Sunset Shimmer's Saga: Call of the Force

by Kenobiiii

Chapter 22: Twilight of the Apprentice

“ How is she to say anything after being reminded of how those she cared about abandoned her when she needed them the most.” Came a deep raspy mechanical voice. It was a voice that sent chills down everyone’s spine, one that Sunset and Kara recognised. They both turned around to find Darth Vader standing in the alleyway with his red lightsaber fully ignited, with his chilly breathing sound echoing throughout the chamber. “ Uhh, who’s this new character ??” Rarity asked, fright-stricken. “ It’s him, the Sith Lord.” Sunset Shimmer answered her friend’s query as her hand moved to grab her lightsaber, ready to draw it out at first notice. She had no idea how Vader had found them but one glance at the destroyed reconnaissance probe on the ground quickly dispelled those thoughts. Kara took a step forward and ignited her lightsaber, putting herself in between Vader and the rest. “ Get behind me,” Sunset ordered her friends as she placed herself in between Kara and them. The chilling breathing noise, which echoed throughout the large atrium sent shivers down everyone’s spine and sure enough, Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle were trembling in fear, but Sunset could not let it overpower her. Her friends' lives were at stake and she and Kara were the only ones standing in between them and Vader. Like it or not, a duel was inevitable and Sunset put up a brave and somewhat determined face to face the Dark Lord. This, she will make her stand. Vader calmly stepped forward towards the atrium, his red bladed lightsaber fully ignited and ready for a strike. “You have discovered the location of this forgotten temple, how did you do so ??” Vader demanded in his deep mechanical voice to the two Jedi.

“ You’re smart, figure it out yourself !” Kara replied sarcastically to him. Vader paid no attention to Kara as turned to see six adolescent girls behind his master's target. He sensed fear, anger and trepidation within them through the Force, all towards him, rightfully. He sensed even greater fear coming from Sunset Shimmer, but she tried to conceal it. It was nothing more than a feeble attempt in the eyes of Vader for he has seen the fearful eyes of many opponents before being struck down by his lightsaber, and Sunset’s was no exception. They try to put up a fight but in the end, they die like the weaklings they are. “ Sunset Shimmer, I see your companions are here, “ He taunted her, “ How long more before they turn their backs against you again ?.” “ SHUT IT you ashmatic meanie !!” Pinkie Pie shouted out loud, “ We’re with Sunset till the very end.!” She said, full of resoluteness. “ You got that right, Pinkie Pie.” Rainbow Dash concurred with her. Sunset felt a bit of relief in her to see her friends rallying with her but this was far from over. Vader was indifferent to the girls rallying behind their friend. Their sudden determination and loyalty did nothing to hide their fear towards him. In fact, it made it stronger. “ Stay together, die together. How admirable.” Vader intoned. “Did..he..just ..say… die together ???” Twilight asked, her tone iced with fear. “No one's going to die here except for you,” Kara snarled before she charged full swing towards the Sith Lord. Vader stood his ground as Kara charged towards him, before raising his lightsaber to block her strike effortlessly. Kara tried her best to break out of his block but the Sith Lord held his block steadily before launching a counterattack of his own. Kara was pushed back by Vader’s strikes, struggling to block some of them. Sunset rushed for her master’s aid, charging at full intensity towards him but Vader saw it coming. He had expected the padawan to come for her master’s aid like before. He had no interest in taking on two unworthy adversaries at the same time. As Kara attempted a lower body strike with her lightsaber, Vader moved aside, avoiding her strike before seizing the moment to grab her both of her wrists and lifted her up,deactivating her lightsaber before throwing her towards Sunset, whom she impacted with hard, knocking the both of them out momentarily. “ How Pathetic,” Vader muttered with little to no emotion on how little effort it took to incapacitate them. If it weren't for his master’s orders, they would have been made dead back on the platform.

“You’re about to see who’s pathetic !” Rainbow Dash growled at the Sith Lord before she grabbed her blue geode and activated her super speed powers. She then dashed towards the Sith Lord in full speed, confident that she would be able to knock him off several times thanks to her speed. Unsurprisingly, Vader saw her coming. Though slightly impressed by her superspeed abilities which was sourced from a blue geode around her neck, it was nothing when compared to the Dark Side of the Force. He extended his hand towards her and used the Force to freeze her mid air, with Rainbow Dash struggling to break free from her immobilized state. “ I’ll save you, Rainbow Dash !!” Pinkie Pie screamed out loud as she took out some sprinkles and turned into pinkie bombs by virtue of her geode power and was throw them towards Vader before the Sith Lord lunged Rainbow Dash towards the direction of the other girls, causing Pinkie to accidentally throw her bombs to the pillars as Rainbow dash rammed onto them. The pinkie bombs exploded upon making contact with the pillars, badly damaging them and snet the entire atrium shaking, with pebbles falling to the ground. With the upper hand, Vader slowly approached the girls, who were still on the ground reeling from their friend crashing into them, with his hands gripped tightly onto his lightsaber. Sunset and Kara slowly regained their consciousness to find Vader approaching the others with his lightsaber. Kara, who had already pulled herself up, quickly ignited her lightsaber and dashed towards him. Vader sensed the approaching Kara and instantly turned his attention over to her, blocking her strikes. For a moment, it seemed like Kara had the upper hand. Vader was pushed to the defensive, blocking her parry’s and even appeared rattled at the very least briefly.

