“Sister, is everything alright?” Luna asked, taking a sip from her tea.
Celestia’s head jerked back so her vision could focus on Luna once more. “Oh, yes, never the better, dear sister.”
“Tia, you had been staring out the window for the past three minutes. Something is troubling you.” Luna set her teacup down, returning her gaze to Celestia. “It wouldn’t happen to be our guest, would it?”
“Sometimes I think that’s the only thing that’s on my mind nowadays,” Celestia admitted with a tinge of a sigh in her voice.
“It has been two weeks, Tia. Of course he would be considered an important threa—I mean, issue for us to deal with. It isn’t every day we get a visitor from another world in our midst. Just remember whatever troubles you have can easily be shared with me.”
Celestia smiled to her sister, refilling both their cups. “Thank you, Luna. Tea time with you is something I always cherished, especially for the bond between us it formed.”
“Indeed,” Luna agreed, a smirk playing on her face as she levitated a cookie up for her eager taste buds to partake in.
“It’s just that… I’m not entirely trustworthy of Vader and his motives,” Celestia admitted.
“Does it have to do with the fact he dresses in all black, has a superiority complex, uses a type of magic we have never recognized before, or how he murdered all those manticores in the clearing?” Luna tapped her chin and hummed under her breath. “I covered the basics, right?”
“Overall, yes,” Celestia sighed. She took another sip of her tea, smiling as the hot, minty flavor of the drink traveled down her throat and warmed her insides. “I just worry about how exactly to treat someone like him.”
“You already know about my suggestion to lock him up in a dungeon,” Luna reminded her.
“Yes, and what benefit would that bring us?” Celestia asked.
Luna sipped her tea, shrugging her shoulders when she was done. “It could bring us the benefit of not having to worry about him being out and about or perhaps escaping if given the opportunity.”
“And what if his people arrive to pick him up? I don’t want blood on my hooves if they think the hospitality treatment we showed him was a cold dungeon cell where he was held against his will.” Celestia bit her lip and held a hoof to her temple. “I cannot even fathom having to deny him a request if he demanded it. So far he has tolerated the guards assigned to him, but even then I think he considers them more as pests than a threat. If he wanted to go out into the city, how can I say no? If I tried to keep him here and lock him up, I can possibly start a war with his race.”
“Then it is a good thing that leaving to visit the city is probably the last thing on his mind. The last time I met him, he hasn’t left the side of his spacecraft. Reports say that he’s working on it day and night without rest.”
“Yes, I heard that too. He seems especially adamant about fixing that ship of his…” Celestia pursed her lips, taking another sip of her tea.
“Tia?” Luna said.
“For some reason, he wants to get off this planet. More than anything, it seems, he wants to leave.” Celestia looked Luna in the eyes, staring deep within them as Luna sensed the growing concern appearing in Celestia’s pupils. “It just has me thinking… why? What’s he so eager to return to, and what is making him want to leave so bad?”
“He considers the lot of us little better than vermin. Maybe he’s too disgusted with us and just wants to escape our presence?” Luna guessed.
Celestia nodded slowly. “That’s one thing I considered. Though I do believe it has something more to do with the organization he a part of.”
“The Sith Order?”
“No, the Galactic one,” Celestia said. “Not only do we know aliens exist now, but apparently they have a government spanning the galaxy.”
“What does that have to do with your worries, Tia?” Luna asked.
Celestia stared dejectedly into the reflection of herself in her tea cup. “If we’re in the same galaxy of this Galactic Empire, then it makes me presume we’re under their jurisdiction. Maybe even their control.”
“But that’s nonsense. We’ve never even heard of this Galactic Empire before Darth Vader arrived. How can they be in control of us if we know nothing about them?”
“That’s just the thing, Luna. We know nothing about them. There’s no telling what they know about us.” Celestia gulped, feeling her throat clog up but she had no thought to drink anymore from her cup. “And if Vader is apparently second in command of them, then I shudder to think who their true leader is.”
“Didn’t you mention to me that Vader actually wants to kill his leader?” Luna asked, remembering Celestia having told her everything Vader had mentioned to her on the trip to Canterlot. “If that isn’t enough of a reason to warrant an arrest for him…”
“If I had to arrest every second in command that wanted to kill their leader, then I wouldn’t have a ambassadors from other countries to deal with,” Celestia said, frowning slightly as she shook her head. “It’s common practice to ascend the throne or any leadership position through bloodshed. Gryphons, diamond dogs, minotaurs, and just about every race on Equis has been doing this for thousands of years. Vader doing such a thing is unsurprising in the least.”
“At least we never had to worry about that,” Luna said, smiling fondly to Celestia.
