Star Wars
Episode IV
My Little Sith Lord
Strife runs rampant throughout the Galaxy! Old alliances have crumbled and the once seemingly indomitable Empire has suffered heavy losses.
Though all is far from well in the galaxy. Powerful weapons of war still roam the cosmos including the dreaded DEATH STAR II. Beings with power on a scale previously unheard of continue to move about the galactic stage.
Even now, a once friend and ally of Twilight and the Rebel Alliance searches for the key to bring this conflict to an end once an for all.
Cover art drawn by the incredibly talented Nova Quill/Firimil. She also deserves thanks for her edits and comments as well as Tired Old Man who helped me out.
Chapters (4)
And now I'm imagining the MLP theme done to the Imperial March...
It doesn't jive well...
8532641
Damn, that would have made a good song.
Yeah no surprise Tempest Shadow would be a Sith Lord.
Huh.
This is interesting.
I'm a little lost, but your works have yet to fail to entertain or draw me in, so...let's see where this one goes.
Please let Starlight die!
Hmm.
There's no comedy tag, should I be worried?
This looks good.
I'm curious about the background. How did it get to this situation? For example, how did Twilight get a lightsaber and when did she start struggling against the Dark Side?
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Backstory will be filled in as we go along. I honestly might do prequels at some point (with far fewer Gungans). I certainly have enough material. Though, I can say that the pony crew has been traveling with the main Star Wars crew for a while and there seems to be a rather unfortunate issue of heavy magic users getting a taste of darkness.
You're Darth Vader, not Kylo Ren.
So Twilight here is either Obi Wan or Anakin.
Heh.
He's a mammal, thus a living radiator.
HAHAHAHAAA!
See the thing is, I am fully prepared to believe that that can happen.
Best of luck. You'll likely need it.
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I think in this fic that Twilight is Twilight, Obi Wan is Obi Wan and Anakin is Anakin.
8533308
See I know that NOW that I've read the entire fic, but I meant moreso she'd play the ROLE of Obi Wan or Anakin. Now I know better.
Um... I had to give this a pass in order to even get into the fic, but with the discussion on detachment I kind of have to bring it up.
The Jedi philosophy and the ideals of Harmony are incompatible. Specifically because the former requires detachment and the later requires friendship.
Now, friendship is part of Star Wars too (Luke wouldn't have blown up the first Death Star without the magic of friendship touching Han, for example) but that's because Lucas is kind of a mess with his stories. Great at big sweeping ideas, but terrible at the details. It doesn't change the fact that the likes of Yoda would be terrified of ponykind of their powers rely on the Force. The Sith rely on their passions, but at least they're self-interested. A whole Force sensitive society built on attachment would be a huge red flag.
Sure, this is Luke so maybe he's just not versed enough in Jedi lore to see the danger, but Obi-wan's ghost is going to have something to say about it. And the way the characters talk about it there seems to be some line between the Force and magic, but then there's Tempest's 'horn' so there's some sort of connection there.
And finally there's Twilight's comment about friends often falling to the dark side. And just... Well duh! Why didn't anyone see that coming? *Someone* on the Jedi side should've had plenty of objections.
Now, it's only the first chapter so maybe what I'm talking about is the whole point of the story, but right now it's really bothering me! Dx
Despite all this; hot damn is this first chapter well written! I will definitely be keeping an eye on this.
awesome
So, Tempest has fallen back in the Dark Side, and much deeper. Wonder how exactly that “abandon the Death Star” happened.
And Twilight and Starlight are apparently Jedi knight and padawan.
I am eager to read more.
A valid point.
Rainbow Dash.
Whatever you say, Edgehorse.
Subtlety is not your forte, Starlight.
Did she just turn a Force storm into a Death Ball? This went from Star Wars to DBZ in so little time I'm surprised I haven't got whiplash. I LOVE IT!
Llamas with hats
Was there a part 1 to this series i missed?
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Nope. "Darth Tempest" was kind of the inspiration, so I'm starting in the middle. Backstory will be filled as we move along and prequels might be written at some point.
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Well, I hope the princesses won’t (all?) end up like this :
img00.deviantart.net/ba5c/i/2014/177/3/e/sith_luna_borderless_by_ncmares-d7o4z1w.jpg
pre00.deviantart.net/2d47/th/pre/f/2015/259/a/6/sith_celestia_redux_by_ncmares-d99svcq.jpg
pre00.deviantart.net/af20/th/pre/i/2015/124/5/2/sith_twilight_redux_by_ncmares-d8s6z2i.jpg
pre00.deviantart.net/8923/th/pre/f/2015/331/6/b/sith_cadance_redux_by_ncmares-d9i7xv3.jpg
(Source)
Then Wedge heard it, a clap of lap thunder
Lap thunder?