Unfortunately, the moment came and went like a passing shadow. Vader regained the upper hand in their duel and Kara was back on the defensive. Seeing her master struggling to hold off Vader by herself, Sunset quickly pulled herself up, reignited her lightsaber and was about to head to Kara’s aid before she was stopped by her master. “ Get your friends out of here !! I’ll keep him at bay !” Kara called out as she held off Vader’s strike with her lightsaber, the blue and red lightsabers intersecting perpendicularly. “ What about you ??” Sunset asked, hoping not to hear the answer she feared for. Vader started leaning in on his strike, applying even more pressure onton Kara. “JUST DO IT !!” Kara yelled before she pushed back Vader’s lightsaber, causing the Sith Lord to jerk slightly backwards before Kara moved to strike. Following her master’s orders, she dashed to the other side of the atrium where the girls were as Kara and Vader intensely parried. “Come on, we gotta go right now !!” She said to her friends. “ That’s a very good idea, darling.” Rarity agreed almost instantly. However, not all was in agreement. “ We can’t just leave. Heroes don’t retreat when things go south !” Rainbow Dash reasoned, which brought her glances of dirty looks from the rest of her friends. Sunset grabbed her arm and brought her close to her face, “ Yes we are,” She said to Rainbow Dash in a stern manner. This was definitely not the time for any heroics and certainly not stupidity.

Rainbow Dash saw her Sunset’s expression was dead serious and nodded back at her. While she will not not admit it, she felt compelled to submit to her. After all, that Vader guy had easily defeated her superpowers by simply having his hand. With her friends behind her, Sunset tried to get them to the other side of the atrium where the exit was. Just then, Vader noticed them trying to escape and swung his lightsaber towards Kara, who blocked it but it was not enough to stop her from falling to the ground. Seizing the moment, The Sith Lord headed towards Sunset and girls, bent on preventing their escape. Seeing his approach, Sunset ignited her lightsaber, ready to face him but then Kara extended her hands forward using the Force to stop Vader from moving any further before throwing him towards one of the Statue pillars. “ Go, now !!!” She intoned at her padawan who nodded back and led the others to the exit. Vader pulled himself up from being thrown his suit and mask undamaged even by the slightest but this time, he was pissed, and Kara could sense it too, but she couldn’t care less. Having ignited her saber, she charged towards the Sith Lord with full fury. Meanwhile, Sunset led the others through the temple hallways to get out but it wasn’t as easy as going in. she tried to retrace their way in which they entered but it quickly proved futile. It was as if they were running around in some kind of maze where there were countless similar looking hallways with no exit. The Arkuntal temple was playing tricks with her, just like before but she wasn’t in no mood for games. “Sunset, where are we going ??” Fluttershy pantingy asked as she tried to keep up with the rest. “ I’m getting you guys out of this place,” Sunset answered without turning back. “ Then what ?” Applejack asked. “I’m going back to help Kara.” Sunset said to Applejack. “Are you crazy ? that Sith guy will end you !!” Rainbow Dash argued. “ She’s my mentor and friend. I’m not gonna leave her behind.” Sunset shot back at her. “This time, take a packet of sand and throw it at his mask, that will defeat him.” Pinkie suggested, though Sunset was unsure if this was an actual serious suggestion or another one of Pinkie’s silly jokes, the latter she was definitely not interested to entertain at this time. “Come on, Pinkie. I highly doubt that’s ever gonna work.” Twilight said in response to her suggestion.

