Balancing Act
There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force
-The modern Jedi code established by Odan-Urr and transcribed by Homonix Rectonia during the Early Manderon Period
The peace and tranquility of a serene, savannah grass covered world, cloaked in the cover of a starlit night was suddenly shattered when a large fireball lit up the air, rocketing down towards the ground at a tremendous speed.
With a powerful thud, and a explosion from which a pillar of smoke and flame that could be seen for miles, it hit, creating a massive scorched crater in the ground. Trees caught alight in the sparks tossed up by the blaze and thrown into the wind.
The smoke soon cleared away, and the flames died away as time passed, to reveal a small metal pod. The front half of the entire escape pod -For that’s what it was- had been charred, blackened and scorched by it’s re-entry into the atmosphere.
A purple blade soon jutted through the dome-like exterior of the pod, and cut a hole to free it’s two occupants. The metal fell away, and two Jedi resembling horses clad in brown robes exited the pod. One was an azure blue in coat color, with a light blue mane. The other had a lavender coat, and long purple hair with raspberry streaks. Both had horns jutting out from their foreheads, marking them as unicorns from the planet Equus.
“Well…” the azure blue mare remarked in a rather sarcastic tone. Two regular lightsaber hilts were clipped to her belt, compared to her Master’s singular curved one. “That was pleasant, wasn’t it?”
“Depends on your way of looking at it I suppose…” Trixie’s master remarked, as if crash-landing on a planet was just another day at the office for her.
“Personally, Trixie blames you for this predicament,” Trixie snarked back. “After all, you were the one in charge of negotiations…” she trailed off.
“That…” Twilight began. “Is a load of bantha fodder. After all, I keenly remember you igniting your blades when that Neimoidian called you a “Piece of Equestrian Crap”...” she sighed. One of these days, Trixie’s… volatile temper would get the better of her or perhaps them both and get them into a situation they couldn’t dig themselves out of. She groaned and rubbed her temples, wondering how Obi-Wan put up with his own padawan. She’d heard that he was even more rebellious than her own was, if that was possible.
“Well, can’t do anything about it now, now can we?” Trixie snarked back. “Here we are, stranded on… Well, Trixie doesn’t quite know where we are! Pure luck we landed on this planet to begin with, could have just landed on a passing asteroid for all we knew with your piloting skills!”
Twilight flushed with embarrassment, and laughed nervously. She supposed she deserved that one. Her piloting abilities did indeed leave much to be desired. As she looked up at the sky, stars twinkling in the light of the planet’s twin moons, she sighed to herself. She, for the first time in her life as a member of the Order felt… alone, isolated. Hesitant as she was to admit it, she was afraid. Not just of what might happen to her, but of what might happen to her student as well. They were both knights, yes, but that didn’t mean they were an unstoppable force like some believed Jedi to be.
Fact of the matter was, they were without provisions, and out of contact with their superiors in the order. In short, they only had themselves to rely on. Master and Student.
“Probably going to be here a while. It might take the Order a little bit to figure out our mission went sideways and come looking for us,” Twilight thought to herself, as something screeched in the night, hidden away in the tall grasses around her lurking out of sight. Her hand went to her lightsaber on pure reflex. In an instant, it ignited in a purple blade, humming as she gripped it tightly in one hand. Twilight had studied in the craft of Form II, or Makashi as it was alternatively known.
This particular form relied on dueling, and was composed of precision and efficient strikes in comparison to Form I or Shii-Cho's wild, sweeping motions. Masters of this form actually appeared to dance while in the midst of combat. It was at its best in a duel against a singular opponent, but sadly, didn’t work all too well against ranged attacks like blaster fire. Compensations had to be developed by the user, such as learning to parry attacks.
“Best we get moving, I don’t want to find out what lurks in these savannahs after dark…” Twilight murmured, and Trixie nodded in agreement. She’d trembled slightly as she heard the screech.
“Yes, probably would be best…” Trixie agreed, and one of her hands gripped one of her two lightsabers… Just in case.
As they began the long walk to hopefully find shelter, Twilight flashed back as to how they’d gotten in this predicament to begin with…
A few hours earlier…
“Master Ey’dwatta. I hope that you consider this peace treaty between the neimoidians and the Jedi important.” Twilight levitated the scroll to the neimoidian sitting on the throne. “This is a chance for us to bolster our ranks and drive away the Empire for good.”
