I missed you." Vader whispered to her.
Vader made his way towards a half-ruined castle hidden deep within the forest. It wasn’t exactly like the one he once had on Mustafar, but it would do for now, as Vader couldn’t risk going out in public looking as he did. If the girl he rescued was any indication, the planet seemed to be inhabited by bipedal talking horses, and if they were anything like actual horses, they’d start running around in a frenzied panic like a bunch of startled deer.
As Vader made his way towards the castle, a mass of black vines thick as tree trunks attempted to make a grab at Vader’s ankles, while a similar vine attempted to spray him with some sort of mist, apparently unaware that his mask kept out smoke and toxins.
However, the plants quickly got the point thanks to a few quick slashes with his lightsaber, allowing him to walk free from the vines.
When Vader entered the castle, he felt as though there were great and powerful secrets hidden within it. As Vader made his way through the ruins, he came to realize that it wasn’t quite as ruined as he had initially thought. Before long, Vader arrived in what looked like a throne room with two thrones, one of the left, and one on the right. Vader took a seat in the blue throne on the left-hand side and removed his helmet, mask and collar. The unmasked form of Vader looked down at the mask. This mask had been his face for decades, when his old Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, had sliced off his legs and left arm, and left him to burn on Mustafar. He had been saved by Darth Sidious, and undergone extremely painful surgical reconstruction, having learned later that Palpatine had explicitly ordered not to sedate him for the procedure, in hopes that the pain would make him stronger with the Dark Side. Like the emotional pain when he found out what he’d done to his wife, Padme Amidala, wouldn’t have done that. The ‘official’ version of Anakin Skywalker’s fate was that he’d been killed when Order 66 was issued.
Vader threw a look at the glass window to his right and saw Anakin Skywalker's handsome features staring back at him…
Flashback:
Anakin entered the Jedi Council Chambers, where he found most of the younglings trying to hide from the 501st Legion Clone Troopers, who had been slaughtering their friends and teachers.
One of the younglings caught the sight of Anakin and approached him, clearly frightened as he looked up to what might just be their salvation.
"Master Skywalker, there are too many of them, what are we going to do?", the little boy asked. Anakin said nothing and merely gave the younglings a dark look as he triggered the activation button on his lightsaber
Anakin was starting to get frustrated. Padme was standing in front of him, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Ani... you're breaking my heart. You’re going down a path I can't follow.", she wailed before proceeding to beg Anakin to come back to her.
Anakin, however, was more concerned with the man in the exit ramp of the starship. It was Obi-Wan.
"YOU LIAR! YOU'RE WITH HIM!", roared Anakin as he held out his hand and began to use the Force to grasp Padme's throat with an iron-strong grip. Fear crept into Padme's eyes as she gasped at her throat, trying to pry off the invisible talons that were constricting her windpipe.
"Let her go, Anakin! Let. Her. Go!", demanded Obi-Wan.
It was only a short time later. Anakin stood on a platform floating on the lava of Mustafar, while Obi-Wan stood above him on the shore of black sand.
"It’s over, Anakin! I have the high ground!", said Obi-Wan.
Anakin glared at Obi-Wan, completely unaware that his rage and bloodlust was making him completely and utterly reckless.
"You underestemate my power!", Anakin told Obi-Wan.
"Don’t try it.", Obi-Wan pleaded.
Tossing all the strategy to the wind, Anakin tried to leap over Obi-Wan to continue the fight, only for the Jedi to cut both of his legs and his only organic arm off. The severed limbs fell into the lava and were destroyed almost instantly, while Anakin himself landed hard on the ground, his lightsaber landing a few feet away, growing increasingly out of reach as he slid down the smoldering soot towards the edge of the bank.
As Obi-Wan looked down at the monster that had once been his dearest and closest friend as he struggled to try to get away from the lava. The pain was evident in his voice when he spoke.
"You were the Chosen One! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the Force, not leave in in darkness!", yelled Obi-Wan.
Anakin looked up at his former friend and master, sheer hatred and rage coursing through his veins.