Just then, Sunset spotted a small doorway ahead, similarly shaped as the same one they had entered earlier. “Follow me,” She said to her friends, confident that she had found the way out. But this wasn’t the case. Instead they found themselves inside another atrium shaped room. Unlike the atrium they came from, this one was much darker and had no moonlight illuminating it with the air surrounding them still and cold. The cold air, combined with the eerily quiet surroundings reminded of the clear stereotypical graveyard vibes. “This doesn’t feel like outside to me,” Rarity intoned at her surroundings. Rainbow Dash was about to answer Rarity when Sunset shushed her. There was something off about this chamber. She sensed another presence amongst them. There was someone or something else in this room. What unsettled even more was that this presence was not new to her. She had felt this presence before, and it was the time she had faced her. “We’re not alone here.” Sunset muttered to her friends as she drawed out her lightsaber. Applejack was about to query on what she had meant before she was interrupted by a disturbingly familiar voice. “ Your instincts never fail you do they, Sunny ?” The familiar voice said. Just then, the sound of a lightsaber being activated was heard across the room, where a red bladed lightsaber was activated, whose wielder turned out to be no other than the evil Sunset Shimmer with a wicked grin on her face.

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“I’ve been waiting for you, Sunny.” She said wickedly. The two Sunsets stared at each other with vastly different expressions, one filled with wickedness and the other filled with determination with anger slowly creeping in. The rest of the girls had confused and stuperfied expressions on their faces seeing their friend’s evil counterpart.“I must admit how impressed I am with how far you’ve come since our last encounter,” The other Sunset continued, her tone nothing short of cunningness, “You’ve mastered your abilities in the Force, though it is only a fraction of your true potential.” Although about less than a minute had passed, Sunset felt like an hour had passed since she stumbled onto her worst nightmare. “ Don’t worry guys,” Sunset said to her friends as she didn’t take her eyes off her counterpart, “ She’s just an illusion.” “ She seems pretty real to me.” Twilight shot back, her tone iced with fear. “Oh Sunny, when are you going to stop lying to yourself?” The other Sunset taunted her. Sunset wasn’t going to let this impostor get inside her head. “ I know who I am. I’m the one who’s gonna defeat you once and for all.” Sunset said with resolute as she ignited her lightsaber. “ You can’t keep living in denial forever,” The other Sunset chuckled, indifferent to the threat. It was as if she was hoping for it. Unfortunately Sunset, blinded by her rage and fury towards her counterpart, played along to her wishes, charging towards her in full speed with her lightsaber drawn up. The other Sunset, stood her ground, with a wicked smile on her face as she waited for the rage driven Sunset to approach her before she used her red bladed lightsaber to block her charge. Sunset attempted to break her counterpart’s block but she held her ground and leaned in on her. She mustered up the strength to push the other Sunset off, putting some space between the two.

“ So feisty !” The other Sunset said, her expression iced with an insatiable lust of power, “ If only you had shown such feistiness during the Fall Formal, we wouldn’t have lost !!''. She further taunted her. Sunset snarled loudly at her as she charged with full fury towards her counterpart as they both engaged in a tit-for-tat lightsaber duel, with both sides parrying the others' charge. The rest of the girls could only stand aside and watch helplessly as her friend dueled herself. One thing for sure is that they had never seen the levels of rage and anger shown by their friend as she dueled her counterpart. It somewhat scared them. Sunset was always a bit of a short tempered person but this was beyond that. It was as if she had been consumed by her own rage. As they both dueled, her counterpart lifted her lightsaber up before swinging it down on Sunset, who moved her lightsaber to counter it, with both red and blue blessed intersecting on one another perpendicularly. “Why continue to resist who you are, Sunny ?” the other Sunset taunted her. “ I am not who you think I am !!!” Sunset yelled, her voice full of anger at her as she stood her ground, holding off her strike. “ Oh I beg to differ,” Her counterpart retorted before she let go one hand off her lightsaber’s grip and extended it forward, and Force-pushed Sunset across the room, where she hit a pillar hard falling to the ground unconscious. “ Sunset !!” Her friends screamed out loud as they rushed towards her to help. “Pathetic,” The other Sunset muttered to herself as she stood her ground and watched the others rush to Sunset’s aid. “Is she gonna be okay ?” Fluttershy asked with a worried expression. Twilight placed her two fingers on Sunset’s wrist to feel her pulse and fortunately there was one. “ She’s fine, just unconscious that's all.” Twilight said to the rest slightly relieved.

“Of course she’ll be fine. Sunset Shimmer has been through worse before,” The other Sunset said out loud. The girls turned their attention to her, their faces beaming red with anger, including the usually meek Fluttershy. “ I’m gonna kick your as…” Rainbow Dash said as she grabbed her geode before she was stopped by Applejack who then turned her attention towards the counterpart, “ Before I let her, mind telling us who you are and how you know of the Fall Formal incident ?” She demanded, her tone iced with anger. “ She didn’t tell you ?” The other Sunset chuckled in a seemingly surprised manner though it was fairly obvious she was only pretending to be. “Tell us what ?” Twilight further asked. “That I’m the real Sunset Shimmer, the one you guys thought to have defeated during the Fall Formal.” The other Sunset clamored. “ That’s impossible,” Applejack gasped. She wasn’t the only one as the others had confused and shocked looks on their faces. “Well believe it !” The other Sunset shot back as she pointed out to their unconscious friend on the ground, “All those years, that impostor has been hiding her true self, denying it, but no more. Through the power of the Force, I'll be unstoppable !!.”

