Grogar business and whatnot,” Discord said, as he snapped his fingers revealing a bright purple envelope matching Twilight’s coat.
“So...you invited each other?” Spike asked as Twilight and Discord looked at their invitations in confusion. Just then, the guards nodded to one another and left the throne room, leaving the three Equestrian heroes alone.
“Quite the opposite. None of us invited each other. Yet these invitations seem...genuine,” Twilight said as he examined Discord’s note. The lettering in Discord’s note matched Spike’s handwriting to a tee, but Twilight most certainly did not remember asking Spike to write this note for Discord. The two headed down the hall for a quick meal as the invitations suggested they do and stopped when they reached the dining hall. Twilight took a deep breath as she opened the large purple-and-golden doors, revealing a darkened dining room, with the only light being the candlestick in the middle of the table.
“Hello, hello, Princess Twilight and friends. I’d be honored if you three could join me,” A mysterious alicorn figure introduced herself as Twilight, Spike, and Discord gasped in almost horror at her presence. The two young royals were confused at who this intruder could be, while Discord’s heart raced in pure terror at what she could want.
“Uhhh...I take it you were the one who brought us here?” Spike asked as Discord shook his head in disbelief.
“I am,” The figure answered as she took a sip from her chalice.
“No. No, no, no. Please, no!” Discord begged as his panic slowly turned to rage as his yellow-red eyes glowed in a fiery manner. The Draconequus then summoned a ball of yellow magic from his lion paw and attempted to toss it at the specter, who retaliated by surrounding the three of them in a ring of fire with a flick of her wrist. The flames caught the ball of fire and burnt it up, causing Discord to tire himself out. Spike huddled behind Twilight as she tried to blast the fire away with her magic, only for the fire to burn the beam up and causing Twilight to collapse in exhaustion, much to Spike’s horror. The figure chuckled sinisterly as she walked through the fire without so much as a scratch on her body, picking up Discord’s chin as she stared the entity of chaos down.
“I know what you want, and I won’t let you harm a hair on her head, Edris! You hear me, you wannabe devil?” Discord shouted trying to cast magic but was too weakened by the fire to do so.
“Oh. I hear you loud and clear. Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do to stop me,” Darth Edris said as her horn lit up with a red aura that encased Discord’s body, causing pain and agony for Discord before it turned him to stone, much to Twilight and Spike’s horror.
“And as for you, Twilight...” The figure said, looming over Twilight and Spike, overwhelmed with more fear than they have ever felt before.
“Please. Who are you? What do you want with us?” Twilight asked as the figure’s horn lit up and crackled with sparks of red and yellow magic. The magic caused a violet aura to emanate from Twilight’s body and swirl into the figure’s horn, where the aura changed from purple to red. Whatever this spell did, it only made Twilight even weaker than before.
“And now that I have your Element of Friendship, I’ve come to talk to you,” The figure said as Twilight whimpered at the dark figure.
“One, and two, and three, and four, and one, and two, and three, and four…” Roach chanted on as Fluttershy practiced her usual exercises with his help. She had no problem practicing her meditation from within a changeling cocoon, or her skill with a lightsaber. But the one part of training herself to be a Jedi that really made her peeved off was keeping herself physically fit.
“Roach! Please stop! I can’t take it!” Fluttershy begged as she collapsed into a tired, sweaty, stinking mess as her coach looked down at her, realizing he may have overdone it with the physical fitness training for today.
“Uhhh...take 5?” Roach asked as Fluttershy weakly marched over to a nearby spring outside of the Jedi Sanctuary to wash off. As Fluttershy jumped into the pond, letting the cool water brush against her coat and mane like she was giving her whole body a giant glass of water, terrifying visions intruded her mind like an alarm going off. She could hear Twilight, almost even see her. And Fluttershy could hear the sound of fire crackling around her as Twilight screamed in pain and fear. Fluttershy’s head throbbed, hoping and even praying none of this was happening now. But she couldn’t drown out this terrible feeling that Twilight was in grave danger. As fast as she could, she grabbed a nearby towel and rushed over to Roach, who was planning their next few instances of Jedi training.