After a while, Celestia couldn’t help but smile back. “I suppose you’re right, Luna. I guess I’m worrying too much about this.”
“Oh no, sister, you have every right to worry,” Luna assured Celestia with a raised hoof. “But for now, I would keep Vader under your watchful gaze until he makes his next move. His ship will be fixed sometime, and when it is, it’ll be up to him whether he leaves our world or not. If he does, then we just had to deal with a very rude guest for a few weeks and move on with our lives.”
“And if he stays?” Celestia asked.
Luna giggled. “There’s always the dungeon option.”
Soon, Celestia too joined Luna in a laugh, the stress of the past couple of weeks melting away for a moment as the two sisters shared a good chuckle.
Luna’s eyes snapped open wide, her jovial good mood replaced with fear clouding her eyes. “Tia, I think—”
“I just felt it too,” Celestia said, her head snapping forward as she felt a buzzing energy ripple down her horn.
Magic was being used. Powerful magic at that. Magic so great, both the sisters could sense it from a considerable distance away. It was a faint presence now, but there was no mistaking the unbelievable power level backing up magic of that type of might. Something, somewhere, had just used a spell. Neither of them knew exactly what spell was used, but whatever it was, it was strong enough to alert them both of its presence.
“Sister, do you know where that came from?” Luna asked, her horn glowing in a low light of magic.
Celestia’s eyes shone briefly in a light golden radiance before she closed her lids and breathed deeply. “Give me a moment.” She concentrated, horn shimmering in a pale light as she attempted to sense where the source of the magic had occurred. It had washed over the two like a powerful wave, but there was no telling where that surge was exactly in the big ocean of magic that made up the world. Finally, the light dissipated from Celestia’s horn as she sighed. “I couldn’t find it.”
“What could it possibly be? I mean, for something of a magnitude high enough for both of us to know about it… that can’t possibly be good.”
“Whoever did the spell made it clear that they were powerful, but made it unclear where their location was,” Celestia stated, mulling over these facts silently.
After some time, Luna finally spoke up, “What do you think, Tia?”
“What I think is that someone was trying to send a message,” Celestia answered. “Maybe even a warning.”
“But from what?” Luna asked, not liking the cold look appearing in Celestia’s eyes. Usually when her sister’s glare became icy, some serious problems were underfoot, which couldn’t mean anything good for a situation like this.
“Luna, that dungeon consideration is looking more appealing by the second.” Celestia got up from her seat and made her way to the door, calling out in quick succession, “I want Vader over here on the double!”
Vader allowed himself the rarest of opportunities to smile. Not that it could be seen beneath the visor of his helmet, but still, the miniscule movement of face muscles into a grin was an occurrence that nearly never happened for him.
The reason for the brief showing of glee was that his hyperdrive propulsion system was finally complete. His earliest fears of the hyperdrive having been damaged during his crash had worried him deeply. Even if he could get the ship fully operational, traveling at lightspeed alone could take him years to get back to any remote outpost of the Galactic Empire when he was so deep in the Unknown Regions like this. The only other choice would be to call for help using the ship’s onboard communicator, but that was still not operational yet. And even if it was, calling for help from his master was one of the furthest things on Vader’s mind.
While his ship was still being repaired, at least the hyperdrive was intact and in relatively good conditions. Being the expert mechanic of ships that he was earlier in his life, Vader had extensive knowledge on how every spacecraft worked, inside and out. That information naturally applied to hyperdrives as well. While he wasn’t an expert on building one or every aspect of how they worked, he was at least competent enough to know when one would work properly.
Overall, while this momentary victory pleased him, he was still angered at the slow process the rest of the ship was going through for repairs. Both wings had been completely decimated in the crash, and rebuilding them using the pony’s primitive technology was a tedious chore. Not to mention the most expert engineers Celestia had to offer him were incompetent fools that didn’t know a jumpdrive to a thruster.
The inner will to not use Force Choke to strangle an imbecile unicorn that dropped one of the fixed lights to his ship was an astounding measure of his self control. Vader had to admit, the experience on this planet had opened his eyes to his own weaknesses. The control he had over the dark side was waning, his own darker compulsions overturning his instincts of intellect. He knew that if he gave himself up completely to the dark side, allowed every fiber of his will to be overrun by its control, there’d be nothing of himself left. Just a dark shell.
So now was the true test of his power over the dark side to bend it to his will, not its. Though it was harder than he’d like to admit, but he still wouldn’t back down from it.
Sighing, Vader got up from his workbench he had been using to repair the hyperdrive. He had been sitting in the chair for hours on end, and had not gotten any rest in the past couple of days. Not that he needed any, for his cybernetic implants along with the power the dark side provided him made able to go long periods of time without sleep or rest. This meant for the past few weeks Vader had barely gotten a full day’s rest from his mission of escaping the insufferable pony planet.