“ We know who our friend is !!” Pinkie Pie declared out loud resolutely. “ And we’ll stand by her at all times. We’ve defeated you before and we will do it again !!” Rainbow Dash added with resolve to which the other girls rallied behind. Despite the counterpart’s claims, they knew who their friend was and how she had stood by them before. Now the time has come to return the favor. Just then, their geodes began to lit up brightly and from the energy of the geodes, the girls, united by their determination to protect their friend starting transforming or as what Pinkie Pie refers to as ‘pony-up’, as they grew pony shaped ears from their head and their hairs became more lengthier, extending past their hips towards their legs. This ‘magical’ transformation, albeit temporarily, was powered by the Magic of Friendship that came from their geodes and it gave them the power they believed they could defeat the other Sunset. Meanwhile, Sunset who was just regaining her consciousness after being tossed across the room, had her vision blinded by the bright lights being emitted by the girl’s ponying up. The girls, now fully ponied-up and slightly levitating off the ground thanks to their temporary powers turned their attention over towards the other Sunset, “The Magic of Friendship will always prevail against the forces of evil !” Applejack declared, as the power of the geodes from the others combined, creating a large white beam of power to which Applejack unleashed onto the other Sunset, who merely chuckled at their pony transformation. “So typical,” She muttered to herself in a slightly annoyed tone but she was in no way unprepared. In fact, she had been anticipating it. As the white magical beam came shooting straight towards her, she extended her right hand forward towards the white beam and somehow she started to absorb the white beam of energy with ease.

As the girls continued to shoot off their magical white beam, the other Sunset continued to absorb it, somehow growing stronger with every inch of energy she absorbed. Eventually the girls were drained out of their powers and slowly landed back on the ground, with dumbfounded expressions on their faces. “That’s never happened before,” Rainbow Dash remarked, her tone iced with confusion and creeping fear. It was a feeling never before felt by Rainbow Dash but she was quickly getting used to it, given the predicament. The other Sunset, on the other hand, stood her ground, unaffected and unbruised even at the slightest. In fact, she had gotten what she needed, power. A confident and cunning smile appeared on her face, “Now it’s my turn,” She uttered as she shot out her hand and blue streaks of lightning sprang from her fingers and struck the girls, shooting them with unimaginable pain with every muscle in their bodies tensed and cramped uncontrollably. The girls screamed in agony as the lightning danced over and through their bodies. Sunset was alerted to the screaming voices of her friends, watched in horror as they were struck by lightning that sprang from the other Sunset’s fingers who seemed to enjoy sadistically the agony of her friends.

The blue streak of lightning that sprang out of her fingers ceased and the girls sprawled to the ground unconscious, the pain being too much for them to handlen with vapors of smoke rising from their almost lifeless bodies. “Guys!! No!” Sunset exclaimed out in despair as she pulled herself up and rushed to their sides. She held Twilight by her arms and proceeded to feel her pulse with her two fingers. She dreaded the worst. There was a faint pulse coming, indicating she was alive. Sunset quickly glanced at the others, finding their diaphragms still moving, which meant that they were still breathing. Sunset felt a quick sense of relief that her friends were still alive, but it was soon overcome with anguish over the terrible state of agony they were in. “Don’t worry,” The other Sunset said, bloated with sarcasm, “they won’t be permanently damaged.” Sunset turned to face her counterpart and with incoherent cry, she charged with her lightsaber drawn out towards her counterpart, reveling at the strength of her muscles as she dealt strike after strike but the other Sunset parried it expertly with a as she cackled in a manner that seemed like she took pleasure in Sunset’s rage and fury. “Your hatred towards me is strong, give in to your anger and strike me down !!.” She intoned as her eyes were gleaming with approval. “I AM NOTHING LIKE YOU !!” Sunset enraged, shouted as loud as possible as she pushed on with her strikes. The anger and hatred towards this counterpart of hers was flowing through her blood, reaching every part of her cells, fueling it as she tried to strike herself down. Anger had blinded her, blurred her judgment. She couldn’t think of anything else other than killing her counterpart, the person who incapicitated her friends and left them in an almost lifeless manner.