“Roach! We need to head to Canterlot now!” Fluttershy quietly demanded as Roach was caught off guard and fell over by the unexpected alarm.
“Woah! Whatever happened to ‘Take 5’? It hasn’t even been a minute and a half and you still kinda smell. Anything going on?” Roach asked as he picked himself up.
“I’m sorry if I’m intruding or anything, but I got a disturbing vision in the Force. I highly believe Twilight’s in danger!” Fluttershy said as Roach wondered how bad Fluttershy’s disturbance could have been.
“OK, wait! Hold on a second. It’s much too risky to rescue Twilight like this. For one thing, this could be a trap set up by whatever this evil shadow is or whatever that you said the Griffon Prince warned you about. And second, you’re not exactly ready to rescue anyone yet,” Roach warned as Fluttershy dried herself off and grabbed her lightsaber, ready for the rescue.
“Roach, please! I don’t think we have that many options. I can’t exactly sit here and wait while Twilight suffers! We need to go now!” Fluttershy insisted as Roach admired her bravery, less so her impatience.
“There’s not gonna be anything I can say to stop you, is there?” Roach asked as Fluttershy raced into one of the secret passageways with Roach following close behind.
“Unless this shadow was able to beat the best of the best, I’m gonna say no,” Fluttershy said as the two crawled through the dark tunnel.
“Well, it was worth a shot,” Roach said as the two continued their underground trek.
Twilight struggled to get up after having her energy drained from her by this mysterious enemy as Spike hid behind her, helpless in this unexpected situation.
“Why aren’t you answering me? Who are you?” Twilight begged as the figure diminished the fire and closed the doors, leaving herself, Twilight, and Spike alone in the room with the frozen statue of Discord.
“I am Darth Edris. Queen of Equestria, and Lord of the Sith,” Darth Edris said as Twilight was baffled as she dared call herself a princess.
“No...You’re lying. There’s no way,” Twilight begged as Darth Edris found her disbelief adorable.
“I am not one to lie, as you soon will see,” Edris said as she sat back down to where she was sitting and prompted Twilight and Spike to sit down at the table for a meal with her. The tension was thick in the air as if an awful smell filled the air but no one dared speak up about it. Spike and Twilight quietly looked back at one another and then at their captor.
“Oh, don’t be shy, your highness. It’s not every day I meet ponies like you. Don’t you have any questions for me?” Edris asked, breaking the tension. Twilight’s heart raced as she was forced to speak up about just about anything.
“Yeah. I have tons of questions! What in the world makes you think you’re queen when Celestia and Luna put me in charge? Were you waiting for those two to get out of the way so you could get to me? And what kind of magic did you just pull on me? I want answers now!” Twilight declared, slamming her hoof on the table. Edris was unamused as she put her chalice back down on the table with a sigh.
“You really want to know what’s going on right now, don’t you? Don’t worry. It’ll all be clear soon enough,” Darth Edris said as her horn glowed once more with a violent red aura, this time getting into Twilight’s head and eyes.
“Wait, what are you doing to her?” Spike demanded to know, although an answer would never be uttered from Darth Edris’ lips as both she and Twilight appeared to be in a deep trance.
“Huh? What?” Twilight muttered to herself as she found herself in a far-off, snowy landscape at the edge of a cliff. Twilight shivered and shook as she made her way to the edge of the cliff, where she saw what looked like pony settlers at the bottom of the mountain. Instinctively seeking warmth and shelter, she raced down to the small tribe, where she found the settlers building their houses and setting up their shops.
“Uhh...hello? This is Princess Twilight? I’ve been taken hostage by an evil queen or something,” Twilight said, trying to get the pony's attention, but failing to do so.
“Excuse me? I said--”
“HALT! Who goes there!?” A guard bellows, catching Twilight off guard, who raised her hooves to surrender. Twilight turned around to face the guards, who were actually referring to someone else. Twilight made it over to the guards, who aimed their spears at an oncoming pony dressed in a black cloak. Twilight gasped as she noticed the navy blue mane and fiery yellow eyes under the hood and recognized them as Darth Edris’.