"I HATE YOU.", Anakin roared as Obi-Wan turned and began to walk away.
He stopped and looked back at Anakin.
"You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you.", he said as tears began to run down his face.
As Obi-Wan stopped to pick up Anakin's lightsaber, which would one day find itself in the hands of his son, Luke Skywalker, one of Anakin's stumps that had been legs touched the edge of lava, causing him to catch ablaze. Before long, Anakin's entire body was on fire.
Obi-Wan stopped for a moment and seemed to have internal debate on if he should go back and put Anakin out of his misery. Whatever his decision might have been, it wouldn't have mattered, as a Republic, or rather, Imperial Shuttle was making ready to land.
Flashback ends
Vader clenched his fists in rage and shame. Anakin Skywalker had been a fool. Because of him, almost all the Jedi were killed, the Order was destroyed and the Sith had taken over the galaxy. Even though he was a good soul, he was more naïve and whined more than a child. It was his naïvness that brought so much death and destruction. If he hadn’t been so naïve, and had learned to let go of his fears of losing those he loved, he never would’ve become Vader, and he and Obi-Wan would’ve grown old together, and maybe even been part of the Rebellion. He might’ve even gotten to be a grandfather for all he knew. In the end, no matter how much he hated him, or hated being him, it was Darth Vader who saved his son when he was tortured by Darth Sidious and threw him down a shaft to the Death Star’s main reactor. It was Darth Vader who fulfilled the prophecy of the Chosen One and destroyed the Sith, including himself. Even though he had the blood of millions, some innocents, some pompous Imperial Officers, some Jedi, and even a few apprentices as well he was still a man of honor, and had standards, like when he first met the original Starkiller on Kashyyyk.
"Anakin Skywalker is dead. He died when Order 66 was activated. The only thing he and I have in common is his body. No, I am and forever shall be, Vader, the former Dark Lord of the Sith!", thought Vader.
Something clicked in Vader’s mind. He pulled out his lightsaber and activated it, making a glowing purple plasma blade erupt from the hilt. At first, he had no idea why the blade had changed to purple, but Vader was beginning to understand now. Common Jedi lightsabers were blue, common Sith were red, so naturally, mixing red and blue makes purple, which meant that he could use both Light and Dark side of the Force just as Master Windu. He was, in effect, a Gray Jedi.
As he gazed at the purple blade, he thought back to the night of Order 66 and he had become Darth Vader, when he cut off Mace’s hand, giving Sidious the opening he needed to blast the Jedi Master out his office window with Force Lightning.
"Mace Windu. How I despite myself for betraying him that night. How I despite myself for betraying Padme, endangering our unborn children and killing Obi-Wan mercilessly.", thought Vader.
"You dont have to, Vader."
Had anyone from the Holo-news been around, they certainly would’ve gotten one heck of a show. At the sound of a familiar voice, Vader yelped and fell out of the throne, causing him to drop his lightsaber. However, he managed to catch it with the Force and deactivate it before reattaching it to his belt. Vader turned around and saw something that shocked him even more than getting a second chance.
There, right in front of me, were five people Vader thought he’d never see again. There, stood Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, his mother, Yoda, and Pádme in her eternal beauty. They stood in front of Vader as Force Ghosts.
Vader started stammering and pointing at each one of them. They chuckled, finding the Gray Jedi’s lack of belief funny.
"B-b-b-b-but h-h-how..." Vader managed to stammer out. Obi-Wan was first to step forward.
"We asked the Force to give us some time to talk with you and release you from your past regrets, Vader.", he said.
After taking a few breaths, Vader managed to calm down, but was still shocked at seeing those he cared about before him. Although, nobody could’ve guessed what happened next. Vader walked to Obi-Wan and hugged him tightly, as it seemed as though the old man was still tangible.
Obi-Wan was surprised by the action, but even more surprised when Vader started crying on his shoulder.
"I’m sorry for what I did. I never wanted any of those things to happen. I was just so… lost, consumed by the Dark Side, I couldn’t control myself,” said Vader.