He could feel the fatigue beginning to affect him. Slower movement, loss of focus, inconsistent thought flow that left him staring mindlessly at a piece of equipment to fix without him even realizing it was there. That slight example of weakness was something he did not tolerate, yet staying on the planet any longer than he needed to was something he tolerated much less.
Looking across at his workshop, he contemplated the equipment fodder he had acquired and lined up against the wall. So far the repairs to his ship were halfway done to completion. The hull was easier to mend than he had thought, and luckily enough the original metal was readily available near the crash site for use of fixing it without having to resort to less reliable metals. The wings had to be completely rebuilt from scratch, but from his own modifications he was sure they could hold up well enough. The engines were proving to be a tougher project to handle, yet he was confident he could get both working by the end of the week. As of right now, he had to choose which barely functional part of the starcraft he’ll repair next.
Looking back to his ship in the center of the workshop, he noticed the bangs and dents that ran down its body as the light from the setting sun reflected off its black paint. The open garage that led to his workshop was usually cluttered by moving unicorn engineers that brought to him parts and metal to rebuild the ship with, yet as the evening approached closer many had gone home. The silence was a blessing from Vader.
The blessing soon turned into a curse as he felt an alarming presence distract his attention. The pull on his mind was so strong he almost tripped over himself as he stepped forward. That power, the strength behind it… it couldn’t be?
The dark side. Pure and evil in essence, a surge of it suddenly knocked into him as he sensed its overwhelming presence invade his mind. It’s potency was unbelievable, so much so it put whatever power he or his master possessed to shame.
It only lasted for a few seconds, but there was no denying what had happened. Someone, somewhere, had just used a vast resource of the Force in the shift of the dark side for their own malicious purposes. Who it was or where they were was still unknown to Vader, but whoever had did it was one of the most powerful dark side wielders Vader had ever sensed before. The only thing Vader knew for certain was that the whoever had just used the Force would have to had been far, far away. If they had been any closer, Vader would have known in a second where they were located. The ponies were still unfamiliar in masking their Force potential, so whoever it was would have to be miles away from vader to not immediately sense their presence.
Standing still for several minutes, Vader held his arms out on either side with his palms flat as he tilted his head back. While sensing the Force at long distances wasn’t exactly Vader’s strong suit, he put his best effort into tracking down the recent dark side’s source.
Soon he was lost in a dark plane, nothing moving or breathing. The only senses here were the Force, in its most vital and pure form. The colors that could be used to describe it were not part of the visible light spectrum for humans, and neither could Vader even imagine a color that could come close to comparing it to. It shifted and flowed like the ocean, encompassing all living creatures of the planet as a bond every single one of them shared that linked them together as one.
Far away, over hills and valley and mountains, was where the source of power Vader had just sensed lay. In a barren wasteland where barely a living creature survived it was activated, brought forth from an unknown source to be used. For what, Vader had no clue, but at least now he knew that this Force-sensitive user was nowhere near him. But an interesting clue did turn up. Other Force-sensitives, much weaker but just as malevolent in nature due to the dark side’s corruption surrounded it. One wielder in particular caught his attention...
“Excuse me,” a voice spoke behind him. He had already sensed her enter his workshop previously, though he had hoped she didn’t have anything to do with him. His concentration was broken, and his best guess was that several minutes had passed since he first began tracking down the source of the dark side user. “Vader, can I—”
“If you remember correctly, Twilight Sparkle, my correct title is Lord Vader,” Vader replied sharply. He turned to her, letting his arms fall to his sides as he imposed over the smaller pony with his mere presence.
Twilight resisted wincing. She had come to visit Vader on multiple occasions ever since he arrived in the castle, though she knew her presence was an annoyance at best. He answered none of her questions about his people, home world, technology, or even any of his likes or dislikes. All that he allowed her to do was remain in his workshop as he fixed his ship, her wide eyes and constant note scribbling whenever he so much as picked up a wrench only irritating him slightly.
“Oh, so sorry, Lord Vader. It’s just that Princess Celestia has requested you to her throne at once.”
“She sent you instead of a guard?” Vader asked, hands on his side.
Twilight nodded, glancing quickly back at the door to his workshop before returning her attention to him. “Yes. She thought that me escorting you to her would be more agreeable.”
It was far from it for Vader. The guards were one thing, just simple minded military men—or rather, stallions—that followed orders without question. But to have an escort be Twilight herself, Celestia’s trusted student and a leader of Equestria in her own right, that was another matter altogether.
A matter he would deal with personally if he so needed to once he met with Celestia.