//------------------------------// // 13: A Dark Bargain // Story: Empire and Rebellion // by Snake Staff //------------------------------// Princess Luna, still surprised at the intervention of the second voice to protect her, watched as the ghost of Darth Nox faded away into whatever place it resided. She hadn’t expected anyone in this horrible place to care about her fate, much less call in a favor to cause a spirit to back down. Still, she wasn’t foolish enough to believe that this Lord Tyranus had done it out of the goodness of his heart – he had even admitted as much. “So,” Luna said, holding the still-active blade of Darth Nox’s lightsaber close, looking around suspiciously. “What is it that thou desirest of us, Lord Tyranus?” “Observant and insightful,” the voice responded, still apparently disembodied. “Good.” Luna snorted. “Hardly. Thou hast said thyself that thou thinkest we are “of use” to thee. Do not expect us to feel indebted to thee merely because thou didst not wish to see a tool destroyed.” “I would hardly hold such a low opinion of your intelligence, Princess Luna.” “Thou canst see us, nay?” she asked. “I can.” “Then show thyself,” Luna demanded. “If thou wishest to bargain with us, come forth and let it be done face-to-face. Otherwise we leave at once.” “You are interested in such a bargain, then?” “Do not take us for a fool. If thou hast sufficient influence to indebt an ancient ghost thee, thou surely hast something of worth. We may have use for it. That thou hast used that debt to call off Darth Nox meaneth that thou must wish something from us. We may be amendable to a trade.” “You are very perceptive, princess. My compliments.” “Cease thy flattery and come into the open,” Luna said. “We will hear what it is thou wishest, and what it is thou hast to offer. No more.” “Very well.” The red crystals that lit Darth Nox’s tomb flickered back into life, once again lending their light to that coming from the crimson lightsaber. Another cloud of mist began to emerge from the floor, but far faster than before. The thin, silvery substance swirled in the air before coalescing together and manifesting from itself the form of a tall, unmasked human male, arms folded behind his back. Luna had never met this particular individual in person, but she instantly recognized him from the description she had received from Celestia as well as numerous holograms the man had recorded in life. She hissed and held the lightsaber up pointedly. “Thou art Count Dooku.” “That was my name, yes,” he nodded politely. “We heard on the holonet that thou had perished over Coruscant.” “That is true,” Dooku nodded again, a dark expression coming into his eyes. “I was betrayed. And murdered.” Luna couldn’t help it. A feeling surged up from her chest, overwhelming any self-control or diplomatic tact, emerging from her mouth in a frenzy of noise that echoed throughout the confined space of the Sith tomb. She burst out laughing. “Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!” she roared out, throwing back her head to give full voice to her amusement. “Aha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!” Dooku’s ghost hovered there, his expression growing steadily darker. “Are you quite finished?” he said during a lull, as Luna paused to catch her breath. “No!” she snapped back, before tilting her head again. “Aha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha HA HA HA!” Dooku glared in undisguised irritation as Luna’s laughter finally subsided to chuckles. Tears streaking down her cheeks, she reached a hoof up to brush some of them away before allowing her last few giggles to escape. When she looked back up again, the alicorn’s mood had considerably improved. “Was that truly necessary?” asked the count. “For what thou hast done?” Luna snorted in amusement. “Yes. Thou had more than earned a miserable death, and we sincerely hope it was painful.” “That is hardly a good way to start a negotiation, princess,” he replied. “And in any case, you needn’t worry about that. I can assure you that my last few moments among the living were most unpleasant.” Dooku rubbed his neck with one hand. “Thou needest us far more than we need thee, count,” Luna pointed out. “Else thou wouldst not have squandered a limited commodity merely to get the chance to speak with us. As it is, we see little reason to negotiate with the murderer who ravaged our fair Equestria.” Meaningfully, the princess turned her back on the count, deactivating her new lightsaber and placing it gently in what remained of her side bags. She started towards the tomb’s exit. “What if I told you,” Dooku’s voice came after her. “That I was not the one ultimately responsible for the destruction unleashed on your world?” Luna did not even bother turning her head back around to answer. “We would remind thee that thou wast the leader of the Separatists and Grievous’ superior. We also know that thou didst fight our sister Celestia personally in Canterlot, and thus have no reason to believe thy protestations of innocence.” “I did not claim I was innocent,” Dooku countered. “Merely that the ultimate responsibility did not