"Don't apologise, Vader. We know how much you suffered during those 23 years serving the Emperor. That was your biggest punishment you could have been given.", he pushed Vader from his shoulder and smiled as he looked in his eyes.
"As far as I'm concerned, you are forgiven, old friend. Still better you than Galen.", he said.
Vader blinked a couple times in confusion. “Who’s Galen?” he asked.
"I believe you called him Starkiller. Had he chosen to finish you rather than attacking the Emperor, he would have taken your place and go on to commit even worse atrocities than you. He'd have taken Luke as his apprentice.", Obi-Wan explained.
Vader blinked a couple more times.
"Well, no use worrying about that now. I'm still here and that's what matters.", he said as he hugged Obi-Wan again. This time, he returned the hug. After they separated, Vader looked behind him at Mace Windu who was smiling at us. Vader approached him and bowed.
"Master Windu," Vader said respectfully and heard him chuckling.
"I'm not a master anymore, but its still good to see you, boy.", Vader raised his head and smiled at him, but his smile soon vanished.
"Mace, I’m sorry for-" he started to say, but stopped when the former Jedi Master raised his hand.
"Don't be. I know you were tricked by the Emperor to incapacitate me and allow him to kill me, but you just wanted to save Padme. Im very proud of you to see that you managed to escape the grip of the Dark Side.", he said, putting his hand on Vader’s shoulder. Vader returned him the smile and then looked next to Mace. Yoda was looking at him with a smile.
“Master Yoda.” Vader acknowledged before he bowed in respect.
"Right, Mace Windu is. No longer masters, we are. Proud of you Vader, I am. Destroyed the Sith, you did. Suffered so much, you did. Great pain and loneliness, Sidious has brought you. But the path to the light, you found alone. Proud to call you a former fellow Jedi, I am.", Yoda said and extended his three-fingered hand. Vader extended his and shook it. He then looked at the next Force ghost, the one of his mother, Shmi Skywalker. She was looking at him with a smile and tears in her eyes. Vader walked to her and hugged her. Shmi returned it. When they separated she looked at her son with proud eyes and put her hand on his cheek.
"Oh, Ani, you have no idea how much I missed you.", she said. Vader chuckled and took her hand.
“Oh, I have fair idea, mother,” Vader replied.
Shmi smiled again.
"You look exactly the same as the last time I saw you.", she noted Vader chuckled at her words, knowing that she knew the Force reincarnated Vader in his younger body.
“Well, some people never change, mother.” Vader said, before he looked behind her at the last Force Ghost.
There she was. His beautiful angel who he’d thought he would never see again. She was standing there in her eternal beauty and a smile which could shine even in the darkest parts of the Force.
Shmi stepped aside. Vader slowly approached Pádme. They smiled at each other and Vader slowly caressed her transparent cheek.
I missed you." Vader whispered to her.
"I missed you too.", she whispered back and started leaning forward. Vader did the same and their lips met, for the first time in many years. Vader felt lighter than the air and happier than he’d been in a very long time.
Pádme wrapped her hands around Vader’s neck and he wrapped his around her torso, deepening our kiss. They could feel others smiling at them.
Vader broke their kiss to catch a breath and smiled lovingly as he looked into Pádme's beautiful eyes.
"I'm so glad you found the right way, Vader.", she said in her musical voice. Vader tilted his head in confusion before looking at Obi-Wan and then back at Pádme.
"Why do you call me Vader, I thought you will call me Anakin?" Vader asked her and she giggled.
"Force told us about your identity confusion and that you will most likely choose to be called Vader, for you see Anakin Skywalker as a fool and a weakling and even though you despite Vader, you find his ability to become more powerful than Anakin even though he was trapped into his life support suit amazing. Note this, however: Vader or Anakin, you are still the man I love."
Husband and wife smiled at each other.
"You have no idea how sorry I am for everything,” said Vader.
"I think I do. Every time you went into your meditation chamber, I could always feel that you were getting your powers from anger you felt towards yourself. You have no idea how it ate me from inside to know you blamed yourself while you were under the influence of the Dark Side. I'm so relieved you are back to normal.", she finished, caressing his cheek. Vader melted into her touch and stayed like that for some time. Padme then pulled back her hand and smiled, which Vader returned.