“Well…” Ey’dwatta eyed up the document for a few seconds, then pulled it away. “Given how… obnoxious your partner has been, I find an alliance between the two of us hard to believe.” He glared at Trixie and muttered something in his native tongue.
“Do you kiss your mother with that mouth, buster?” Trixie turned up her nose and scoffed. “How rude. And they call you the leader of the neimoidians?”
“If you can’t control your friend, Master Twilight, then put a muzzle on her,” Ey’dwatta’s burning eyes now turned to Twilight. “Especially when we’re discussing a matter of peace!”
“A muzzle?! The Great and Powerful Jedi Knight Trixie has no need for a peasant brace like that!” Trixie snorted, steam coming out through her snout.
“Trixie. SHUT. UP.” Twilight hissed out as she gritted her teeth and used magic to seal Trixie’s mouth closed. For a brief moment, she seemed to have forgotten one of the Jedi Code’s rules. A Jedi should never punish nor reprimand his padawan in public. Instead, they must always treat their padawan with respect.
“Like I said. We would consider it.” Ey’dwatta recoiled into his throne. “Provided that you can keep that Equestrian piece of crap out of the proceedings.”
Trixie, unable to control her fury for a second longer, lunged at the leader of the neimoidians, lightsabers ready to strike, when Twilight ripped her away from him and slammed her against the wall.
“Trixie!” Twilight’s yell was so loud, that an echo reverberated around the room.
“Guards! Guards!” Ey’dwatta cried out as well. “Get these hostile horses out of my sight! Now!”
And before anyone could say or do anything else, hundreds of battle droids came running into the room; all armed with blasters and ready to strike down the ponies. Once they were in position, they primed their weapons and opened fire on the mares.
“Sithspit!” Twilight cursed to herself as she used her lightsaber to repel the beams away. “Trixie! We’re leaving!”
Trixie wanted to try fighting back, but she found herself magically lifted away a second time. Unable to break free of her master’s hold without dropping her weapons, she just huffed as Twilight took her out of the room and set her down running, with the droids now in hot pursuit.
Blades flashed and blaster fire flew as two figures fled down a metal hallway. Clanking sounds were heard from behind them, rhythmic in nature. Twilight thrust one of her hands out and a pure wave of force energy sent several of the geonosian built mechanoids flying back.
Twilight then pulled one of the droids towards her -One with orange markings, signifying him as a commander- and stabbed it in the chest.
“But I just got promoted…” the droid trailed off, before it fell to the floor, internal workings sparking. Trixie meanwhile, was making up for her Master’s lack of defense against blaster fire by blocking and deflecting the lasers with her twin lightsabers. One blade was green in color, the other a blue shade.
“Well, this is a fine predicament we found ourselves in isn’t it?” Twilight deadpanned, as her horn glowed purple and in a blur, she applied magic to her hooves and flashed through a selection of droids cutting them down. Her blade crackled with a purple coating of electricity, pure magic forced through it as well. It was a common trait amongst unicorn built Lightsabers, for them to have the ability to conduct magic.
The droids just kept coming, as the two fled down a corridor and took a side turn into the maintenance ducts of the ship. Trixie threw one of her blades and it boomeranged back into her hand as it lopped the top off of some battle droids. “Face it Twilight, this mission was screwed from the start! Honestly, negotiating with Neimoidians!” she snapped.
“Well, it was worth a shot!” Twilight retorted as she heard the sound of footsteps approaching them from behind. “Anything, just anything to end this damned war early and put us back in peacetime!”
“...And this worked out so well…” Trixie grumbled to herself as she saw battle droids, led by the black commando units coming at them from either side. “Well Master, what’s the plan?”
“Um… Er…” Twilight thought for a moment, although words seemed to be failing her so Trixie in all of her infinite wisdom offered a suggestion.
“May I suggest a tactical retreat? AKA… Run?” she remarked.
“Yes, that might be best,” Twilight replied as a blaster bolt just barely missed her head. Just barely. Another flew as they rounded a corner, and Twilight held up her hand and it stopped. Just like that, in midair.