Despite her almost constant strikes, the other Sunset was not even at the very least unsettled. In fact, she appeared like someone had drawn out a winning card in a game of poker. “Why do you hate what gives you power ?” She sighed as she extended her hand forward, using the Force and sent Sunset sprawling to the ground, landing heavily with a grunt. But Sunset wasn’t done and over yet. Excruciating Pain was coming from all parts of her body but using her hate towards her counterpart, she summoned her energy to pull herself up but she realized her lightsaber wasn’t in her clutches. She had left involuntarily let go of it when she landed onto the ground. It had rolled away, thanks to its cylindrical shape a certain distance away from her grasp. Sunset quickly extended her hand to grab it but it was too late. The other Sunset with her red lightsaber drawn out, stood tall and imposing over her. Her expression was one that of triumph, with her lips curled in a manner that might have been either a smile or a snarl as she stood over her defeated opponent. Sunset knew it then this could be the moment.

“You cannot keep running away from your past Sunset Shimmer, from who you are.” The other Sunset declared out loud as she raised her lightsaber, set for the killing blow. Sunset laid on the ground defeated as she saw the red blad her of her counterpart’s lightsaber above her, poised to strike down. It was at this pivotal moment did Sunset realize it, that her refusal to accept her counterpart’s claims was actually granting her even more strength ! Her denial was her power. ‘How was this possible ?’ Sunset thought to herself in what could very well be her final thoughts. All along she had been fighting to protect her friends and to prove her counterpart wrong, that she was not the Sunset Shimmer of before. But then, she remembered what Qui Gonn had told her earlier, not to let friendships turn into attachments which will eventually become obsession and that was exactly what happened. She recognised her counterpart. It was a dark shadow herself, a manifestation of her obsession and her paranoia, coupled with her past lust and greed for power. The more Sunset rejected it, the more her counterpart grew stronger and the more she became her ! Her counterpart was right, she could not run away from the past, nor can she change it, and she is accountable to her former actions, but it is not her. Her counterpart drew her strength from her imbalances, and only by correcting this imbalance will vanquish her. “You’re right,” She muttered out loud to the other Sunset. Perhaps for the first time, her counterpart had a nonplussed expression. That confident, cunning look on her face was no more, replaced by unsettledness. She could sense a creeping sense of fear in her counterpart, though not apparent. In a split second, the other Sunset snarled and brought her lightsaber down towards Sunset’s head.

Suddenly, her hand and lightsaber were stopped mid air, an invisible force was preventing it from moving further. She tried to break free from this hold, by utilizing all of her strength in pushing it down but her efforts were futile. She then noticed, just below her lightsaber was Sunset’s open hand, as she held back her counterpart’s lightsaber through the Force. Sunset pulled her head up, making direct eye contact with her counterpart as she cracked a smirk on her face. Finally, she had drawn a winning trump card and perhaps for the first time the other Sunset had a worried unsettled look on her twisted face. Unadmittingly, she knew that the dynamics had shifted, likely for good. “You’re right,” Sunset repeated to her counterpart who was trying to break free, “I cannot keep running away from my past and denying it as much as I want to.” Using her Force grip to which she held on, Sunset started pulling the other Sunset towards her. It wasn’t easy, but she gathered all of her strength, both physical and spiritual to pull her. At this point the other Sunset was visibly panicking, her expression having well passed worrying. Her face was filled with terror as she tried to agitate herself out of Sunset’s hold on her but it proved futile. Sunset’s hold was strong, as she kept pulling her counterpart towards her.

Just then, small pieces of her counterpart’s light amber skin begin to break, with thick black smoke coming out of those small holes. More parts of her skin broke, with thick smoke coming until off of the light amber skin completely broke, revealing a torso composed of nothing but darkness. The previous facial features of her counterpart had all but dissolved, leaving only her eyes and her mouth. Her eyes were thick bloodish red, as if it was the windows of hell and her mouth was filled with pointy-looking teeth. Overall, her counterpart no longer looked like herself, but more of a dark twisted shadowy demon, its true form. Sunset didn’t let the horrid look distract as she continued pulling this shadow of hers towards her. It gave a deafening demonic shriek, as if it was in tremendous pain as she was being captivated. “ I recognise you now.” Sunset said with an audacious manner, “ You are who I once was. A part of me you are, but you don’t have control over me and never will.” Just then, the power from all of her friends' geodes lit up and each shot a beam of energy towards Sunset, as if it was providing her with the final boost needed. In doing so, the respective geodes each gave a magical uplifting to the girls, bringing them back to consciousness as well as ponying up. Sunset Shimmer also ponied up with all the energy inside of her. Behind Her, the girls were all fully back up and were combining their magic, forming white white beam energy to which they directed towards Sunset. “My friends and Kara have shown me that it is I who control you, who has power over you.” Sunset declared as she used the Force to further pull her shadow closer. It was now nothing more than a couple of inches away from her, whimpering in fear. “ I cannot run away from my past, but my past is not today. Today, I am a Jedi who carries with me the power of friendship and I reject you.” With one final pull, Sunset Shimmer finally merges her shadowy dark side to herself, vanquishing it for good.

