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// Chapter 4: First Contact Doesn't Go Well 
// Story: All Hail The Dark Lord 
// by RainbowBob 
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Vader’s saber was still inches away from the face of the... thing. In the red glow of his lightsaber Vader was able to make out it had a horn at least. And wings, for that matter. Along with what seemed to be hooves and a face resembling an equine. Though with much more humanoid features than he would’ve thought possible.
        
        It stared up at him with large eyes. Vader guessed that it perhaps had night vision because of this. It was obvious this thing was sapient in some way. The pink one jumping up and down already shouted something about parties, and addressed this one by a name of some sort he didn’t catch.
        
        The creature stayed silent for several seconds, apparently shocked to the point it could no longer speak. Though the pink thing had plenty to say. At least, Vader was guessing it was pink. His vision had shifted more towards the red end of the spectrum ever since he became a cyborg, so he could still barely make out different colors. “Twilight, what do aliens like at parties? Green goo punch bowls? Eyeball cupcakes? Brain brownies? Ooh, this is going to be so exciting!”
        
        “Twilight, are you okay?” shouted a voice from the forest. A bluish glow contrasting the red light from his saber appeared from the darkness of the forest, illuminating several figures.
        
        “Hey everypony, we found the alien!” the pink one shouted, hopping up and down and pointing towards Vader. “And its spaceship too!”
        
        “Alien? Pinkie, what are you talking ab–-” One of their voices cut off abruptly when the group of five finally reached the clearing. There was a multiple color maned one that he could only describe as a rainbow with wings, another also with wings and a long pink mane, one with a light colored mane with a hat on its head, one with a horn on its forehead much like the one at Vader’s feet, and a tall one with a glowing horn Vader had seen earlier and a pair of wings.
        
        Much like the creatures Vader had seen before, these walked on four limbs, had a strange variety of colors for their coats and hair, along with oddly shaped heads and much too large eyes. Another strange factor was that some of them possessed wings and horns, one of which cast light on the area. If the winged ones could even fly was up to the question, since the wings seemed much too small to support their bodies.
        
        Everyone stood in mute silence, the only sound the crackle of flames from Vader’s ship. Finally tired of the wait, Vader said, “Where am I?”
        
        This seemed to break the one on the ground–-whose name was supposedly Twilight–-out of her daze. “W-what are y-you?” it muttered, its voice clearly feminine. Actually, how was she able to speak his language anyhow? This planet was in the Unknown Region, so an understanding of Galactic Basic was unheard of. Unless they possessed translators, but the only article of clothing they seemed to wear was coats, hats, and scarves. Though they could be using the Force. It was an uncommon skill, but several Jedi had been able to master it to translate and communicate with an unfamiliar tongue.
        
        “I am Darth Vader,” he spoke, the mechanical inhale of breath from his air pump supplying his ravaged lungs with oxygen. “And I will repeat myself once more. Who are you, and where am I?”
        
        Twilight finally managed to get to her feet–-erm, hooves, and quickly slinked back to the main group, the pink thing appropriately named Pinkie the only one who dared stay near him. Vader still held a firm grip on his saber, but saw no need to threaten it with her openly. Chances are they had no idea what a lightsaber was, and keeping her hostage could prove damaging to his chances of repairing his ship in the future. “Darth V-Vader?” she asked, quivering slightly.
        
        “Yes!” he answered back sharply, his saber still pointed at the group. “Now answer my question and stop wasting my time.”
        
        This time the largest of the group, apparently a leader of some sort, answered him. “This is the land of Equestria, right outside the town of Ponyville,” she said in a weak voice, gulping hard and growing bolder. “And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t speak to my subjects in that type of tone.”
        
        “You’re in charge around here?” he asked, feeling comfortable enough to lower his lightsaber down by his side, but not turning it off yet. If needed he could raise it and kill them in a couple of quick strikes. Clustered groups always made good for multiple deaths instantaneously.
        