"Say, Vader, how did you actually got into that suit of yours?", Mace asked curiously and Obi-Wan paled. Vader saw Yoda snickering and as a wise old man, he walked next to Mace.
“Well, you remember my duel with Obi-Wan on Mustafar?” Vader asked with a grin as Obi-Wan madly waved his arms for him to stop.
"Did you fall in lava?", Shmi questioned and Vader shook his head. Obi-Wan was now literally begging him not to tell, but Vader didn’t want to stop now, now that it was time for him to get burned.
“Not really. At the end of my duel Obi-Wan cut off my legs and my left arm and left me to die on the burning sand.”
"WHAAAAAT?!", Pádme and Shmi shouted as they turned to now terrified Obi-Wan and gave him a stare which could rival a Sith Lord’s ‘Death Glare.’
"I-I-I had to! H-he was o-out of c-control and I-I h-had t-to s-subdue him.", Obi-Wan tried to explain his actions, but it only served to anger the women more.
"Subdue him?! More like you tried to kill him! I told you there was still good in him moments before I died and you simply tried to kill him!", Obi-Wan tried to defend himself, but was immediately cut off, this time by Shmi.
"You could have put him in a prison, try to reason with him, you could have tried so many things, yet you left him to die in the worst death possible! The worst thing is that he didn't even die, he was forced to become a monster!", Shmi yelled, making Vader almost feel sorry for Obi-Wan. Almost.
Pádme then turned around and winked at her husband.
"We have to go now, but don't worry. You will see us again. We will always be with you, Vader.", she said and she, Shmi and Obi-Wan, who was looking at Vader like he’d betrayed him for the second time, disappeared.
Yoda snickered and Mace gave me blank look.
"How did we ever put up with you?", he questioned.
“You did not, you acted like I was a criminal who wanted to be redeemed when I arrived for the first time.” Vader said with deadpanned look on his face. Mace put on a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Sorry about that.", he apologised, but Vader dismissed it with a wave of his hand.
“It is fine. Today is the day of forgiveness.”
"Come on, lets go.", Yoda said and they disappeared shortly after.
Vader slumped in the throne with a huge grin on his face. He’d never thought he’d feel this happy and relieved, and not certainly not after he’d become Vader! He could literally feel pure happiness and relief coursing through his veins.
Before long, Vader remembered what he was supposed to do. He should try to find something that would tell him something more about the new planet he was on.
First thing Vader had on his mind was to find a library, and a castle this big should have one. Vader got up and searching through the castle, avoiding the various tricks and traps along the way. It looked as whoever had resided here had taken security very seriously. Finally, Vader found the library and began searching through various books in search of the one that would tell him about this world’s history.
Forty Minutes Later:
Vader finally found the book he was looking for. Although, it seemed to be written in what looked like horse noises, so he used Force Translate to better understand the words written there.
Long time ago, there was nothing, but the Goddess named Lauren Faust. Faust bent and shifted the world of Equuis and created everything we see today: sky, water, land...
After creating all the environment, Faust created all the animals we see: manticores, hydras, timberwolves...
Everything looked perfect for Lauren's final and greatest creation: sentient life. Faust first created six dragons of elements of nature:
Ignis, the Dragon of Fire;
Aqua, the Dragon of Water;
Ventus, the Dragon of Wind;
Sensus, the Dragon of Mentality;
Fulmen, the Dragon of Lightning;
Terra, the Dragon of Earth.
The dragons were the greatest Laurens creation and they were sworn to protect Equuis by any means necessary. After making sure her world had proper guardians, Faust created her second greatest creation, ponies:
Earth ponies, who had strong connection with land;
Pegasi, who had wings and could fly;
Unicorn, who could control magic;
"Magic? The inhabitants of this world can use magic? Or they simply call the Force like that? I will have to wait and see.", thought Vader as he continued to read.