The other Sunset was no more. Sunset Shimmer had finally faced her inner demons and conquered them once and for all. All this time, she feared, despised her former self but she had now come to realize that her Dark Side will forever continue to be a part of her, like it or not but she has power over it. The atrium was now back to its quiet and still self, save for Sunset and the rest. She then turned to her ‘ponied-up’ friends thankful that they appeared unhurt. “Are you guys okay ?” She asked, despite already knowing the answer. “Better than okay !” Rainbow Dash declared in her usual confident manner. “For some reason, I feel energetic all of a sudden,” Rarity concurred with Rainbow Dash. “What happened to your counterpart, Sunset ?” Twilight asked in a more serious manner. “ Yea, did evil SunShim turn into dust or something ?” Pinkie added in to Twilight’s question. The girls had their eyes trained towards Sunset, waiting for her answer. “She’s not my counterpart, never was.” Sunset answered, much to her friends confusion. “What do ya mean sugarcube ?” Applejack asked. “Well it's kinda complicated.” Sunset said. She didn’t really know how to explain to her friends that she had faced off with a physical manifestation of her Dark Side or even them grasping that fact. Twilight was about to further say something when they heard distant noises of lightsabers clashing coming from the doorway which they had entered from. “Kara,” Sunset muttered. In the heat of the moment, she had completely forgotten about Kara and her duel with the Sith Lord. She had to go for her master’s aid. She had extended her hand and used the Force to pull her lightsaber back to her grasp. “We need to go back and help Kara.” Sunset said to her friends as she dashed off through the doorway to her master’s aid, closely followed by her friends. “Time to save the day, again.” Rainbow Dash intoned as she tagged along.

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Meanwhile,

Kara and Darth Vader continued dueling with one another, with the latter obviously having the upper hand. Kara was forced to the defensive as she struggled to parry off every incoming strike. For Vader, this was almost too easy for him. The girl was just delaying her ultimate fate. The both soon locked on to each other with their lightsabers intercepting one another. Kara tried to push forwards but it was in vain, he was just too strong and powerful. “Surrender, and perhaps the Emperor will show you mercy in deciding your fate.” Vader intoned as he leaned in on his block. They were so close that Kara could hear the breathing mechanism of his helmet working. “Tell your master to go to hell,” Kara shot back with absolute resoluteness as she leapt off over him and landed on her feet behind him before she lashed out with her own sets of strikes to which Vader effortlessly and expertly parried.it was as if he could correctly predict her every move. Just then, he briefly laid down his guard and extended his hand, grabbing Kara by the Force just as she was about to strike him before tossing her towards one of the Temple pillars. Kara hit the pillars face-first hard before she fell to the ground unconscious. With a single and swift act, Vader had incapitated his opponent. It was barely a challenge for the Dark Lord of the Sith. “All too easy,” He remarked. Before he could revel in his victory however, he sensed an incoming strike from behind. He quickly swirled back with his lightsaber activated, catching Sunset’s lightsaber just in the nick of time.
The two lightsabers were locked onto each other almost perpendicularly. Sunset had hoped to catch the Sith Lord unprepared but he clearly sensed her approach. Vader caught notice of his opponent’s unusual physical mutations, bearing some kind of resemblance towards some kind of human/equine hybrid. Her companions who just entered the chamber also had similar alterations and their geodes on their necks seemed to be glowing. Vader quickly deduced that those geodes were the source of their somewhat unnatural transformations, being some kind of primitive alchemy that he is yet to fully understand but proving his master’s claims about Sunset Shimmer. He grew more determined to apprehend her and unlock the secrets she holds both of his master’s desire, and himself. “Impressive,” Vader intoned as he pushed off Sunset with his lightsaber, giving some space between the two before going on an offensive. Sunset grappled to keep parrying his strikes but managed to hold on. The two soon locked lightsabers with each other perpendicularly. Vader leaned in on his strike, exerting even more pressure on Sunset to hold it.