“Hmm, maybe I should be the Master here,” Trixie smirked in a cocky manner as she deflected blast after blast with her twin sabers.
“Don’t forget, your temper was the reason we’re in this mess to begin with,” Twilight reminded her as they continued running. Up ahead, was an escape pod. But before they could reach it, a grate in the ceiling broke loose and a commando battle droid blocked their path, and pulled out a vibroblade.
“Oh boy…” Twilight muttered as she raised her blade.
Flashes of purple light lit the corridor as lightsaber met vibroblade, though the droid hardly stood a chance as the quick, precise strikes of Twilight's blade soon rendered it in half, leaving the way forward clear once more.
With the commando droid defeated, Twilight dashed forwards as Trixie brought down some pipes to block the path of the droids behind them. However, another commando soon blocked their path.
“Seriously? How many of these guys does one neimoidian need?” Trixie exclaimed, as this droid brought out a vibroblade as well. Twilight gritted her teeth, and blades clashed over and over again, sparks flying as they met. One clawed hand from the droid grabbed Twilight and smashed her up against a wall with considerable force, and blood oozed from the side of Twilight’s head. She kicked the droid away and leaped off the wall and ran alongside it before with one purple hued swing, sliced the droid down the middle. The two halves fell to the floor, and they continued onwards.
Soon, the two were at the pod. Twilight rapidly pressed some buttons on a keypad, and the escape pod opened with her and Trixie dashing inside.
The pod quickly was jettisoned, and flew off into space. But Ey’dwatta was not so easily escaped, as from the bridge of his ship he pressed a button and spoke into the comms system.
“Launch all fighters, I want those two Jedi dead before they even know what hit them!” he shouted.
From the hanger bay, Tri-Fighter after Tri-Fighter launched and flew after in pursuit after the small pod.
“Uh… Twilight?” Trixie asked, tapping her master nervously on the shoulders as Twilight fiddled with the controls of the escape pod. “Not to worry you, but…”
“What is it!?!” Twilight snapped, already quite ticked off at her student for the time being. Then, a blast shook the pod as it hit. “...Oh frag,” she muttered as she realized the situation. As if to make matters worse, the shot that had hit the pod’s guidance systems and the controls were now almost non-operational.
“Asteroid field, dead ahead!” Trixie shouted, as she looked out the front window of the pod. “We can lose them in there!”
“Are you nuts?” Twilight screeched as she saw two asteroids collide and smash into smithereens right in front of her. She quickly ran a few calculations through her head and swallowed nervously.
“The odds of us surviving a chase through a field like that, damaged as we are, are-”
“Don’t give Trixie the odds!” Trixie snapped back, her temper starting to flay. “Besides, if you think about it… Chances are those droids on our tail have about an equal amount of chance of surviving that field as we do!”
“Fair point…” Twilight admitted, her face flushing red briefly. As much as she hated to admit it, the two balanced each other well. When Trixie got too egotistical for her own good, Twilight reigned her in. But when Twilight was on the verges of a nervous breakdown, Trixie played the reasonable one. “Brace yourself!” she barked, as her horn flared up. She began to block out all of the world, except for herself and Trixie and just let her magic take control over the pod. There was no chaos, no fighter droids, no laser fire and no asteroid. Just her, and her magic.
“Oh, I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” Trixie muttered as the pod entered the field. A magical bubble had enveloped it and it began to smash through asteroids one by one. An explosion echoed from behind them, and a fireball spurred them onwards as two more asteroids collided with a Tri-Fighter.
Then, a thunk, and a buzzing sound. It seemed, before the fighter got smashed to pieces, it had managed to launch one of it’s infamous buzz droids. Hearing it begin to start sawing through the pod, Trixie let out a nervous whimper.
“Twilight…” Trixie nervously said.
“I know, I know!” her Master replied, starting to take deep breaths to calm herself. “Almost through, we just need to get through this last section!”
“Yeah, but we’ll be floating in the void if someone doesn’t do something fast!” Trixie shouted, the entire pod flashing red in alarm.
“Alright, gonna try something…” Twilight muttered as she saw a Tri-Fighter close in. She smirked as she saw another asteroid approaching as well. “Soon as I give the word, fling that droid off!”
