//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: The Dark // Story: Star Wars: Among Terror // by RadioBug15 //------------------------------// I do not own MLP or Star Wars. Day 30 in Equestria The forest was still as a rock, silent as a calm wind, for someone dark had entered the very woods. Deimos had come to the Everfree to concentrate. It has been 17 days since he has healed up and the Emperor didn't bother to send more troopers, sith, assassins or bounty hunters to come and kill him. Good. The Sith lord was performing a one-handed handstand, his legs slightly apart to maintain balance. Maintaining physical and mental stability was important. Since those seventeen days, surprising things have happened very fast very quickly. After Deimos's speedy recovery, they would've used Starkiller's ship to leave the planet, but he quickly found out that the Emperor had set it to explode if such an occasion happened, Sidious was trying to isolate them. Besides the bad news, other interesting things had sprung up as well; Sana and Scrap almost managed to get the war droid working, but again it had failed, Ahsoka Tano and (surprisingly) Maul had both volunteered to be some sort of law enforcement of Ponyville, giving them some sort of respect, despite Maul's frightening appearance, Deimos had thought that this was unusual of their behavior. Deimos then slowly lowered his arm, his toes and fingertips only touching the ground. The T-Legion carried on normal drill exercises each day for a few hours before getting to know the village more and more. Twilight and Cera had gotten to know each other as well, sharing common interests in each other's work. "Feel the force feed your strength, give you power and control," he exhaled, looking to his left, he saw Apple Bloom imitating his posture exactly (impressive...); to his right: Sweetie Belle straining to get mimic his stance; Scootaloo, who was behind him, was struggling to maintain posture; then he looked to his front, he saw Jeyeva overlooking the scene, impressed with how they were doing. Oh, and he had gotten permission from Rarity and Applejack to train the girls in the Jedi and Sith ways. Deimos sighed and got back up, walking over to the tree and put on his shirt and robes. "Training dismissed," he said, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo collapsed in exhaustion, breathing heavily, Apple Bloom exhaled deeply and got back to her hooves, Deimos nodded at them, they smiled back ad left. "(I am impressed by why you want to train them, Sith,)" Jeyeva said. "Sidious killed the Jedi and is the only ruler of the Sith, I take it upon myself to preserve the ways of the Force, whether I like it or not," he explained to the former Kaleesh warlord. Jeyeva nodded in approval, "(Good, it is best to secure the future, to train the younglings into warriors so they may stand as a beacon of hope for those who cannot protect themselves.)" "You do not sound like a Kaleesh Warlord," Deimos replied. "(I only fought for the throne and for the good of the people, I ruled through peace but was not afraid to show that my warriors were mighty back when I was younger,)" he replied. "Walk with me Jeyeva," and so he did, keeping the same pace as the Sith lord. "(Yes warrior?) Jeyeva asked him. "How were you aware that you could use the Force?" he asked him. "(It was when I was in my fourth year that I started noticing that I could feel the very ground beneath my feet, the life that was above, around, and beneath, I had heard the legends of the Jedi and the Sith, and decided to be of neither allegiance, to serve my people, for they came first. I decided to forge a blade that I have seen in my visions. Then the Empire rose, their stormtroopers occupying Kalee, my people were eager to join, but I had seen the Empire's true nature, I tried to flee before I was captured and stuck in carbonite, and I thank you for freeing me,) Jeyeva bowed in respect. "You're welcome," Deimos answered, Jeyeva then walked away from the conversation to take part in something else. Deimos had one more thought that troubled him. They were ponies, lacking hands, they could not use a lightsaber. He had to find a solution to this problem. Day 36 in Equestria Deimos looked at his new students, again in the Everfree, only in a more rockier area. "Your training has advanced, you will now lift these stones as part of your training," he announced, seeing the looks on their faces. "But these rocks are huge! How could we lift them up?" Apple Bloom asked him. "Size does not matter when using the Force," Deimos said, he then walked over a boulder, he then turned to face them, focusing on his anger and clear concentration, the Sith slowly began to lift a single hand until it reached the approximate height to his neck. As he was doing this, the rock began to slowly rise off the ground and hover in mid-air, until he lowered his hand, the rock mirrored his actions. "Impress me," he said, walking over to another rock and sat on it. He watched as Apple Bloom walked over to an average-sized boulder, she closed her eyes and lifted her hoof towards it. "Focus on it, don't survey it's size, clear your head and ignore all distractions," he said to them, watching as Apple Bloom struggled to pick it up, until she eventually gave up, her breathing labored from the training. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle's situations were different however; they had managed to lift it, Sweetie Belle lifted the rock more with ease, Scootaloo struggled but still held firm. Deimos suddenly sensed a dark presence, his head whipped to their direction, "Training dismissed, go home," he said quickly. "But we just star-" "I said now!" he yelled as he took off running, the CMC close on his heels. They finally made their way out of the forest, Deimos stopped, the Cutie Mark Crusaders panting as they caught up with him, they then obeyed his orders and began trotting back to their homes. Deimos had lost the presence, so he decided to clear his mind and search for the source of the dark force. Sitting down cross-legged, his palms together, he began to concentrate. His mind had entered a trance-like state, his mind opened to the entirety of the force. Deimos's mind quickly spotted it; small, unnoticeable, but it was there, hidden in Twilight's castle... Deimos quickly snapped out of his trance and ran as fast as he can to Ponyville... 