7: A Call To Action
Time dulled many things, it was even said to heal all wounds if old wives and flowery poets were to be believed.
For Sunset though all time did was bring her closer to her current goal, and allow old wounds to fester.
Sunset and Yoda had built up a routine over the three years that she had been with the diminutive Jedi Master. Every morning, without fail would begin with Yoda waking Sunset up with a smack to the shin and a sigh. Every time Sunset would grumble and the two would go about their morning exercise.
Sunset would heft the old troll onto her back and run the route she always did, avoiding the cave she had stumbled into and once she had done that, she would put Yoda down and begin practicing with the Force.
Every practice session Yoda would always go on about do or do not, and how try doesn’t exist but honestly Sunset tuned him out at that point, preferring to practice the Force the way she wanted, not the way he preferred.
Before the cave she would have grudgingly listened to Yoda, at least enough to follow through with any of his instructions before tweaking them. After the events of the cave though she gave him the same amount of respect she gave Celestia later in her studies, at least in her head, meaning none. Oh, outside she was always saying things like “Yes master,” and “of course” but in practice she was rebelling and rebelling hard.
Sunset hated liars and being told that her experience in the cave was a dream counted as a lie to her, and something that Yoda had found out over time was that Sunset Shimmer held grudges and she held onto them for a long time.
So, when he told her after returning from the cave that fateful night to not go inside it again, Sunset knew she’d be ignoring that order.
Once every month, for three years Sunset would sneak off in the middle of the night to once again attempt to defeat her shadow, sometimes she’d enter the cave and find her specter ready for a fight, and each time she’d try to rush past her shade to get to the saber and each time she’d be rebuffed and defeated, barely getting out of the cave before being electrocuted once again.
Other times she’d go to the cave and find nothing, just herself and the lightsaber where it belonged. At first, she thought the cave was trying to trick her, lull her into a false sense of security. Overtime though she came to accept that some nights her shadow wouldn’t appear and used those times of quiet to practice with the blade and learn some of the forms that were written down before her.
She had been doing this for three years, and even though Yoda had caught her after a few months, once again waking her up outside of the cave with a smack to her head and a stern frown he didn’t stop her from sneaking out, though this did bring about no end of arguments between the two.
Over the course of three years, Sunset came to realize that the “testing” days as she called the encounters with herself and the “training” days were the same each month she went. So, it was on one such training day, after another argument with Yoda, that she made her way to the door and left the hut, not even hiding her intentions from the Jedi Master, who just watched her go.
“You are too emotional Sunset Shimmer, you need to let go of your anger Sunset Shimmer, you can be so much more Sunset Shimmer! By the Sun it’s like Celestia but worse!” Sunset raged into the swamp as she marched once more to the cave for her bi-monthly saber training.
She didn’t even remember what the argument was about at this point, her anger at her “master” kept her from thinking straight and though she kept trying to calm herself it just didn’t work. She could feel the icy tendrils of the dark reaching up under her skin and she shivered.
Ignoring it she marched onwards towards the cave, slowly calming herself while whispering about letting off steam with her saber training. That thought brought a smile to her face, and honestly not even Yoda could put a damper on the idea of Lightsaber practice.
That was the one thing that Sunset had to look forward too, especially after three years of at least to her mind, basic force training. She always felt like she improved every time she practiced with the lightsaber. Each time she’d come to practice she’d learn a bit about the saber forms, read up on them from the manual and put the different katas into practice, with priority put on Djem So1 and Soresu2, the Perseverance Form and the Resilience Form.
Those two forms, while similar were the two that called to her the most when she looked at the manual and really studied it. The other forms she ignored or glanced over, but those two, when she looked at them, she couldn’t look away.
With the phantom hum of HER saber, not Yoda’s, Hers, in her ear she turned the bend into nest of trees that held her destination only to come to a surprised halt. a campfire sits in front of the cave entrance, a pot of what she assumed to be stew boiled above the fire and a man, probably within late 60’s early 70’s sat stirring the pot with a wooden ladle. He had shoulder length greying brown hair, a bushy beard and when he looked up at Sunset, he smiled at her.