Sounds like an obese stripper name
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Fixed.
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Don't be. His serious stories are much better than his comedic ones.
You won't butcher these beloved characters for the sake of "comedy", right? ...Right?
8553769
I'm not sure what would be funny about "murder" in this context.
I honestly thought this would be about Tempest being trained by an not exatly "evil" Sith Lord or something, not Luke and Twilight being there.
It is not bad, but not what I was searching for I think.
I think Starlight-as-Carl is my new favorite thing. There've been a couple things recently with it, and it's golden every time!
Hi, can we have news about this fanfic? How much of the next part has been written?
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It's maybe a quarter to a third of the way done. I'm working on it! Just have a lot of characters to juggle with all the action and trickling in details of the story! Thanks for the interest!
8645758
Ok, thanks for giving news. Take the time you need.
One of the few things that can stand up to lightsabers.
HAH!
You're lucky you're damn good at what you do.
Glad your dick measuring contest comes last.
... You worry me.
GOOD.
Oh, I love this snark.
HAH!
I hope not too, you're great.
Nice chapter again! I like the interactions between Twilight and Starlight in this.
Awesome
Starlight is by far my favorite character in this story.
Are you trying to get me to ship Han and Trixie?
Ok, just what does this come after? One chapter in and I'm missing SO much here!
8687927
Kinda starting in the middle (hence the Episode 4 in the description). From a Star Wars standpoint ponies where discovered after The Empire Strikes back but before Return of the Jedi, creating a sort of alternate timeline.
8688003
Ok, thought this was a sequel to another story.
Alright! I have no idea what the fuck is going on. I’ll bear with it, even set aside my SW fanboy that is questioning many things, but some more background would be loved right now.
... I don’t know. Im not 100% sold. I’ll like and track this, cause it’s interesting, and ill see if It gets a favorite.
"Tantrums against machinery would prove fruitless and show that she had the emotional maturity of a child."
Dying.
I thought you were going to change Starlight's blades to silver? Maybe I just don't understand your humor. Wouldn't be the first time. Maybe it's a condition, though whose I'm not sure.
I envy your writing skill and freedom. Meanwhile...
Lightsabers are funny things in how like stars they are. Brilliant and deadly. They come in so many colors. But everyone knows that the best ones... are black.
9040636
Crud. I may have missed a few spots? Lemme double check. Thanks for the heads-up!
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I honestly didn't see any instances of that not being the case, so I thought you might have been having a go with your fans.
8533423
That's one interpretation, though between the various eras of writing on Star Wars and the needs of individual authors to find some way to make their plot or personal antagonists significantly dramatic and threatening there's no canonical codex of Jedi philosophy beyond "what did we happen to go with for the last movie's plot to work?"
That said and while trying to minimize the introduction of mutable history, though there's a time period (pre-Luke's Knighthood) in which Jedi teachings had a strong focus on detachment even then that was a route rather than the goal. The goal is to increase connection to the Force, which while vaguely defined is not unlike the unified desires and purpose of life itself within the universe housing it. Detachment can help with that - the greatest obstacle to Jedi senses and foresight is that you can't sense past any preconception you aren't prepared to abandon. You're a mortal being, meaning the pattern you're trying to understand and help along includes your death. There are really many ways you shouldn't let yourself die, but somewhere down the line there's a time and place where it's the best thing. Your ego, your job, your friends, your aesthetic tastes... all of these exist within a moving tapestry of time and evolution where they'll - appropriately - part with you, if also not forever. Even defining oneself as a Jedi can bundle preconceptions into it. The will of the Force may not be a moving target, but your place in the world is.
Detachment works well as far as it goes. That particular Jedi teaching was tested and eventually, found wanting. In retrospect, trying to raise children disconnected from regular society and limiting their experience of desire or grief wasn't ideal preparation for their societal role at the time. They also had nothing to fall back on the instant that detachment shattered.
Had planned to contrast Dark Jedi practices and Sith philosophies, but even I get tired of my textwalling habits. But while the Force and Harmony certainly aren't the same thing, those teachings aren't incompatible - especially as life within Harmony shouldn't interact quite the same with the Force to start.
8533423
A year and a half later, I had reread my own post to see what I'd even said though. It was worth the wait though! Also, does the fact you responded mean we'll get more soon?
Yeah, I mean... Fair. A kind of problem MLP seems to share, actually. But I think we can agree that a general philosophy of detachment is a core concept of Jedi philosophy even if specifics change with writers, same as we can say friendship is center to the idea of Harmony even if the specifics of how it all works is vague. (Well, at least on the magical side of things. I think the lessons you're supposed to apply to real life is unexplained.)