Thanks to her quick thinking, Sunset gave a good kick onto the Sith Lord’s abdomen, pushing him off and alleviating most if not all of the pressure. Sunset then charged towards the briefly undefended Vader before something grabbed hold of her neck. She could feel as if her neck was being squeezed telekinetically, and indeed it was. She saw Vader with a grip-like gesture on his hand. He was Force choking her. Sunset dropped her lightsaber to the ground as her natural reflexes had both of her hands clutched her neck. Vader then lifted her off the ground with his Force-choke before throwing her off to the side. He could’ve easily snapped her neck and ended it all but his orders were clear. Sunset fell to the ground, gasping for air as her neck was now relieved. Vader then turned his attention over to her companions. “Light him Up, Ladies !!” Pinkie Pie declared out loud to the others. The girls then combined the powers from their geodes, creating a white energy beam which Rainbow Dash then directed it towards Vader. The Sith Lord raised his lightsaber up to deflect the incoming white beam. The beam struck this lightsaber and almost caused Vader to stumble but he held his ground firmly, till the point where the ground below him started to crack. “Most Impressive,” Vader said as he held his ground. His interest in this unusual sorcery grew and solidified within him. The power contained in those geodes was more than he realized. He soon had enough of child play. The time had come for Vader to show them the true power of the Dark Side. With one hand holding the lightsaber, he extended his other upwards and used the Force to bring down the roof above the girls. The entire roof above them came tumbling down above them.

Thanks to her quick thinking, Rarity conjured up a large diamond-shaped shield that covered those around her and shielded them from the falling rocks and debris. However, in doing so, it broke their concentration and energy flow from their geodes effectively disintegrating the energy beam. “ Is everybody alright ?” Rarity asked as she used her geode in power in maintaining the shield. “ I’ve got the feeling that someone actually wants to destroy us this time.” Rainbow Dash intoned as she leaned her hand to help pull Twilight back to her two feet. “ Does anyone have eyes on Sunset ?” Applejack said to the others as her eyes scrambled to find her in the midst of rocks and debris.. Fortunately, as the dust settled, they found their friend still lying unconscious and unhurt from the debris. She was not the only one though. Darth Vader stood right in front of them with not even a scratch on his armor. The Sith Lord noticed the diamond shield that was between him and the girls. ‘Pathetic,’ he thought to himself. He deactivated his lightsaber and hung it back on his belt before he brought both of his hands beside one another with his palms opened up and by using the Force, started to squeeze them by applying enough pressure onto the diamond shield, making it contract.

The diamond shield started to crack and shrink as Vader applied more and more pressure on it from all directions. Rarity greatly struggled to keep the shield up with her geode powers but it was in vain. “What’s happening !?” Fluttershy cried out in fear as the more cracks appeared on the actively shrinking shield. “He’s trying to squeeze us from within,” Twilight answered Fluttershy, her tone not as different as hers. As Vader brought both of his open hands closer to each other, the diamond shield was shrinking in all sides while cracking at the same time. It was only a matter of time before it breaks or Rarity gives in. She tried so hard with all of her energy to maintain it but she was failing and getting more exhausted by the second. The shield was just now mere inches away from their heads, forcing the girls to duck. “ He’s too strong, I can’t hold it…..much longer….” Rarity pantingly said in an exhausted voice. She had drained all of her geode strength and power which was dimming out. Vader could see the tiring face of Rarity as well as the panicking and scared faces of the girls inside the collapsing shield. Just a little bit more and they’re done for. “NO !!!!!” A loud voice came from behind. Vader turned around to find Kara swinging her lightsaber towards him. For the first time, the Sith Lord was taken aback and whirled to the side to avoid Kara’s lightsaber. In doing so, he was forced to let go of his stranglehold over the diamond shield, finally relieving Rarity from duress. By this time, the girls had transformed back to their normal physical attributes, having used a significant amount of magic in a short period of time. Kara continued launching a barrage of strikes at Vader but he continued whirling to the side avoiding her strikes. For a moment it seemed like the Sith Lord was on the defensive, with no chance of taking out his lightsaber to counter Kara’s advances.

Vader held his ground and extended his hand, using the Force to block Kara’s incoming strike mid air albeit only briefly. It gave Vader the moment to draw out his own lightsaber and let go of his block, using his lightsaber to catch Kara’s strikes. Before she knew it, she was back to square one, with her parrying against Vader’s attacks. Meanwhile, Sunset slowly pulled herself up from the ground, her vision was a bit blurry but soon became clearer. She saw her friend caught between the wreckage of the fallen roof. They were thankfully unhurt and there was a small gap between the debris to get to them. She then turned towards her master to find engaging in a duel with Vader, the latter obviously having the upper hand. Just then, the roof and other structures above them started falling and crumbling down. It appeared that Vader bringing down a portion of the already unstable roof was the trigger to the rest. The entire Temple was coming down on them, with the pillars surrounding them also giving way to the falling structure. “Sunset !!” Twilight called out to her friend, “ This place is collapsing. We gotta go now !” Sunset couldn’t have agreed more. Her friends were, after all, the closest to the exit. But she could not leave Kara behind to either be killed by Vader or be buried alive.