“hello there!” he spoke with a soft, but deep voice, accented with the standard Coruscanti inflection. He sat up straight, adjusting his brown robes and beckoned to Sunset with his free hand “come, sit with me, would you like some stew?”
Sunset nervously walked to the fire and sat in the offered chair before declining, “No, thank you though.” She looked at him wearily, but the man just shrugged and served himself a bowl.
“More for me I supposed,” He smiled once more before asking “what brings you here my young friend?”
“I…I should be asking you that!” she exclaimed looking at him aghast “I thought Yoda and I were the only ones on the planet…” she scratched her cheek nervously “well besides those researchers a ways out, but you get what I mean!”
At that the man sat back in his camp stool a bit and chuckled, “Well, I’ve always been here, I just don’t always come around to places like this very often…” he frowned and glanced at the cave when he said that but turned his attention back to Sunset. “I’m sorry miss, I never caught your name how rude of me.”
Sunset didn’t miss the glance and felt even more guarded before answering “Sunset Shimmer…”
the man’s smile returned, and he stuck out his hand for a handshake “Well Sunset, you can call me Qui Gon Jinn”
Light years away on the fiery world of Mustafar, deep within Darth Vader’s monolith of a castle, Sonata Dusk shuddered. Today was torture day, she hated torture day.
Sitting in front of her, strapped to a table like she had been three years ago was a human Jedi. She looked to be in her mid-30’s and Sonata didn’t know her name, but that didn’t matter, names didn’t matter. All that mattered was doing what her master commanded, and Sonata had learned early on what displeasing her master looked like, she could still feel his magical…sorry… Force grip around her throat.
Putting on a false smile that didn’t reach her eyes Sonata began to talk to her assignment, hoping that the Jedi would take the hint and just give her what she wanted so neither of them had to suffer any longer than necessary. “So, it’s been a few weeks since we last talked…” ignoring her prisoners scoff she crossed her legs and continued, “Are you willing to at least work with me? I don’t want to try and force you again.”
The Jedi didn’t say anything for a while and Sonata was hopeful that she had gotten through to her, that she wouldn’t have to use her powers to try and make her talk, but those hopes were dashed when the trapped force user just laughed at her, “You really think I’ll fall for that Sith?” the woman spat at Sonata before continuing “You won’t get anything out of me!”
Sonata resisted the urge to sigh and let her smile fall from her face “Well that’s to bad… and you are right about one thing…” It was then that she grabbed a hold of the Jedi’s hair and forced the woman’s head still, using the Force to keep her from closing her eyes.
“I didn’t think you’d fall for it, but it’d have been easier if you did.” With that the song began, the screams followed shortly after.
A few hours later Sonata knelt before Darth Vader and relayed all that she had found during her…interrogation of the Jedi. She ignored the cold feeling being within his presence always gave her, especially now that she was aware of the Force and could feel the currents of it swirl around both of them.
She told him what the Jedi was doing in Imperial Center3, where her companions were hiding and that she had died under the stress of what Sonata had put her through.
If Vader was pleased, she didn’t get to see it, because all he did when given the news that the Jedi had perished under the torture his apprentice had laid upon her was nod, and motion for to go back to her quarters and await further orders.
So, she did, she went back to her room and when the doors slid closed and she was once more within the relative privacy that it provided her, she slumped to the floor and hugged her knees to her chest and began to bawl.
If her sisters were with her, they’d criticize her for crying. Telling her that it didn’t matter that the Jedi was dead, that it was what Sirens did and that she should be happy with the amount of energy she had saved up by doing what she did.
Her sisters weren’t with her though, they were off around the castle doing their own minor training and she barely got to see them anymore, and even if they had been with her, they wouldn’t understand what Sonata was feeling at all…
Adagio and Aria gladly gave themselves to the Dark, they relished the power it gave them and used it as a supplement for the gems they had lost.
Sonata knew the truth though, she was lucky to still have a gem to draw energy from even as she called upon the Dark Side each time she did so. Siren’s didn’t need their gems to survive, they had known that, otherwise they would have starved on the planet Vader had found them on long ago. A siren’s gem fed them power though, it fed them on the anguish and despair that other sentient beings felt, using that to increase the magical…or in this universes case Force potential of the Siren.