“Got it!” Trixie said and when the Tri-Fighter neared, Twilight let out a shout.
“Now!”
Reaching out with the Force, Trixie gripped the buzz droid and flung it off onto the tri-fighter, and true to it’s programming, the droid began cutting into that fighter. Systems began to malfunction, and just as Twilight had predicted, it slammed into the oncoming asteroid.
“Piece of…” Twilight sighed in relief before her eyes widened in alarm. The pod had taken more damage than she thought, and now the fuel systems were almost non-operational. “...cake.” she finished.
“Brace yourself for crash-landing!” Twilight then shouted as the pod entered the planet’s atmosphere...
Now:
Twilight and her student continued their walk through the tall grasses of the unknown world, and both knew they weren’t alone. Something ruffled in the tall grasses behind them, as the moon began to rise high in the sky.
“Y-You hear that?” Trixie trembled nervously, her voice quavering.
“A Jedi must not show fear,” Twilight instructed calmly, although she like her student, did sense the presence of… something following them. A quick glance to the left, and she saw a shadow of something felid in nature dash past. “It is one of the rules of the-”
“Code?” Trixie mocked. “You and I know perfectly well that the Code is in need of serious update…”
Twilight whirled on her student.
“Be cautious, for you are speaking against ancient Jedi law…” she hissed out.
“Law?” Trixie scoffed, laughing at her Master in a mocking tone. “Ancient? Honestly, this may sound like… well, blasphemy to you Twilight, but that code was laid down ages ago and right now, I don’t think there’s anyone from the Jedi Council around to enforce it!”
“But-”
“Twilight, I respect you as a fellow Jedi, but as a pony… You’re a complete bitch.” Trixie said rather bluntly. “Now, I admit to my many faults. Narcissism and arrogance being one of them, but you haven’t admitted to your own! If you’d just take your head out of a book for one second, I think you’d be a truly great Jedi, maybe make it to the Council one day! Take for example, attachments!” Trixie began to rant.
“But… But that law was laid down to deal with distractions such as external attachments!” Twilight sputtered, trying to defend her position. Although quite honestly, it did sound as if she was speaking from a textbook. “If we allow ourselves to become distracted…”
“It’s a good idea… In theory, if we were all emotionless droids. But face it Twilight, attempting to not form an attachment to anything… It’s, well… Impossible. Frankly, I think we’re already attached…” Trixie trailed off, seemingly wanting to say something but thinking the better of it.
“What are you implying…?” Twilight asked. Flustered, Trixie searched for an answer.
“To the Order. Yes, that’s loyalty, but we’re probably attached to our Masters as well. I know I am, Trixie admits she admires your dedication and loyalty to the Order, even if you are quite stubborn about some things. And she admires your sense of justice…” Trixie continued. “Remember that slaver we faced a while back? How you saw him and the way he was treating his captives? You wanted to rescue them, but because of the fact that we were undercover at the time to find that weapons dealer, we simply couldn’t… Not without blowing our cover anyways,” Trixie added, a sense of self-disgust in her tone.
Twilight had to admit, even as she wiped away a tear from her eyes at remembering seeing young children being forced to work in a mine and not being able to rescue them all because she, not anyone else was dedicated to the mission, was a very large failure on her part. Both as a Jedi, and as a pony in general.
“You’re… You may be right about that one Trixie… My Master, the one who taught me everything, I look up to her more than anything in the world. Without Shaak and that friend of hers back on Equus, Princess Celestia, I wouldn’t even be a Jedi and would probably be in the Agricultural Corps…”
Twilight sighed sadly to herself. She admitted, that while her magical and Force abilities were powerful, in her early years, she lacked control. It was only after Princess Celestia, one of the two rulers of Equestria, -one of her home planet’s main kingdoms- took her aside along with a then Knight Shaak Ti did she learn better control over her abilities. She saw them both as adopted mothers, if Twilight was to be honest. But thanks to that code…
Twilight shook her head, no. The Code was her way of life now, nothing else mattered.
“Damn it Trix, you really know how to get under my skin…” Twilight growled to herself. She then paused, had she really just given her student an affectionate nickname like that?
