• Published 7th Oct 2020
  • 1,653 Views, 15 Comments

Long Live The Rebellion - The Phantom Joker



Following an explosion on the Rogue Shadow, the clone of Galen Marek and Master Rahm Kota are marooned on the world of Equis, where they train the Mane 6 in the ways of the Jedi Knights.

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Another Happy Landing

Author's Note:

Greetings Gotham, Joker here! Welcome to my latest creation, a sister story to Kneel Before The Dark Lord, this one following the events of the Light Side ending of both The Force Unleashed 1 and The Force Unleashed 2, meaning that we're dealing with Starkiller's clone, who's rockin' the dual lightsabers and the Experimental Jedi Armor (helmet optional) and amped up Force Powers, and General Rahm Kota has come along on this little trip as well. But, why waste time talking about it, when we can just dive on in? So, let's get this show on the road!

Chapter I: Another Happy Landing

Princess Twilight Sparkle couldn't sleep. She didn't really expect to, not after the conversation that she'd had last week with Luna, Fluttershy and Rarity during one of their weekly visits to Aloe and Lotus' spa. It had once been an activity reserved for just Rarity and Fluttershy, but Twilight had suggested that she and Luna join in as well. Being a Princess was an extremely frustrating and physically painful process and weekly gatherings would help Luna to better practice her social form. Neither pony saw any harm in the idea and it went well, but now Twilight couldn't stand the questions she had in her mind. She'd always had access to the answers through books, sans emotional dilemmas.

She stepped out onto her verandah and took in a deep breath of the fresh night air. Once again, Luna had done a splendid job with her night. The stars shone and the moon beamed the reflected light of the sun overhead, illuminating the land with a faint white that battled the darkness.

"Oh, why did we have to get on the topic of aliens?!" she whined, throwing her head and arms on the verandah's railing, staring up at the stars, hoping to get some sort of answer to the question burning within her heart.

One Week Earlier...

"I wonder if there's life beyond this world?" Twilight said as Aloe dipped herself into the mud bath to better massage Twilight's wings, which felt fantastic on an almost sensual level.

"Oh... I hope not. Aliens are very scary. Rainbow Dash showed me a picture of an alien on one of her comic book covers. It was really frightening." Fluttershy said, sinking further into the mud bath so only her head was visible above the surface.

"Well, I for one wouldn't mind meeting an alien. As an advanced race, I'm sure first-hand knowledge on their fashion would take my business to the pinnacle of Equestrian fashion." Rarity replied, leaning back in her end of the bath. Lotus stepped into the bath beside Luna and began mimicking her sister's actions with the dark Princess' wings.

"I admit, it would be interesting to find out if my night contains wonders the likes of which Equis has never before seen. While I accept that my night is rarely seen by our ponies... ooh, I've lost my train of thought... Lotus, your hands are absolutely divine." The alicorn commented.

"Oh, careful Luna. You'll wind up like Rarity talking like that. Next thing you'll know, you'll be talking about designer fashion and you'll never escape that boutique of hers alive." Twilight commented, chuckling.

"What are you saying, Twilight?" Rarity accused the young Princess with a stern look.

Twilight smiled at her. "I nearly missed my inauguration because you wouldn't stop talking about the latest designs as you worked." the lavender Alicorn replied, chuckling afterward in order to make light of the topic.

"Is it wrong to take pride in my work, Twilight?" Rarity asked.

"If your pride interferes with the lives of others, then yes, Rarity,” Luna interrupted, drawing the attention of all ponies present. "Pride is a deadly weapon when pitted against friendship. It even has the power to divide. I'd have hoped you all learned from Applejack's revelation two years ago." she said.

Present Day…

Twilight stared down at the city below. She missed the quiet nights that only Ponyville provided. Here in Canterlot, the city never slept. Divided between the day dwellers which she herself used to be and the new night ponies with the bat-like wings, known as thestrals.

While Twilight had more important things to worry about, like whether she wanted to co-rule over the day or the night, she just couldn't get her mind off of the prospect of aliens. Celestia had struck Twilight with a difficult decision. Both princesses knew that sleep was an absolute necessity in order to rule well and fairly, so Twilight had to choose who she would rule with. It wasn't an easy decision.

On one hand, I've grown up learning under Celestia which makes her the ideal choice, not to mention my friends wouldn't exactly fancy night time social activities at three in the morning, she thought, trying to drag herself away from the mundane yet fascinating dilemma plaguing her mind. On the other hand, Luna, despite being rather popular among the ponies after what happened on Nightmare Night, is still rather lonely and having somepony to appreciate her night and be with her throughout it would go a long way to making her feel better about herself. Many ponies are still somewhat worried about the return of Nightmare Moon, so being there with her would definitely prevent her return. Luna would probably hate to admit it, but the possibility of her falling again is high, regardless of how sorry she is, she continued. I'd like to be there for her. She is my friend after all. I could be there to appreciate her night sky... looking for aliens.

"Horse apples!!! I can't get my mind off the aliens!" she said aloud as she began to frazzle her mane in frustration, bashing her head against the railing.

"Troubles, Twilight?" a familiar voice said from above. Twilight's ears fell to her head and she looked up, seeing the ruler in question hovering above her, coming in for a landing beside her.

"Hello, Luna... it's that whole conversation about aliens we had last week with the girls. My curiosity's getting the better of me and I want nothing more than to know if aliens truly do exist; and if so, would they be friendly?" Twilight saw no point in hiding the truth from her. Surprisingly Luna's response was unexpected to say the least. She laughed.