Alicorns, who had the abilities of all other pony sub-species, however, there are only two known alicorns:
Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria and the Sun Bringer;
Princess Luna, the co-ruler of Equestria and the Moon Bringer.
However, Faust's perfect world soon crumbled. Perditrix the Destroyer opened the portal from his nightmarish domain and unleashed massive chaos upon Equestria with his army of minotaurs, diamond dogs and griffins.
The Elemental Dragons managed to banish Perditrix with the help of the only known "human" to the Pits of Tartarus, but before the banishment could be completed, Perditrix cursed them, killing the "human" and sealing the Dragons in six gems. Equestria was then ruled by Perditrix’s second in command, Discord, Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Faust knew it could no longer be this way, so she created a tree known as the Tree of Harmony to provide protection while she created and raise the two alicorn sisters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. She created Celestia by putting solar flame in a baby sculpture created of the wet sand at the hottest day in the year. Luna was created when Faust sunk baby sculpture made of Moons stone on the brightest night in the cleanest water.
When they came of age, Faust instructed them to take the Elements of Harmony from the tree and use their powerful magic to defeat Discord and return the peace in Equestria. Discord was defeated and encased in stone for all eternity shortly after and the Princesses became the rulers of Equestria. With the help of the Elements, they erased the memories of all minotaurs, griffins and diamond dogs on Equuis, thus preventing them from further harming Equestria and its ponies. The ponies were forced to keep their muzzles about that shut, so Princesses could make sure that the peace between them shall stay. They then closed the portal, forever. The era of peace was to follow.
Written by Starswil the Bearded
"Thats it? Thats the shortest history of a world I have ever seen! But, it can't be the end. This castle looks like it's been abandoned for a very long time, so this is probably an older version of the Equuis’s history.", thought Vader.
Suddenly, Vader felt great surge of power coming closer.
Thankfully he’d used the Force to mask his presence after that girl had run away, as Vader felt 24 signatures coming closer to the castle. Vader put on his mask and helmet, which automatically sealed shut.
Vader started striding towards the castle's door when his audio receptors picked up the sound of multiple horse noises and footsteps on stone. It seemed he was going to have company.
"It would be unwise to simply march towards them. If I approach them directly, they could attack and that would cause more problems than I care for right now. Hmm...", Vader thought about his predicament, until he recalled studying a Force Power during his Padawan days that was exceedingly rare. Even when he was that weak, childish fool Anakin Skywalker, despite his ever-growing power, had never been able to properly use it. Although, it’d made for some great pranks during his early years as a full Jedi Knight, when the Clone Wars were just starting. Vader closed his eyes underneath his helmet and let the Force encompass his entire body. Opening his eyes, he gazed upon a nearby mirror, only to find there was no fearsome black-clad warrior gazing back at him. There was actually nothing looking back at him.
His presence safely concealed, Vader left the castle and casually walked toward his ‘visitors’, the Force Cloak making him entirely invisible and soundless. He then entered the forest and saw the figures making their way towards the castle. The tallest ones were probably the Princesses. The taller princess was pure white color and about his height, 6’7 ft, maybe few inches taller (not counting her horn) and was basically shining with power, you could feel it from miles away.
He could see that she was wearing a long white dress, adorned with royal regalias. Vader also noticed that her multicolored hair was floating on invisible wind.
The shorter was an almost exact copy of the first one, However, she was colored in beautiful color of the night sky, which her mane and tail seemed to be made out of. This was most likely Celestia’s sister. Vader could also feel great power radiating from her, but not as strong as her sister. Judging by their looks and what the book said, Vader deduced that the taller one is Princess Celestia and the shorter is Princess Luna. Although, he was still unsure what ‘Sun Bringer’ and ‘Moon Bringer’ meant.
Behind them were ponies Vader hadn’t read about, but strangely, Vader could also feel some kind of unknown power coming off six of the ponies in particular. Five of them were wearing necklaces with a different colored gem embedded in it. The sixth was wearing a tiara with a pink star gem embedded in the top. Vader recognized one of them as the girl he’d saved from the manticore the other day. Other ponies were wearing what looked like golden armor and helmets. They were carrying spears and swords. They were probably Princesses' guards.