        “Indeed. Along with Princess Twilight Sparkle here,” she replied, pointing a hoof at the purple creature. “I am Princess Luna.”
        
        Great, princesses. Like he already had enough trouble dealing with them in the past. At least he knew what their government was like. A monarchy of sorts. “Where are your king or queen?”
        
        “We have none,” Twilight spoke, finally seeming to be growing used to Vader’s appearance. “Equestria is co-ruled by Princess Celestia and Luna. I was newly appointed as well.”
        
        “An explanation of your political system is of no use to me. All I need to know is who can help me at the moment,” Vader said.
        
        “Well... what do you need help with, Mister Vader?” Twilight asked, a growing sense of curiosity in her eyes.
        
        “I am not a Mister,” Vader growled, his breathing apparatus causing his voice’s synthetic bass tone to drop to frightening levels that caused several of the creatures to flinch in terror. “You will address me as Lord Vader or Darth Vader. Nothing more.”
        
        “Hey buster, what makes you think you can talk to the princesses like that?” the rainbow maned creature asked, flapping her wings to levitate off the ground. Looks like their wings weren’t completely useless after all. Though how she managed to keep afloat without moving forward was still a mystery.
        
        “What makes you think you can talk to a Sith Lord like that?” Vader answered back, fighting back his urge to dismember this infernal creature that dare talked back to him in such a manner. Most would have already been killed at his hand for less. “And I wasn’t addressing you, so be quiet.”
        
        A furious frown appeared on her muzzle as she yelled, “Why you...!” She would’ve zipped right at him if it wasn’t for the hat wearing creature holding her back by using her mouth to grab ahold of her tail.
        
        “Dangit Dash, don’t be goin’ causin’ trouble with aliens!” the blonde maned creature said through the hair of the rainbow maned creature’s tail in her teeth.
        
        “Everypony, just calm down,” Twilight implored, holding up a hoof to catch everyone’s attention. “There’s no need to upset our... um, visitor.”
        
        “Why did you say ‘everypony’?” Vader asked, definitely unfamiliar with that term used in speech before.
        
        “Whoops, sorry about that,” she said, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. “Since we’re ponies, we usually say ‘everypony’ or ‘anypony’ when we talk. Didn’t mean to keep you out of the conversation or not address you by saying that.”
        
        That had to be the most idiotic thing Vader had ever heard of. Why would you include your species’ name in words like that? It was just a play on words that was extremely unfunny and downright stupid. Though Vader wasn’t going to say that out loud, since he wanted to get off this planet and not discuss what accounted to moronic sayings any longer than needed.
        
        Vader sighed–-a sound more difficult to manage than most, due in part to his respirator’s limitations–-and held a hand to the brow of his mask. “Listen, just tell me where the nearest repair shop is so I can get off this blasted planet.”
        
        “Repair shop? What do you need that for?” Twilight asked, tilting her head.
        
        Vader pointed back to his smoldering ship with a thumb over his shoulder. “My ship was badly damaged upon entry into your planet. I need it fixed to leave.”
        
        “Ooh, Twilight, can I help repair the spaceship?” Pinkie asked, bouncing up and down as if her hooves were made of rubber.
        
        “She does not touch my ship,” Vader replied firmly.
        
        “Well, I’m not sure how advanced Equestria’s technology is compared to yours,” Twilight began, tapping her hoof in thought. “But we should still be able to supply you with materials you may need.”
        
        “Wait, what?” the rainbow maned pegasus–-or, at least that was Vader’s best guess for what her race was called–-asked, flying down to get face to face with Twilight. “Why are we helping this guy in the first place? He could be an invader with an army of aliens to suck out our brains for all we know.”
        
        “Rainbow Dash, please, there’s no reason to start accusing Lord Vader like that,” Twilight said, glaring at her friend with disapproving eyes a mother might give to her child. “We don’t need to make an enemy out of a new visitor to Equestria.”
        