Behind her, Trixie smirked. Her Master’s emotionless mask was cracking. Suddenly, they were both caught off guard by a loud shriek as then, a tan-coated form leaped out of the shadows and knocked Twilight to the ground. She barely ignited her saber just in time to prevent powerful claws from digging into her.
A nexu, that’s what she and her student faced. Powerful four-eyed creatures native to Cholganna, they could be, on occasion, found on other planets as well such as Zhanox.
Drool from the nexu’s open mouth dripped down onto Twilight’s face, and she got a glimpse of it’s many, many teeth. She knocked it away with a magic blast from her horn, but just as Twilight struggled to stand, the nexu rebounded and knocked her into a tree with a swipe of its paw.
“Hey, ugly! Get away from her!” Trixie snarled, barely masked rage present in her tone.
Suddenly, a powerful blast of magic from Trixie sent the creature sprawling before Twilight’s student rushed forwards, and leaped into the air before she ignited her sabers and plunged them into the creature’s back. Then, for good measure, Trixie pumped the sabers full of Force Lightning.
Finally, it’s corpse smoking, the nexu slumped to the ground quite dead.
“T-Trixie, that was-” Twilight started before being cut off.
“Amazing?” Trixie assumed. “Yes, the Great and Powerful Trixie has many tricks up her sleeve like that one.”
“NO!” Twilight snapped. “That… That was a Dark Side technique, and you know it!”
Trixie didn’t seem to care. “Hey, anything to do for the one I love, right?”
Twilight didn’t respond.
“Please tell me I didn’t fry your brain from that revelation, Sparkle. Yes, I do love you. Not as a Master, but as a potential marefriend!” Trixie shouted. “I’ve been trying to drop hints right and left to you, and you’ve been ignoring them Twilight! Why else do you think I’d stick around somepony as stubborn and bitchy as you?” Trixie asked, but Twilight didn’t respond. Then, Trixie began to grow worried.
“Twilight? Twilight!” Trixie shouted as she rushed over to her love’s side, -Turning off her sabers in the process- and found her unconscious. Trixie whispered a few thankful prayers, but then heard several low growls and saw eight red eyes peering out of the darkness.
Trixie, with a protective snarl, reignited her sabers once more. “Come on Twi, don’t you die on me yet… Still got a lot to learn from you, and vice versa…”
Room of a Thousand Fountains: Jedi Temple: Coruscant
Twilight was in a rare moment of peace and solitude, flora and fauna all around her with water falling off rocks and into small pools as she reconstructed her lightsaber as an exercise. Little by little, pieces began to fall back into place, gently levitated by Twilight’s control over the Force.
The room itself was a very large, a seven-story greenhouse located at the base of the Temple’s northwestern side. Winding paths cut through displays of exotic plants from across the galaxy, with small bridges traversing small streams that came from unseen sources. Stone benches -Like the one Twilight currently sat on- lined the pathways, encouraging meditation and tranquility True to its name, fountains were abundant throughout the room, and could be heard trickling from every corner. Some lurked out of sight, while others were in full view.
As the Jedi Knight Lyra Heartstrings once theorized: “These fountains, quite sadly many in number, are in honor of those who fell on the field of battle, defending those who could not defend themselves. I have noticed, whenever a Jedi is laid to rest, a fountain falls silent for a brief period. One day, if the Jedi are all gone, -as frightening as a possibility as that may seem- this whole room may then fall silent.”
The room also housed a veritable technological wonder. A large collection of lightning banks disguised the ceiling, and created the illusion of an outdoor sky to further enhance the idea of being cut off from the rest of the temple. Beyond the canvas, was a system of catwalks that allowed employees and servicemen to move about unseen amongst the lighting and atmospheric control banks.
As Twilight meditated in the center of this half-natural half-technological room, a Togruta female stepped in. Her face was bright red and a series of white and red stripes streaked across her lekku and montrails. As she walked into the room, she accidentally disturbed some of the small rocks by her feet, which snapped Twilight out of her meditative state.
“Apologies, Twilight.” The female bowed before her as she watched her stand back up. “I hope that I’m not intruding on anything,”
“No, I was just finishing up Mo-Master,” Twilight replied, quickly correcting herself as she bowed to the Jedi Master and Council Member.