The problem Sonata seemed to hit that her sisters didn’t understand, no matter how many times she tried to explain it to them, was that the Dark Side and a Siren’s gem didn’t seem to work the way they’d think it would.
Both fed on negative emotions, the Dark side on Anger, Hatred, Pain and Fear to increase its power and hold on a being, while the gem used those same emotions to enthrall people under a Siren’s song. You’d think that the two powers working together would bring about great results, but all it did was cause a struggle within Sonata Dusk as well as causing unstoppable brain hemorrhaging in whoever she was trying to enthrall with both the Force and the Song.
A Jedi, like the one she had tortured earlier, could resist long enough to at least tell her what she wanted, A dark sider could last even longer, but a non-force sensitive would hear the song for barely a minute and be lost to the tug of war between the two powers trying to control them.
The Dark Side and the Gem, both powers built on domination and control would try to dominate each other, until the person being sung to just stopped functioning and Sonata felt every moment of it.
Adagio and Aria would have loved the feeling, they would have loved the torture, the tug of war between the two ruinous powers that Sonata now held, but for Sonata it just brought her misery and made her sick to her stomach.
With one more shuddering cry Sonata curled into a ball, all the while projecting unknowingly her emotions into the Force, the words she muttered to herself carried across light years, and any Force sensitive could have picked them up.
Luckily for her those words were in Equestrian.
Unluckily for her, Darth Vader was close enough to feel the call for help blast out through the Force, even if he didn’t understand the words projected.
Sonata’s cries for help and freedom would pick up in frequency that night, as Darth Vader’s anger descended upon her like an avalanche, and across the galaxy the hidden Jedi and even Palpatine himself would hear the call.
Palpatine would just cackle within his throne room at his apprentice’s rage, at Sonata’s suffering and ignore the calls for aid. The Jedi would feel for the lost soul that had gotten herself the attention of Vader’s ire, but refuse to aid her either, knowing that it’d be futile to try and save her.
In a small system near Mustafar, at least on the galactic scale the call was heard, and a small light answered back.
Sunset Shimmer and Qui Gon Jinn talked for what felt like hours. She would tell the old man about her experiences with Yoda, with Celestia and with the cave. He would just nod and give a bit of wisdom here or there, but otherwise let her rant.
Sunset felt herself smile a little bit as she ranted on, Qui Gon didn’t judge her like Celestia or Yoda did, he didn’t tell her to calm down or criticize her for her anger… after three years of dealing with Yoda’s lectures that was refreshing.
She finally let herself calm down and asked “why are you just letting me rant to you? You don’t even know me.” She accepted the café that he handed her and took a sip of it, the warm liquid soothing her sore throat.
“I have found, that letting people get what’s off their chest is sometimes better than criticizing them for their feelings.” Qui Gon rubbed his beard with his hand, his stew forgotten off to the side of his left. “I had a student, very much like you who had issues controlling his passions, he would wear his emotions on his sleeve.” The old man smiled at the memory before continuing, “He eventually learned that he didn’t have to just shove his concerns, his worries or his issues off to the side, that he could tell me anything that was bothering him and that I would keep anything he told me in confidence… that I think, helped him immensely in the long run.”
“He sounds like a lucky man, to have you has a teacher.” Sunset commented causing Qui Gon’s smile to grow.
“He is, and I was lucky to teach him…” Qui Gon was about to continue when something stopped him.
A cry of anguish reached them both, though Sunset didn’t notice Qui Gon reacting to the Force like she did.
‘help me…’ the voice whispered in a language Qui Gon didn’t understand, or at least wouldn’t have understood in life but as he was now, connected to the living force the language rang just as clear to him as it did to Sunset Shimmer who was looking around frantically trying to find who had called to them.
‘HELP ME!’ The voice once again screamed as if it had noticed their presence, causing Sunset to clutch her head and look up at the sky.
As if it was a sign from the Force itself a single red star shone in the night sky, or at least it did from Sunset’s perspective.
Standing up, Sunset used the Force to pull the lightsaber’s case from the cave and after retrieving the blade she would rush back to Yoda hoping that he had heard the call for help as well.