"Force did say this world wasn't technologically developed, but they are still using spears? That's just sad. But, if I need to have some agressive negotiations with these ponies, then this will be all too easy.", thought Vader while snorting.
One earth pony with blonde hair, orange fur, dressed in checkered green T-shirt and green shorts with a stetson on her head started speaking something. However, to Vader, it sounded like the noises a horse would normally make, so naturally Vader used Force Translate in order to understand what they were saying.
"Ya sure that alien is there, Princess?" she asked Princess Celestia.
"Not really, Applejack, but going there is the most logical thing the alien would do. There's a library in the castle, so the alien can look there to learn about our history and culture. Plus, the castle isn’t all that ruined so it can be used as a place for living."
"This Celestia certainly knows how someone not from this world would operate... impressive... most impressive...", thought Vader.
The one named Applejack turned around to speak with someone behind her. "Hey, Flutters, what did you say it looked like?" she asked with strong farmer’s accent to ‘Flutters’. Vader supposed it was just a nickname.
"W-well, i-it w-was v-very t-tall, d-dressed i-in b-black a-attire w-with l-long c-cape a-and v-very s-scary m-mask. I-it a-also b-breathed v-very l-loudly.", replied ‘Flutters,’ who Vader recognized as the girl he’d saved yesterday. Vader could feel the fear radiating from her, like a sun. If he was still Darth Vader, he’d be smirking right now.
"What’d its breathing sounded like?" Applejack asked again. Vader couldn’t help but smile under his mask. He’d had a hunch someone was going to ask that. He uncloaked himself, thus allowing his respirator to be heard...
Oooohhhhh, peeerrrrr
"Like that? Man, it surely is creepy.", a pegasus with rainbow colored hair and tail dressed in white top and ripped blue shorts with the necklace for a lighting bolt said.
"T-that w-wasn't m-me, R-rainbow.", "Flutters" said.
All of them stopped in their tracks and the earth pony guard Vader was standing behind tensed. He gulped as he started slightly shaking in fear.
“G-g-green… i-i-it’s b-b-behind y-y-you.”, another earth pony guard stammered as he pointed at Vader. Vader was severely disappointed with the guards’ behavior. These... children... were supposed to protect the princesses? If these were Sidious’ red robes, they’d disintegrate anyone who came too close to Palpatine without his knowledge, be it an ally or an enemy. These sorry excuses for warriors were completely frozen with fear. Pathetic. If he’d still been Sidious’ lackey, they’d all be choking to death.
“Green” slowly turned around and frighteningly looked up at Vader’s mask. The ex-Sith Lord being two heads taller than him didn’t help his confidence much. Vader looked down at the soldier and fought the urge to say “Boo,” or something similar. As it was, the guard took a few steps back… and pissed himself.
“Okay, this is it!”, the rainbow pegasus yelled as she flew with incredible speed at Vader, who had to use Force Speed to actually see her as anything other than a blur.
“Rainbow, no!”, the lavender unicorn with the tiara yelled out, but it was too late.
Vader was forced to resist the urge to laugh. This pony was trying to attack him, despite the fact that she knew nothing about and what kind of technology and power he possessed. Almost casually, Vader reached within the Force and held out his hand. “Rainbow” froze mid-air. Although she tried to move, she quickly found out that she couldn’t so much as twitch.
“I can’t move!” she exclaimed. Vader slowly moved towards her and brought his mask very close to her face. The look on her face was one Vader had seen many times over the decades: the look of someone who was afraid of him.
"Don't attack a person you know nothing about.", Vader told her telepathically before he turned her around to face the opposite direction with the Force.
“What are you-”, but before she could finish her sentence, Vader released his hold on her, causing her to fly like a blaster bolt at the tree, forcing the ponies to dive out of the way The one they called Rainbow slammed into the tree, knocking her out cold. A little concerned, Vader scanned her to see if she had any serious injuries.