“Remember, Twilight. The force can be an erratic thing at times; even for the most powerful of Jedi and Sith,” She stepped forward and slid her hand over Twilight’s mane. “It might take time before you truly understand its’ power and what you can do with it.”
“Understanding it isn’t the problem…” Twilight muttered.
“Oh? Then what is?” Shaak Ti asked. She tilted her head to the side. “You can feel free to talk to me about it. No-one would think of disturbing us here,”
“The Code… I’m beginning to wonder if perhaps it’s flawed. You heard the way I almost addressed you,” Twilight replied, somewhat ashamed of lapsing into personal affection for her adopted mother figure. “I’m not sure if the Code is really as perfect as it is said to be. Times are changing, and I’m wondering if the Code should change along with it...”
She knew what she was speaking was practically heresy, but Twilight had questions that needed to be answered.
“Changed?” Shaak Ti lifted an eyebrow. “In what ways, Twilight?”
“I’m beginning to wonder if it’s too rigid, too strict. I’d never admit this to anyone else, not even my own Student who recently, as you might remember, earned her Knighthood, but perhaps there are some parts of it that could be done away with. Affection… attachments,” Twilight replied, shifting her eyes back and forth -Along with reaching out with the Force- to make sure no one else but Shaak was around. “...Equus was built on societies where kinship is natural. So was your home planet. You hunt in tribes, and yet to see a member of the Togruta race forced to be so… cut off if you will, it feels unnatural.”
“It is. It’s so outlandish to be a Togruta forced to fight on their own.” Shaak looked down at her lightsaber and plucked it out of the strap on her belt. “But I’ve learned how to adapt, and to fight for myself. And it is something that I do so with pride,” She then took a good look up at Twilight, who was beginning to tap the ground with her hooves. “That doesn’t mean that I completely agree with the Order either. If we do not have offspring we can pass down our teachings to, how else will the Jedi lineage live on?” Shaak looked up at the ceiling. “It’s strange. I am a devout Jedi, yet even I am questioning the rules set upon us... Am I so wrong for agreeing with you on this, Twilight?”
“Maybe… But you are a Jedi Consular, aren’t you? It is one of your duties to help others through their troubles…” Twilight trailed off. “And I have to ask, if we are forced to forgo emotions entirely, then what path will we be heading down?”
“Hard to say. Emotions are like a double-edged sword,” Shaak Ti turned back to Twilight and knelt down to her level. “While they can empower us and make us feel strong, they can also play against us and leave us weak in the face of a powerful adversary. It’s whether or not we choose to let our emotions define us that makes them a blessing or a curse.”
“Thank you…” Twilight replied as she walked off and managed to let out a whisper only Shaak could hear. “Mom.”
“You’re welcome, Twilight.” Shaak smiled, before frowning. Perhaps it was time there were a few Code rules that needed amending…
Now:
Twilight groaned, as she awoke inside a hollow tree. Trixie laid beside her, bandaging her wounds.
“Stay still… Nexu’s paw and you hitting that tree with the force you did, broke a few of your ribs,” Trixie said kindly. “I’d try and help with the healing process if I could, but… Trixie humbly admits healing with the Force is not her specialty,” she continued before muttering: “Yet another thing she’s screwed up about this mission…” Trixie finally admitted.
Twilight wanted to look smug about that, but seeing her student looking so humbled and so ashamed of herself, she couldn’t find it in herself to do so.
“T-Thank you…” Twilight started as Trixie continued bandaging her wounds. Trixie’s eyes widened, she sensed no rage in Twilight. That happened to be the exact opposite of what she’d expected to find.
“You don’t seem as angry as Trixie thinks you would be on her using Force Lightning,” Trixie commented. “An ability you yourself noted as being of the Dark Side…” she trailed off.
“Dark Side in origin, yes. But not explicitly Dark Side in nature. Besides, you were using this ability to protect, not to destroy,” Twilight replied, thinking back to the memory of her and Shaak she’d had while unconscious.
“But, I was doing it out of fear for you! I’ve… I’ve formed an attachment…” Trixie replied, hanging her head in shame.