        “I concur with Twilight Sparkle,” Luna added, giving Vader a once over. “So far Vader has not attacked us or tried to ‘suck out our brains’. And since he is in dire need to repair his ship, it is our duty as respectable ponies to assist him in any way possible.”
        
        Things seemed to be working to the Sith’s favor already. He was going to receive the help he needed, and hopefully the damages to his ship weren’t that extensive and their technology wasn’t too limited so that he may get off the planet as soon as possible. If not, he could always try to fix up his communicator to call in rescue from Darth Sidious. Though he wanted to avoid that route at all costs. It would be seen as a weakness to his master if he had to call in a squadron to save himself.
        
        “Hey you guys! The ship isn’t on fire anymore! Hooray!” Pinkie called out from behind the group, apparently having slipped away while no one was looking. She was bouncing her way towards Vader’s starship, too excited to see a real-life spaceship to listen to Vader's orders. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks, a loud sploosh sound coming from where she landed; right nearby the pile of dead hybrids.
        
        “... Ewwwwwwwwww! I walked in blood! I walked in blood! Ewewewewewewewewew!” she cried out, back-tailing from the pool of blood that the pile of corpses produce, screaming all the way.
        
        “Blood? Why’s there blood?” Twilight said aloud, running to where Pinkie had stopped at. Twilight too stopped in her tracks, a look of pure horror and disgust on her face. “O-oh dear Celestia... there’s a bunch of dead manticores here!”
        
        The reactions of the rest of the group of ponies were a mix of Twilight’s own face, and soon they all came running towards her to examine the pile. This left Vader all alone at the end of the clearing, the Dark Lord deactivating his lightsaber and clipping it back to his belt. No need to waste its power when not needed, after all.
        
        It seems that these ponies were unaccustomed to seeing a pile of dead predators before, one of which was missing the top part of its head, and the other two looking as if they were flattened by steam rollers and crushed under a large pile of boulders. While they all seemed generally horrified at the sight, the pegasus with the yellow coat actually threw up in the snow nearby, tears springing up in her eyes. Pinkie was still trying to wash the blood off her hooves by sliding around in the snow.
        
        Vader waited patiently by the opening to the forest, willing them to hurry along so he could have a guide back to whatever settlement they came from. Finally, after much gasping and disgusted bodily reactions such as retching, Twilight turned to him with a sickened look on her face. She actually had a green tinge to her cheeks, which surprised Vader. He didn’t see the significance in just a pile of dead animals. It was better that they were dead, rather than alive and tearing them to shreds.
        
        “H-how did this happen?” she asked, swallowing back what would’ve been her dinner.
        
        “They attacked. I fought back,” Vader said, keeping his actions short and sweet. He didn’t need to mention that fact he used the Force for half of the fighting. Better to keep them in the dark about that.
        
        “But... how? One of them had its head cut off, with the wound nearly cauterized. What could have caused that?”
        
        Vader turned his back on her, staring into the darkness of the forest instead. Well, not really darkness, since his helmet’s eye coverings provided ultraviolet and infrared vision, allowing him a clear line of sight even in total darkness. He could already see the outlines of trees in the distance.
        
        “That is not of your concern. They’re dead. That is all you need to know,” he replied, crossing his arms over the panel of his chest as he waited for the rest of the ponies to finally get over the pile of corpses and move on already.
        
        The quivering pegasus, the one who had vomited in the snow after glimpsing the dead, lifted her tear stained face to glare at Vader. She gritted her teeth and a look of pure fury overtook her features. In an instant she was before him, looking pathetically small compared to his great height. But this didn’t seem to intimidate her like before.
        
        “All we need to know?” she yelled, a soft voice that held an edge of steel to it. “You didn’t need to kill those poor manticores like that!”
        
        “Would you rather I have died?” Vader asked, growing annoyed with how this pony was addressing him. It wasn’t everyday he would meet someone not instantly intimidated by his appearance.
        
        “I would rather have it that you didn’t needlessly kill these poor creatures,” she replied back sharply. “How can you be so okay with this type of violence? Those animals had lives, families and friends. And you took that all away!”
        