Qui Gon Jinn Watched her leave with a frown on his face, the cogs of destiny were turning yet again it seemed, and with one last look at the cave the man sighed and began to fade away, but not before muttering to himself “I hope you know what your doing.”
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Sunset needs the reality check that will soon be coming as her pride and arrogance are as bad as Anikin’s. Hopefully she can dodge the Skywalker curse. Still I hope she can rescue Sonata and get her to turn to the light side.
hmmmn, decide, Sunset must, how to serve this call best. if she leaves now, help them she could but....
OK not 100% certain on the timeline but if we're close to New Hope obviously it's off to see Obi-Wan. Unless we're doing some prequel stuff instead. Honestly, I have no idea and I'm excited to see what happens next.
9844192
Revenge of the Sith was 19bby
The story started in 16bby
This chapter is three years after story start in 13bby
New Hope is in 0bby/0aby
It’s time for adventure! Time for sunset and likely sonata to begin there galactic journey.
9844195
Ah okay, that clears it up, so are we heading towards original content, Extended Universe content or whatever Disney has crammed into the pre-episode 4 timeline over the last the few years? Keep in mind I know very little of anything outside the movies so between the three options there is no real difference to me lol.
9844202
Legends and original content
So much light and dark in this chapter
Glad to see Qui Gon Jinn doing what he can to help steer Sunset in the right direction. Honestly, I think he'd have been a far better mentor for Sunset than Yoda, but that's just my take.
Good to know you're computer troubles are getting resolved.
9844219
So fun fact. This chapter was almost done...and then at work last night i was like YO LETS ADD QUI GON! So i completely changed the direction the chapter was going to go
9844224
Sometimes, last minute additions are the best additions. And sometimes, they completely flub the story. This was the former.
I don't know if you follow Thor Skywalker on YouTube, but I tend to fall into line with his interpretation of Qui Gon being a one of the last true Jedi of his generation, in that he followed the will of the force, not the senate or Jedi council.
9844224
So sunset is go to the cave again after hearing mysteryous voice i think is a future if she turn to dark or probably a female jedi that being tortured by siren also what the name of female jedi that being capture also when sunset reach her knight hood?
Also more please.
9844224
Also Will she get holocron?
Qui Gon jin show as well and i really thinking what kind type jedi Will sunset follow?
Guardian,sentinel,counsilar,etc?
Is sunset Will join rebellion or not of it is just make sure she become an x wing pilot?.
Also where she got her kyber crystal also what type lightsaber that she use right now?.
9844203
Is sunset still have grudge to take revenge on celestia hoppully she could put a side of her self Also make her a grey jedi cause is Also her personality as well.
9844294
I believe a previous comment from him, he said he wasn't going to do that.
Oooh, Sunset finally got someone to listen to her rather than talk AT her. I wonder if her finally letting off some steam will help her any. And at least I'm happy to see that the first thing she does after hearing a cry for help is decide to GO. Yoda will probably advise her to not leave, but I'm pretty sure she'll get pissed at the thought of just ignoring something like that... She might be angry most of the time, but she hasn't yet thrown away her morals.
Also, thanks for the brief timeline. It's pretty helpful to know roundabouts when all this is happening.
Oh God, what's Sonata has to do to that jedi what's so hard to read and very depressing.... She is suffering just as much as that random Jedi is...
Sunset and Sonata are certainly feeling awfully Gray...Or at least on that path!
Rather good to see Qui-Gon, here. i always liked him in TPM. :) And Sunset... help Sonata you might be able to, but you are not ready to face Vader.
Man, Sonata is one of those people who can do little but find the most space under someone's thumb. I feel horrible.
9844219
If he had lived their would be no Vader.
It's good to see qui gon help sunset. To me he's a much better master then yoda
10059500 I agree. Yoda is certainly a favorite of mine, but he's too rigid. Qui Gon is what I consider a real teacher, not only because he doesn't push emotions completely aside like other Jedi, but because he knew of the value of them and the Light at the same time. He was a good man.
Ah, I can't believe I put off catching up on this for so long.
The parts in this chapter with Qui-Gon need a once over for basic punctuation and capitalization errors.
And so the wheels of fate turn ever onward...