“Didn’t you yourself say it was impossible for one to not form attachments? Besides, you’re not the first Jedi to use Force Lightning. My Master… she let me in on a little secret once,” Twilight began, and Trixie leaned in closer in curiosity. She found herself quite shocked by her Master’s next words. “Two Jedi in our own order, Quinlan Vos and even Master Plo Koon himself have used this ability. Vos, to take down the anzat Jedi Master turned Sith Sorcerer Volfe Karkko while Plo Koon used this ability to take down the criminal Dreed Pommel who’d taken a girl hostage and killed her family. During this encounter, Plo later reported to the Council he felt no rage or fear. He was in a state of complete calm,”
“But…” Trixie tried to refute, but found herself at a complete and utter loss for words. “What’s with this sudden change in attitude, Sparkle?” she asked, not even bothering to use the proper honorific in her shock.
“I’ve gotten to thinking, maybe there’s a line. A line between the Light and the Dark. Maybe it’s not the Force itself, but how we use it,” Twilight theorized. “Sure, there are abilities explicitly Light and Dark, but maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to label every aspect of the Force as one of the two and place it in a neat little box,” she continued, before she mumbled to herself quietly: “...Maybe that’s what my Master was trying to tell me back then.”
“But… But that doesn’t change the fact that I was afraid back then, when I used Force Lightning!” Trixie sputtered out, and Twilight placed a finger over her lips to hush her.
“Yes, but you were afraid for me. You wanted to protect me. And is it so different than us charging our sabers with magical lightning? Decrying you for using Force Lightning, when I myself use something similar would make me a hypocrite. Perhaps… Perhaps some parts of the Jedi Code are wrong, it just took me time to realize that. And maybe… Maybe I’ve learned to care for you as well.” Twilight replied before leaning in close and kissing Trixie on the lips. Trixie’s eyes shot wide open, before she relaxed and wrapped her arms around Twilight and kissed her back with equal care.
But all good things had to come to an end. As Twilight broke away from the kiss, she looked up at the stars. She smiled as she felt Trixie’s head rest on her shoulder. Those stars… they didn’t seem quite so lonely anymore, Twilight mused to herself as she drifted off into dreamland.
Jedi Temple: Coruscant
Eventually, Twilight and Trixie were found and returned to Coruscant. While there, Twilight found herself remaking her own lightsaber, in honor of her new outlook on life. She’d taken a small side trip to Ilum, as per request and found a new crystal. Shaak Ti had been the first to approve this request, sensing a change in her own student’s demeanor. To her, it seemed a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
As the parts of her new lightsaber fell into place, piece by piece, carefully levitated with a combination of magic and the force, Twilight recited this mantra in her head.
“There must be both dark and light. I will do what I must to keep the balance, as the balance is what holds all life. There is no good without evil, but evil must not be allowed to flourish. There is passion, yet peace; serenity, yet emotion; chaos, yet order. I am a wielder of the flame; a champion of balance. I am a guardian of life. I am a Gray Jedi.” she thought to herself, and then when it was finally finished, she ignited the saber with a flash of bright white light...
END
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Damn. that was well done. Get's a Fav and like from me. I see myself as a grey Jedi, so I can relate to this really well.
I love how you portrayed Trixie and Twilight here. It was believable and flowed well. And I praise you for proper use of flash backs to help tell the story. So many writers don't get it right, so well done.
8723967
Not sure if I originally planned it to be a very flashback heavy piece, but that's just the way it ended up really. The flashbacks telling the story, showing us how the characters got here and where they are now.
And you really think Twilight and Trixie played off each other well enough? I thought at more than a few points, they both ended up sounding quite bitchy and unlikeable.
8723994
Twilight and Trixie can be a bit bitchy. It's part of their characters. Before Twilight came to ponyville and met her friends and even a bit after that, she was kind of a bitch. bossy and a bit of a know it all.
Trixie had grown such an ego she started believing her own hype, it probably started out as just a way to wow and dazzle the crowds but became a case of narcissism. so yeah, I think they played out very well in this one shot and you stayed true to their characters.
8724014
Fair point... Now, it just makes one wonder how they got Knighted. Twilight, well, she's very regimented here and sticks to the Code... But Trixie, she's arrogant and shows quite a few traits that probably wouldn't get anyone Knighted if the Jedi were going by personality...