        Great, he just pissed off an animal’s rights enthusiast. Just what he needed now. “Get out of the way,” he commanded, stepping forward to try and frighten her off.
        
        “How dare you?” The pegasus took a step closer. “Do you think you can just hurt animals and get away with it like that? I better hear an apology right this instant, mister!”
        
        For some strange reason that Vader was not aware of, his eyes were drawn to hers, her gaze locking with his own. Those pupils of hers, they were transfixing. Capturing all his attention and slowly emptying his mind until they remained. His movements were paralyzed on the spot as a strange force overtook him.
        
         He was in the darkness now, and not the dark side that he was used to. This was a more petrifying darkness. No power, no sinister feeling, no touch of something far greater than himself. This was just inky darkness that swallowed him whole. And in that darkness, he saw a light.
        
        Padmé, the Senator from Naboo and his wife. Their love and marriage kept a secret for years because of Jedi law, there was none other like her that he cared more deeply about. His descent into the dark side was mostly for her, to have the power to save her life. He gave up his Order and very state of being just to save her. All for naught, for in his final moments he nearly killed her as the dark side fed off his anger and consumed his very being.
        
        This pony’s glare was the same one Padmé would give him from time to time when he was being uncooperative or thickheaded. Such as not wanting to go on missions for the Republic that would keep him away from her. But she would just give him the stare, a gentle kiss on the cheek, and tell him she’ll be here waiting for him to return.
        
        He hasn’t felt lips on his cheek for so long now...
        
        Vader flinched, the momentary connection between the two broken as he finally came to his senses. For a while he was caught off guard, allowing himself to be controlled by this creature. He, the Dark Lord of the Sith, somehow Mind Tricked by some helpless, insignificant lower life form. A mockery to his profession and power, all by the hand–-no, hoof, of a single pony.
        
        Without a word he walked past her, into the darkness the forest provided as he left her and Twilight behind. He knew if he stayed a moment longer his anger would swell to uncontrollable heights. He already knew these ponies were Force-sensitive in some way. Whether they could sense the dark side was another matter, one he’d rather not get involved in if he could help it.
        
        Though he did get some self-satisfaction when he saw the pegasus flinch when they broke eye contact. He’d keep an eye on her, that’s for sure.
        
        “Lord Vader, where are you going?” Twilight called out, struggling to catch up with the Sith’s much longer leg movements.
        
        “To the nearest center of civilization,” he replied, not bothering to look over his shoulder. His enhanced eyesight made navigating the darkness of the forest a relative ease.
        
        “But you don’t even know where Ponyville is!” she called out, finally reaching his side and huffing and gasping for breath in the frigid night air. Vader just continued with his fast paced walk, his mechanized breath inhaling and exhaling in tune to his steps.
        
        “I sense a large gathering of Force-sensitive beings due south. Is that not where your town is located?” he asked, walking through a patch of brambles in his way like they were nothing.
        
        “Y-yes, but what do you intend to do there?” Twilight said, trying her best to keep pace with him without tripping over every branch and rock in her path. Realizing at the futility of it, she simply set her horn to glow, allowing her at least some vision with her walking. Behind another light followed, probably the group of ponies from before trailing them.
        
        “I intend to repair my ship and get off this planet.” Vader looked downward at the pony, the light of her horn illuminating his face so she could catch every detail of it. His face’s appearance was similar to that of a skull, the eyes appearing bulbous. The cheekbones of the face were generally angular, curving slightly to join the nose at its base. What accounted for the nose and mouth parts of the face were a triangular grill that served as his air filter, further contributing to its skull-like appearance. It couldn’t be natural, couldn’t be anything other than a horrifying covering to something much more sinister beneath its surface. All in all, it was one of the most frightening things Twilight could’ve seen in the near darkness of the Everfree Forest with only her horn to be used as a light. “And if you care at all about the welfare of your friends, it would be wise to make sure that happens.”