20 minutes later... Twilight had just woke up, she walked over to the kitchen and made herself some cereal. She then looked around to see that Deimos was not there, finally remembering that he said something about training. Finally, peace, she thought to herself. She concentrated her magic on the spoon, it lifted off the table, it then lowered into the bowl dug itself into the grainy food, it rose back up with the food, Twilight then brought it to her mouth and- (*Crash*) The sound of a door slamming into a wall resonated through the halls. "TWILIGHT!!!" she jumped in fright as she heard the sound of a certain Sith Lord screaming for her, the spoon clattering to the floor. The violet alicorn quickly ran to greet him, but she suddenly felt a force shove her behind him, Deimos quickly drew his lightsaber. "Twilight, there's a dark presence in this place, what happened while I was gone?" he asked her. Deimos could almost literally smell her fear, but it was obvious she was trying not to look the part, the shrunken pupils, sudden twitchy attitude, and the frantic look on her face. "W-well, I just woke up, I was just going to the kitchen for breakfast now, you woke me up to tell me what you were going to do, train Apple Bloom, Sweetie, and Scootaloo?" she asked him. "Yes, it went good, but that's not important right now," he then cleared his mind again, but to see that it was right behind him. Twilight. Deimos whipped around and activated his lightsaber, pointing it at her, she jumped back a few feet, "Who are you?!" he yelled at her. "What are you talking about?" she was about to panic. "The dark presence that I felt was you, and I haven't felt any dark presence from the real Twilight, who are you?" he demanded. "I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, who else would I be?" she questioned him, her voice now in sudden annoyance, but with a slight hint of fear in her voice. "I have met a changeling bounty hunter, attempting to impersonate me, I made sure his death was excruciatingly painful," he growled in malice. "I'm not a changeling, I could prove it!" she pleaded. Deimos raised an eyebrow, putting away his saber, "What happened when we first met?" Twilight answered immediately, "Your ship crashed in the Everfree forest, we were sent to investigate, you surprised us via tree and you fought a group of soldiers that serve your Empire." His stance became more passive, "You're still Twilight, good, but why does the darkness reside in you?" he asked. "I... don't know, I don't even know what it is," she admitted. "Have here been any changes to you, anything at all?" "I- no it's too ridiculous." "Tell me, I need everything that might help," he said. "Fine... I've been having bad dreams," she responded quickly, Deimos took time to ponder this. "Bad dreams?" he said. "(Sigh) I told you it was ridiculous," she said. "What do you dream about?" Deimos asked her, she then closed her eyes. "I... see a large castle, maybe a temple in the night. I watch as an alien of your species begins walking up a large set of stairs as hundreds of troopers walk in, matching each others hoofsteps, behind him, his face is concealed by a hood and he has a saber similar to yours in his hand; I sometimes see the death of many... Jedi? Is that what you call them?" she asked him. "You're seeing Knightfall," he said, surprised and fascinated by her dreams so far. "I also see two human males fight, an unconscious female splayed across the floor, I feel the heat of hundreds of volcanoes as i watch them fight, ending with the older man's victory as he stands atop his opponent, missing three of his limbs and burning from the ignited fire; but out of those dreams, I see something that gives me a new hope, I watch as a child, taken from the mother who had already passed is taken and given to another family, relatives probably, and the other is taken by a darker-skinned human," she finished. Deimos's eyes were wide, she had seen the past of Knightfall, there must be something wrong. Deimos dropped to his knee to face Twilight, his face filled with concern, his hands outstretched across her head. "What are you doing?" she asked. "Something I have never tried before, I will attempt to find this darkness's source," he then pressed his hands across the temples of her head, focusing the Dark Side of the Force into her head, acting as a conduit. Damn Nightsister magic, he said, during his travels as a fugitive, he, on occasion, had to hide on Dathomir, learning from whatever remained of the Nightsisters and Mother Talzin. He entered the recesses of her mind, doing his best to avoid memories and find the darkness. Light surrounded her mind, the Element of Magic embedded into one of the parts of her mind. He then spotted the flaw, a small little black sphere. What are you, you little virus? His mind reached out and touched it, it violently shook and forced itself at him. Deimos acted quickly and decided to leave her to leave her mind, gasping for air as he released his grasp from her. "What did you see?" she asked him. "Your mind is of light, making it easy for me to spot your certain anomaly, it tried to block me out, but I managed to find it's source," Deimos turned to the door, "Follow me." The Sith Lord opened the door with Twilight at his side. They were then greeted by sunshine, the air cool and crisp, but Deimos did not regard it