Sunset rushed to Kara’s side, to keep the Sith Lord distracted enough so they all could escape and maybe, just maybe with a bit of luck, bury Vader in it. Kara was too preoccupied with her duel with Vader to notice the collapsing temple surrounding her. Vader increased his strikes,, as if his attacks and strikes were now fueled solely by anger and hatred. Just then, one of the pillars came tumbling down narrowly missing Sunset but cut her off from Kara and Vader. It was too heavy for Sunset to lift it up, which meant that she would have to climb over it to get to them. “Sunset, we need to leave, now !!” She could hear Rainbow Dash calling out to her but she wasn’t going anywhere without her master. “ Kara, the Temple is coming down. We have to go !!!!” She called out to Kara. Kara heard her apprentice calling her to leave but someone had to keep Vader occupied or he would be onto them. As she saw the collapsing temple around her, she knew that she wouldn’t make it, but her apprentice could. “ Get out of here, Sunset. I’ll hold him off,” She shouted to Sunset as she held off Vader’s attacks with her lightsaber. “I won’t leave you, Master.” Sunset said as more and more rocks and debris came crumbling down around her. A few more seconds and all of them would be trapped inside. Kara held her lightsaber in one hand which she used to hold off the Sith Lord’s strike while she extended her other hand in the direction of Sunset and lifted her up through the Force. “ Yes, you will, Padawan.” Those were her final words to Sunset Shimmer before she pushed her away towards her friends on the other side as the whole roof came tumbling down.

---

Kara then turned her attention over to Vader who had leaned in on his strike. “ Submit to me !” He said out loud through his helmet. “Never !!!” Kara shouted back at him as she held on tightly to her lightsaber. “Then you will die, braver than most.” Vader said indifferently. Kara closed her eyes for a moment, ‘she had already decided her fate’, before she opened them and looked right into Vader’s helmet, “So be it.” She said calmly. She was full of serenity and peace. It was the last thing Kara remembered before Vader’s lightsaber pierced through her, the world went white, and she knew nothing more.

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Sunset Shimmer did not know what to say as the entrance of the chamber where they were a few seconds earlier had been sealed by the collapsed roof, burying whoever that’s in there. “She’s..she’s… gone,” She stammered to say it. Everything happened too fast for Sunset to comprehend. One moment she was rushing to save Kara and the next moment she was gone. The girls were at a loss of words too. Like Sunset, they too were equally shocked though not as affected as Sunset. A drop of tear came from her eye, then a second and soon, both her eyes were flooded with tears, as if a dam had been broken. Her friends could feel for her. They felt like hugging her their best friend and comforting her but they’re not out of the woods yet. “ I know how you’re feeling, sugarcube, we have to keep moving if we are to make it out of here,” Applejack said in a mild manner to Sunset as she helped pull herself up from the ground. Sunset rubbed the tears of her eyes before she nodded to Applejack. Kara had sacrificed herself in order for she and her friends to escape and Sunset was not going to let that sacrifice be in vain. The girls ran as fast as they could to the exit. Rainbow Dash, who had exhausted her super speed geode power, was forced to rely on her own stamina to run, though thanks to her athletic activities, she was the fastest even without her superpowers. They managed to exit Arkuntal Temple just as the entire interior of the temple collapsed, blocking the only exit for good. Knowing full well that since the Sith Lord had tracked them here, Imperial forces were not far behind, the girls wasted no time in running back to the Gauntlet.

As soon as they reached the Gauntlet, the ramp doors opened revealing R5 in the entrance of the ship. The astromech droid was beeping erratically, informing them that the Empire was on its way. Just then, R5 noticed that there was someone missing from the group, his master was not with them. Despite being a non-living thing made up of wires and circuits, the droid was worried about her. R5 beeped towards Sunset, asking about Kara. “ I’m sorry buddy, but she’s gone,” Sunset said in a soft sad voice as she placed his hand over R5. The droid was silent for a moment before it let out a sad whine as if it was crying. Sunset felt for R5, as the droid had been by Kara’s side for a long time. “ Come on, buddy, we need to fly out of here before the Empire arrives.” Sunset said to R5, who quietly complied and headed to the cockpit. Within moments the Gauntlet was up in the air and flew off but Sunset knew it was gonna be a long quiet trip back.

Author's Note:

Yea.... that happened.