Star Mares 3.3.26: Black Sun

I am ashamed to say that this Nightmare name, the obvious one for a Star Wars crossover, did not occur to me immediately.  I figured I should probably change the original one after The Friendship Games, and the galaxy is far better for it.

Most of the plot developments in the comic have been driven by the impossibility of inserting background characters into key scenes, and this is no different: since the characters couldn't participate in the final boss battle, I needed an alternative.  The hard part was designing the Triptych so it didn't give the whole thing away back in 2.1 - although the decision to give Rainbow Dash a bladed wing helped make it less obvious that she was taking a defensive stance.

As it happened, I apparently didn't need to worry, since like Gracenote, many of you decided to take the visions at face value.  Everything that happened in them was true, of course, but without any context that would tell a completely different story.  Here's what actually happened:

- When they stowed away aboard the landing craft, while still separated from Rainbow Dash, Applejack was attacked by what she assumed was a Nightmare.  Rainbow also chose to remain on Tacktooine while Applejack returned to Canterlot.  This separation is important, as you'll see.

- While aiding the Resistance, Rainbow encountered Skywishes and decided to take her along with her (because there are no child endangerment laws in Equestria, apparently).  When Applejack returned, Rainbow told her that during the battle she'd gotten a fix on a communication between the Cloudsdale viceroy and the Nightmare, and they decided to take her on themselves without waiting for the other four Elements.  Rainbow told Skywishes to remain behind, but of course, she didn't listen.

- Upon arriving at the coordinates, instead of the sinister figure they expected, they found Celestia.  From Applejack's perspective, this wasn't that much of a surprise, since she knew from Cadance that Celestia was going to be coming to deal with things - but she hadn't expected her to get there before them. Rainbow, however, had more information, and realized the truth. When Applejack, a little bit slower on the uptake, tried to de-escalate the situation, Celestia blasted her.  This is what sent Rainbow to the edge.

- During the all-out fight that followed, Tacktooine's capital was destroyed. At the climax of the battle, Skywishes got in the way of one of Celestia's blasts, and in the attempt to protect her, Rainbow accidentally gave her most of the Element of Loyalty's power (and with it, one of her cutie marks - this is why Dark Feather told Moontear that Rainbow Dash saved her life, and that she was now bound to fulfill what she thought was Rainbow's destiny).  In the exact same instant, Cadance intervened; unable to tell which one of them was the Nightmare, she froze both of them, and herself.

- The remaining Element Bearers arrived well after the battle. Since there were only two eyewitnesses and neither of them could give a clear account, Twilight reconstructed the event based on Applejack's jumbled memories - which, while technically true, were completely misleading.  As a result, she endorsed the position that became the Empire's official story, leading in time to Moontear's misplaced belief that Rainbow Dash was a traitor.

- As the new Element of Loyalty, Skywishes became Twilight's apprentice.  Then the Pone Wars happened, and somewhere along the line, Skywishes became Dark Feather, corrupting the Element (as I said way back when, the black stars on Twilight's cutie mark refer to the Elements, not necessarily the bearers).

I think that just about covers everything... apart from the question of how Celestia could be in two places at once, which has an answer but which is not relevant to the current story, so I'm not going to say what it is

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Trope me.