"Twilight, you are my best friend and recently ascended sister. Since this is giving you such strife, I feel I should tell you that in all my years living, on Equis or on the moon, I have never caught sight of an alien,” she said, trying to reassure Twilight. While Twilight found that to be a nice comfort, she wasn't entirely satisfied.

"Luna, I know you don't like talking about it, but when you were Nightmare Moon," Luna's face grew saddened at the mention of the name. "Was there ever anything you did to rid your mind of unwanted thoughts?" she asked. Luna listened to the question, upset at having to recall the past over such a mundane matter. But Twilight was, as she had stated, her best friend and sister. She would do anything for her family, even use her past to help them.

"I... used to think all the time about how long I would be stuck on the thing I once cherished, but until recently saw as nothing more than a prison. The first thing I would do to calm myself and get rid of that thought was... well to be honest, I often thought about what it would be like to have Celestia beaten and broken at my hooves..." she paused, fighting back a few tears.

As a member of the family now, Twilight felt more comfortable with physical contact with the other Princesses. She offered Luna a comforting hug which the dark Alicorn proceeded to accept with gusto.

"But when I didn't think about that, I would consider the world. How it would have been had I won and how I would feel today. I looked up from the moon and saw the world I circled. It was beautiful and vibrant, perfect as it was. Every now and then, Equestria would suffer war and loss, but even that couldn't overthrow the overall beauty of the place. Had I ruled, it would not look like it did now. Had I ruled, my night still wouldn't be appreciated, but would instead be a catalyst for the fear I would inspire in everypony, and that was never what I wanted. I wanted to be appreciated, I wanted my greatest achievement to be praised as Celestia's was. Control over the moon is no small feat, even compared to the sun. Both are difficult in their own aspects." she continued.

"How so?" Twilight asked, totally absorbed in Luna's story.

"The sun is much farther away from Equis than the moon is and much larger. But it's ultimately just a large ball of flaming gas that is never extinguished, whereas the moon is solid and heavy. It could easily destroy all life on the planet if it fell into orbit. After all, it generates its own gravitational pull just like Equis." Luna replied.

Twilight loved talking about scientific values with Princess Celestia, but Luna had a certain flare when describing what most ponies passed off as magical. In a way it was magical, but there was a lot of science behind it. 'The magic of science' as Luna had put it. If Twilight was to be perfectly honest with herself, Luna touched every aspect of her academic interests in a way that nopony else could. She'd alter her sexual preference then and there just for Luna, were they not kinda-sorta related as Rainbow Dash had described it.

"Thank you, Luna... that really helps. I look out at Equestria and I think that it's perfect as it is now. The presence of an alien would disturb that perfection by initially adding panic and caution and perhaps it would introduce a new species designed to kill us to the world. It would be an unwanted scenario." Twilight replied, looking into Luna's eyes.

"That's right, Twilight. So if you decide to co-rule the night with me, we'll both be on the lookout for aliens but in preparation to defend the world we know and love." Luna said, looking back into Twilight's eyes.

There was a calm silence between them as they just sat there, smiling at each other. Subconsciously the two of them drew closer to each other, never taking their eyes off the others'. They were on the verge of touching lips when a sound like an explosion erupted from the north, breaking their trances. They looked towards the source of the sound to find a meteorite, a fairly big one in fact, on a narrow descent towards the Crystal Empire. The two Princesses watched the rock fall before it fell out of sight behind the Northern Mountains.

The two Princesses quickly flashed a glance at each other before turning away with a blush on their features. A moment later, a thought struck Twilight.

"You don't think that was… actually-."

"An alien? What are the chances, Twilight, seriously?" Luna asked.

Meanwhile...

In the upper atmosphere of Equestria, a lone ship with two people in it was descending rapidly, the exterior on fire, spewing black flames in a trail behind it. Inside, the two crew members sat in the cockpit, trying their best to stabilize the ship.

"Hyper drive's down, Artificial gravity's offline, Inertial dampeners are failing!" the younger of the two, who was clad in an experimental suit of futuristic white and silver armor said. The other man was an elderly person with medium length hair tied into a bun. He was blind, but somehow, he managed to go through the controls on the cockpit as if he could still see them.

"Tell me something I don't know, Boy!" he replied, unbuckling from his seat.

"What are you doing?!" the young one called out. The old man rose from his cockpit and balanced his way towards the back of the room.

"I'm getting to an escape pod. I suggest you do the same!" he said, not stopping to face his comrade. The young one realized then that the ship was beyond saving. He followed the old man to the escape pods and took the one opposite to him.

"In all the time we've had this ship, I've never used the escape pods. Let's hope they work." he said through the intercom.

"Great, you say that now of all times? It's bad enough I can't see the equipment, and now you say it might not work?" he complained. The younger person just rolled his eyes and set the escape pod to exit through the chute. There was a large bang as a piece of their ship opened, allowing the escape pod to leave, then another as the old man escaped in his own pod. For the old man, the pod worked like a charm, but for the younger man, the thrusters failed to ignite, and he plummeted down toward the ground. It wasn't much of a fall to begin with. He was only a hundred feet above the nearest mountain. It was the roll down hill that rattled him. The man was tossed every way conceivable. He hit his head a number of times, the last one being enough to knock him out cold.

"Boy, are you there? Boy! Boy!! Starkiller!!!"