Heart Rate: Stable
Breathing Rate: Stable
Brain Activity: Midly Unstable
Vader felt a small bit of relief from the information on his HUD. She just had a mild concussion, nothing serious.
"Attack!"
Vader turned around at the sound of the guard’s cry. It was a white unicorn with a dark blue mane and tail. Judging by the design of his armor, it was clear that he was a higher ranked soldier, perhaps a commander or captain. The other guards obeyed and began to encircle Vader, their spears aimed directly at his chest. Vader quickly pulled out his lightsaber, using the Force to lower its intensity from ‘kill’ to ‘incapacitate.’
"Wait!", the one called Celestia yelled, but her command fell on deaf ears as the Guard began to encircle Vader.
The guards ran at the black armored being, thrusting their spears with everything they had, in the hopes of piercing his armor. Vader easily slashed through their weapons as though they were made of soft butter before he struck them, his hits leaving only leaving medium burns. Before long, only a handful of guards were left standing.
"STOP THIS MADNESS!, bellowed the one they called Luna.
The guards listened this time and stepped aside. Vader also lowered his lightsaber, but didn’t deactivate it.
The Princesses approached Vader, cautious looks on their faces as they did so.
“Greetings, alien. I am Princess Luna, the co-ruler of this land known as Equestria and the Moon Bringer. This next to me is my sister, Princess Celestia, the Sun Bringer. Do you understand me?”, Luna asked Vader.
Vader remained silent, at a loss for what to do. His strengthened connection to the Force allowed him to understand foreign speech and writing, but he couldn’t use it to speak that language. Luna and her sister looked uncomfortable because of Vader’s lack of reaction. Vader deactivated his lightsaber and placed it on his belt before nodding at Luna.
Luna smiled and let out a sigh of relief. “Do you have a name?” she asked. Vader nodded and tried to think a way to tell her before he caught sight of the white unicorn who’d given the orders to attack and pointed at him, then back at himself.
“Your name is Shining Armor?”, Luna asked. Vader shook his head and gave the one Luna had called Shining Armor a hand sign to come over to him.
“You want me to come over there?” he asked, to which Vader nodded in response. After trading a worried look with the princesses, Shining reluctantly walked over to Vader.
Vader turned Shining Armor around to face the princesses and put his gloved hand on his head.
"I am Vader.", the armored being said, using the Force to transfer the information to Shining Armor’s mind. If all went as hoped, Shining Armor would repeat what he’d said, thus making him a living translator.
“I am Vader.”, he repeated automatically. Vader let out a sigh of relief. It worked, which meant that communication wasn’t much of an issue.
The Princesses exchanged looks, as Vader’s name wasn’t one you’d usually give a foal. Perhaps as a nickname, or title, but not their actual name.
“Well then, Vader, I wish to welcome you on our world.” Luna said. Vader nodded at her to show the Lunar Princess his thanks.
“How are you using Shining Armor as a medium?” Celestia asked Vader.
"That is one of my... abilities. I can understand your language and your letter, but I cannot speak nor can I write, so I need someone who will do it for me.", he answered and Shining Armor repeated. Princesses made “Oh.” expression.
“We apologize for our guards’ behaviour. Obviously they have hearing problems.” Luna apologized.
"No need for that, it was to be expected that they will protect their princesses. Although their reaction time was beneath pathetic. At least they tried.", Shining Armor repeated, causing the uninjured guards to look ashamed, the injured ones to his with embarrassment and pain, and the Princesses to sheepishly rub the back of their necks, clearly embarrassed.
“Yeah, we haven’t been at war for over a millennium, so the guards aren’t as sharp as they used to be.”, explained Luna.
“But we will talk about that later. For now, I suggest we go to our castle and have a friendly talk.”
Although Vader was unaccustomed to people calling him to ‘have a friendly talk,’ or “any talk not related to the will of the Emperor or pursuing whatever Rebel scum or Jedi he and his men were after”, Vader nodded and made a ‘lead the way’ gesture.
“Great! Let’s go!” said Luna while the others let out a sigh of relief. Together, the ensemble departed the ruins while the guards, save for Shining Armor, looked after the wounded.