“There! That’s the one! She’s the one who's holding me hostage!” Twilight said, pointing at her, but realizing the guards weren’t listening to her.
“Who are you and what brings you to our newfound settlement?” A very regal and posh voice asked. Twilight turned around to find an equally regal-looking unicorn with a large purple-and-silver crown on the top and noticed how she strangely reminded her of Rarity.
“Wait a second. Princess Platinum!? Then that means--” Twilight said, deducing just what Edris had done to her head.
“I am merely a humble traveler bringing good tidings to the small town which I foresee becoming a great nation. All I ask is for your food and shelter, and I shall grant you the means to make Equestria the great nation I see it becoming!” the Past Darth Edris promised, pulling out a small wooden chest from under her cloak. Edris then opened the chest for Princess Platinum and Princess Twilight to look into. The past unicorn princess was intrigued by the contents of the chest while Twilight could only watch in horror as Edris displayed six small colored crystals: the Elements of Harmony.
“No...No, no, this can’t be…” Twilight wept as the snowy landscape and the pony village that would become Equestria descended into shadow, erasing the illusion.
“Let out all your denial, your highness. It is the beginning of wisdom,” Darth Edris said as Twilight turned around to confront her.
“What makes you think I still believe you and your stupid story? You’re only putting an illusion in my head. You could just be making this up! There’s no way you made the Elements of Harmony! It was--” Twilight argued as Darth Edris stood there unphased and uninterested.
“The Tree of Harmony which I planted and watched grow into one of the mightiest trees I have ever laid eyes upon before you were even born,” Edris countered.
“But they were stored by--” Twilight tried to argue, before being cut off once again.
“The Royal Sisters, who used their power to shape and reform Equestria as I have allowed them to see fit, and then protect the realm with the Elements,” Darth Edris countered once more, frustrating Twilight.
“But...you couldn’t have made them! The point of the Elements is that they bring harmony into the world!” Twilight argued, denying Darth Edris’ claims still.
“Harmony, according to the user and my definition. I wouldn’t call any of the attacks done by Chrysalis, Discord, Tirek, or Nightmare Moon ‘harmonic’, now would you, Princess Twilight? No matter what our enemy’s intentions are, the threat they pose to Equestria is a threat to the harmony we both hold dear,” Darth Edris said as Twilight was left speechless, shocked by what she was hearing. Her entire viewpoint around Equestria and its history had been shattered in front of her very eyes. A few tears trickled down Twilight’s defeated eyes as she feared the worst.
“Alright. You have me. Might as well destroy me while you still can so you can take the throne,” Twilight said through wet eyes and a dry throat as Edris smiled sinisterly and let out a chuckle.
“Oh, you misunderstand. I don’t want to kill you,” Darth Edris said, wiping a tear from Twilight’s cheek.
“Then, what do you want?” Twilight asked, wiping the rest of her tears from her eyes.
“It’s not what I want. It’s what all ponies want. What all beings want. Power. Everyone seeks power in some way, shape, or form. Whether power comes in the form of a gauntlet, an equation, a ring, a wand, even something as small as a promotion is enough to grant one immense power that drives them mad, even if for a short time. In fact, you too are guilty of craving power,” Darth Edris explained, infuriating Twilight.
“That’s not true!!!” Twilight said, raising her voice at the Sith Lord, hoping to intimidate her. Darth Edris, once again, was unamused by Twilight’s theatrics.
“Oh, dear Twilight, you misunderstand. Your friends were the key you needed to unlock the power within the Elements of Harmony and defeat Nightmare Moon. And when Discord took your friends away, you were powerless without them until you had them back. If it weren’t for them, you wouldn’t become Princess of Equestria. Oh, Twilight. You are guilty of craving power. Power in the form of your friends. And Twilight, you’ve made many friends over the years. But answer me this,” Darth Edris turned her back “Was it out of the goodness of your heart? Or did you do it to keep Equestria from falling apart?”