8724023
QuiGon-Jin was knighted but he wasn't overly liked but much of the council and higherups in the jedi order due to his rather strong opinions. But all it takes is one or two of the more powerful or influential jedi to indorse them and they can get knighted. it's happened before and while it's true Trixie has some anger issues Those can be tempered with training and meditation which is kind of a Jedi staple.
8724037
Fair point, it happened with Anakin after all.
8724041
I forgot about that, and he is extremely impulsive.
Are Gray Jedi an actual thing in one of the continuities?
8724141
Actually, yes. Here's Wookiepedia's entry on them.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Gray_Jedi
Great story! I would love to see you continue in this universe as Anikin’s fall is so major that I wonder how Equis survived the Dark Times?
Good fic, and I admit I never quite explained why the Sith Code works as a mantra for self improvement so I will now.
Once again ignoring the first and last lines.
Through passion I gain strength: Your passion, your desire to reach your goals drives you to become stronger so that you can achieve them.
Through strength I gain power: The strength given to you by your passions gives you the power, or the ability to achieve your goals.
Through power I gain victory: The power granted by your strength and passion lets you achieve your goals.
Through victory my chains are broken: Success gives you your final victory, freeing yourself from the confines and restrictions, and making yourself stronger as a person.
All kinds of bits of the Star Wars universe that are all messed up now. Like lightsaber crystals. Previously, a lightsaber actually utilized two separate crystals. One that actually powered the blade, and the other that was a color filter. The color filter also could’ve been made from a variety of things, including gemstones. The only thing from this that was kept what’s the condition of a crystal affecting the shape of the plate. If a blade Crystal is compressed, it will pulsate. If the blade Crystal is damaged, then the blade will show being all flickery (like Kylo Ren’s blade). Otherwise, there were some Jedi in the past with red lightsabers because that’s the color they chose. And that was even the reason why Mace Windu had a purple lightsaber, because he was given a purple crystal from his original people. Now it’s getting spiritualistic for all the wrong reasons.
8726049
Huh, interesting factoid. I didn't really know a lot of this aside from the thing about how the Crystal was made and it's condition affecting the Saber's blade.
8726053
Yeah. The Sith has red blades as tradition and because their lightsabers and Crystals are usually made crudely, not by making a crystal “bleed”. I find that to be dumb because the Sith are already dark, they don’t need to be edgy. And if people find Kylo Ren’s Light saver to be done because of the fact that it has whatevers at the side, let us not forget that the night sisters had similar lightsabers.
i.ytimg.com/vi/Yr3oMQzx9EI/hqdefault.jpg
8726428
True, and I quote from Wookiepedia...
8724320
The thing is, I'd like to have implied the Code was changed for the better with Shaak Ti's last thoughts on how the code might need to be amended, so it's entirely possible in this universe, the Jedi Order never fell to the Sith and changed for the better. But it is an interesting prospect, seeing Equus dealing with the Fall of the Republic and the Galactic Civil War eras.
8728091
It all depends on if that damn frogg would allow for the change. According to the book of episode 3 he basically admitted that he kept the order locked in the past and that is what doomed the order. With an immortal “goddess” in Celestia having been around the Republic it does make you wonder just what changes she would have shepherd.
8728320
It does beg one to wonder what changes Celestia would inflict on the Order. Of course, the biggest problems would obviously be Darth Sidious and getting Anakin away from him, and the other being Mace Windu, as he has to be the most stubborn Jedi I've ever seen.
8728457
If I had any writing ability I would love to explore this idea of Celestia having been around to be an influencer during the fall of the Republic. The closest I can get is this universe but unfortunately due to events the ponies are in the weaker position.
Twilight is a better Jedi Master then the actual Jedi.
8818672
Sadly, for quite a few reasons, that's really true considering what over half the council was like. Plo Koon, Shaak Ti, Obi-Wan and Yoda, perhaps a few others are probably some of the only Council Members I can really say to like nowadays after the "Framing Ahsoka" incident. (If I get her name wrong, forgive me on that. Not exactly easy to spell.)
8818678
No, you got it right.
8818685
Ah good... I'm never confident on spelling that name just because of how unusual it is.
This reminds me of how Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were like. They were both confrontational in ways like Trixie and Twilight are in the story. SIGH
From firmly Lightsider to Grey? Interesting change, but given the flashbacks, not entirely unprecedented. Well done!