and continued walking, making a beeline towards the source. Twilight noticed that the ponies had seemed to calm down at his presence (probably something to do with saving Ponyville from an impending attack...). Deimos had been walking at a normal pace until he saw Maul and Ahsoka walking through the streets of the small village, "Maul! Tano!" he called out. The two had heard him and walked over to him. "What is it Deimos?" Ahsoka asked. "Twilight and I are going to be gone for a while, we are on an important mission. Can you defend Ponyville?" he asked the two. "Sure thing Deimos, but it will be tough with horn-head here giving me a hard time," she nodded towards Darth Maul, who simply growled at her before slightly nodding at Deimos. "Good, I will see you two later when we get back." Deimos and Twilight have been walking for hours, following the dark's source; he looked at Twilight's exhaustion, knowing what she was going to say. "It has only been a couple of hours, we must keep walking, just another mile," he said, more to himself than to her. The two have been walking for hours, surviving on small portions of whatever the former Sith Lord carried and whatever they foraged. Twilight then collapsed, "I can't, I just can't," she wheezed. Deimos rolled his eyes, "Don't be such a child," he then lifted the purple alicorn with the Force and began walking with her floating right beside him; he took out a canteen of water and handed it to her. "Thank you," she whispered. They had continued walking for the rest of the mile before reaching a large dark cave, he could feel the dark side radiating from it. He then lowered his hand, Twilight landed on her rump with an "oof!" "I sense darkness from this place, what should we do?" he asked her. "You're the one who decided to walk here, you decide!" she protested in disbelief, he was asking her?! "We report our findings to your ruler, in the meantime, we introduce the newcomers to the princesses when they arrive," he decided. Twilight was running several different scenarios on how this could work out until she reached a final decision. "Good idea." Deimos sprinted back to Twilight's castle, carrying her with the force. When they reached the door, Deimos slammed it open, revealing a certain purple dragon sitting on Twilight's chair. "Oh, hi Deimos!" he said. "I need you to write a letter to the princesses..." "Spike, we haven't been officially introduced," Spike replied bluntly. "Okay, anyway, I need you to write a letter to Celestia and Luna since I haven't really studied how your alphabet works," Deimos explained. "No problem, what should it say?" Spike asked the Sith. "' To Diarchs Celestia and Luna, I have some news to inform you that there is something in the Everfree forest that strongly radiated the Dark side of the Force, I must ask you to come and investigate this issue. Your associate, Lord Deimos.'" he said, Spike wrote furiously onto the paper and blew it away with his magic flames. "How long do you think it'll take for them to arrive here," he asked the baby dragon. "From the urgency in that letter, ehh, give or take 10 to 15 minute," Spike said. "Is that a bet?" Deimos asked. "It could be," he grinned. "Ten credits or whatever currency you use say that you're wrong," the Darth said. "Deal." 20 minutes later... "Dang it," Spike grumbled as he silently handed Deimos a small bag of bits, who was grinning in triumph. They stood outside with the others as they watched the chariots opened up, revealing the princesses and several royal guards. Celestia stared directly at Deimos, her eyes filled with concern, but Deimos then glanced at one of the royal guards, who was glaring daggers at him as well as another pony not dressed in guard attire. Deimos stood in the center of the circle of seats, the Elements in their appropriate seats of harmony along with the princesses and the others. "I will explain the issue as politely as I can," Deimos straightened himself, he concentrated on the Unifying force, seeing their past. "It has been six months since you fought the centaur Tirek, a creature of malice and evil, when he was defeated, Twilight developed a dark foreign object in her, but don't be afraid, it has nothing to do with her, the anomaly is tied to a cave, a cave overflowing with the dark side of the force, Twilight is just a mobile conduit that channels the caves hunger," he explained, some of the ponies's eyes filled with worry, concern, or suspicious, the others frowned. "And how do ya suppose we get this thing out of there?" Applejack asked him. "I was just about to get to that part, but it's quite simple, we enter the cave," he replied casually, the whole room was silent. "Are you crazy, if it has so much of that dark side stuff, why would you go in there?" Rainbow protested. "One: yes, I am crazy, two: I am a Sith Lord, Darth Deimos, I thrive on the darkness, three: this darkness hasn't felt my power yet," Deimos answered, grinning evilly. "Are there any volunteers?" he asked, the room was silent, no one breathed a word or raised a hand or hoof. Suddenly Cera raised her hand, a reluctant smile on her face, "I'll go with you, my love," Deimos silently turned red, shifting his hood so no one would notice. Jeyeva rose his hand as well, "(I will follow the Sith Warrior with honor)." The Terror Legion then raised hands as well, "We'll follow our leader's commands to the ends of the galaxy." Sana, who replaced her dirty blindfold with linen wraps, raised her hand, knowing she still owes Deimos a debt. Ahsoka raised her hand as well, but when she rose hers, Maul's hand immediately shot upwards (note to self, keep a closer eye on those two), the same thing happened when two of the guards saw that Twilight and the others rose their hooves. Deimos nodded in satisfaction, "Then it's settled, let's go." And with that they will soon step into the secrets of Equestria...