Well, that's what I thought when I made my first argument anyway. Though clearly you don't agree, given the next two paragraphs of your response. I don't have anything to say on that biggest paragraph. Admittedly I haven't read too deep into it, but that's because at least on the surface level I agree. Detachment is useful to the Jedi because it allows them to connect better with the Force, which is their primary goal. You describe well why that is. But then you contradict this, or so it seems to me.
Was it? I assume you're talking about Anakin here, but if that's the case it wasn't the philosophy that failed. Anakin Skywalker never believed in this idea of detachment. He might never have objected to it while being taught it, but he clearly never really embraced it. And why would he? He already has such a powerful connection to the Force why would he need to get closer to it? He's already better than everyone. But it was his attachments that led to his downfall, and not just his attachments to his mother and Padme, but his attachment to the idea that he is the most powerful man to ever live and is capable of anything. Attachments, in the Buddist philosophy that Lucas borrowed from to make this corner of Jedi philosophy, is about much much more than your attachment to people. Regardless, the failure was not of the philosophy itself, it was that Anakin didn't ever embrace it. Whether that's on him or his teachers is an important question to ask, but not terribly relevant here because (at least in this world with how the Force works) the philosophy itself is actually proven sound. Detachment is the key to not falling to the dark side.
Of course, as an important counterpoint; the only reason Anakin was saved was because of his attachment to his son. Which reveals something I don't think the Jedi ever looked at. While detachment is what keeps you from falling. It's also possibly the only thing that can bring you back if you have. All of this makes me want to talk about KotOR but... well "even I get tired of my textwalling habits."
Okay, that's not actually true I could write forever about these philosophies, but I'd really rather you actually read it so I don't want it to betoolong.But what I found I most interesting about what you said is actually here;
You're clearly more concerned with the mystical side of things, and are treating the pony's magic (which you're referring to as Harmony for some reason, assuming I read this right) and the Force as seperate things tied to their philosophies. Now, I had assumed they were part of the same mystical force that comprise the universe for this setting, but A) it's not like it doesn't work if they're separate it just raises a lot of questions about things like how they interact and how Jedi training would help Harmony users, and more importantly B) the mystical side of the discussion was never my point anyway.
The core Jedi philosophy is one of detachment. And Anakin proved the value of it, not disproved it, when he failed to live up to its teachings. Had he learned to detach, he never would've fallen so the philosophy is reinforced not torn down. The core idea of MLP is in the title; friendship, real friendship (looking at Starlight and Cozy), is both a desired end unto itself and the best defense against the world's woes. These two philosophies are incompatible.
Now, this doesn't mean that either side is right or wrong. And while I have my personal preference in philosophies between the two, it's Harmony, I wouldn't present the Jedi as bad guys for it. They're trying to be good people in the face of their world (with the Force in it) works. All I'm saying is that Equestria and Jedi shouldn't have instantly gotten along; there's some clear friction there and missed storytelling opportunities by just mushing the good guys together because they're the good guys.
The one major caveat to all this, and what let me get into the story in the first place, was Luke. Like I said earlier; Anakin fell because of his attachments, and came back because of them. But that wouldn't have worked if Luke hadn't reciprocated and embraced that attachment. He rejected Obi-wan and Yoda urging him to kill Vader because, they believed, it was the only way. He embraced that connection, at great personal risk (and risk to the entire galaxy), which is a pretty extreme measure. But that's what it took to succeed. So if any Force user is going to embrace what ponies teach, it will be him.
And now I seriously need to stop, I doubt anyone's going to read this as it is. As badly as I want to keep going I just can't. All this said, I still love your story and I'm eager to see more, even if we disagree on the underlying philosophies here.
Who is that death trooper?
9852268
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Death_trooper
Not an individual, but an elite group of stormtroopers.
Yeah, the story simply stopped making sense to me. Maybe because I just don't remember what's going on before that.
I like the idea of R2 swearing like a sailor.
Obi-Wan WOULD say that-
You're hitting your limit.
... You worry me.
The Curse Of The Protagonist. Life gets fucking weird for you.
Damn, Starlight, tell us how you really feel?
I love this horse.
It's probably confusing and irritating Tempest, so yes.
I figure Chewie would be a great Dad.
I mean, it worked with Vader.
Nice shot, Best Horse!
She has a point.
I choose to believe that he's not being sarcastic. He's giving Trixie genuine unironic praise.
Vader?
Sounds about right,.
That is terrifying.
Absolutely.
Oh brilliant...