lie with me. It was Grievous who executed the attack on your planet, and it was I who offered your sister an opportunity to surrender. Surely she told you as much.” “She did,” Luna acknowledged. “But it means nothing. Thou couldst have called off Grievous if thou had wished to do so.” “No, I could not have.” Luna halted on the spot, turning her face slightly to look back on the ghost with one eye. “Thou were the head of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. There was none above thee.” “In public, that was the truth. But behind the scenes…” Dooku paused. “Tell me, how much do you know of the Sith?” “Little. Nor do we much care.” “You should,” Dooku smiled faintly. “I take it you have never heard of Darth Bane, or the Rule of Two?” “Should we have?” “On this planet? Yes, if they were bothering to give you any real education,” Dooku took a few steps forward, sounding conversational. “In any case, the Rule of Two states that there may only be two Sith Lords at any one time: a master and an apprentice. One to embody power, the other to crave it.” “Let us take a guess,” Luna said drily. “Thou wouldst have us believe that thou wast the apprentice, correct?” “Very perceptive,” Dooku nodded. “I knew I made the right choice. Yes, I was the apprentice, Darth Tyranus. Above me was my master, Darth Sidious. It was he who ordered your planet be wiped out. And it was he,” his face darkened again. “That betrayed me and ordered my death. After the war, he had my remains secreted away to this place, hoping to bury my spirit beyond sight and memory.” “And why should we believe that this phantom master ever existed, much less ordered thee to do as thou didst?” “You know Lord Sidious by another name,” Dooku replied. “These days, he calls himself Emperor Palpatine.” Luna froze on the spot, carefully considering what had just been said. She wasn’t sure whether she believed the spirit’s words, but the idea that Palpatine would be ruthless enough to sanction such an act was hardly outside the realms of plausibility. “Say we believe thee…” Luna muttered. “What is it that thou wishest us to do about it? We wanted him dead regardless for the enslavement of Equus.” “You will never defeat him on your own, you know. Darth Sidious possesses a mastery of the dark side that is second to none. He knows many ancient Sith magicks and is a master of all manner of lightsaber combat. He is cunning, and his foresight extends far into the future. If you attempt to destroy him, he will crush you like an insect and wipe out your planet as retribution.” “Hmph!” Luna looked disdainful. “And thou knowest better? By thine own words, he killed thee and thou never saw it coming. We will become stronger than he, stronger than any other. We defeated Grievous here, and we will defeat this Sidious on our own.” Once again, she turned to leave. “You defeated a puppet of dust and sorcery, hardly a worthy approximation of Sidious. It was nothing more than a tool pulled from your own psyche.” “And how wouldst thou know that?” “Because I made it.” Luna turned halfway around, teeth clenched into a snarl. One hoof pawed the ground. “Thou didst what?!” she hissed. “I made it,” Dooku repeated. “As an aide and as a test for you.” “Thou wast the one who made us go through-” “You emerged from the other side of this trial far stronger than you were before,” Dooku interrupted. “Do you deny it?” Surprised, Luna hesitated. “…No,” she said after a few seconds had passed. The count smiled. “You see, even when you don’t know you’re being trained, my methods are effective.” The ghost took several long, ethereal steps through the air to stand directly before Luna. “Here is my offer: join me. Learn what I have to teach, and embrace the full power of the dark side. Become what you were always meant to be.” “…And in return?” “I ask only that you help me to claim my revenge. Help me to slay Palpatine, who ordered my death. Help me to slay Darth Vader, who killed me. Agree to do this, and I will teach you all I know.” For some time, all was silence. Luna stared at the floor, contemplating all that she had just heard and considering her options. It was many minutes later when she looked up again, meeting the count’s gaze with her restored blue eyes. “No.” Dooku looked genuinely surprised. “What?” “We said: no,” Luna turned her back on the spirit. “We refuse thy offer. We will shall find our own way to power. We do not believe thy words, for thou art a liar and a murderer of our people. Thou canst rot here for all we care,” she took a step out through the tomb’s archway and back into the darkened hallway. “We will not trust thee.” “So don’t.” “Huh?” Luna glanced back at the count’s spirit, which had not move. “What didst thou say?” “Don’t trust me,” Dooku repeated himself. “Such mundane things as trust hardly matter on the path of the Sith. Simply take what I offer freely and use it to your ends, Princess Luna. I will make no attempt to bind you to any oath or promise,” a smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. “For you will inevitably attempt to slay the Emperor with or without my prompting. I can sense it.” “We are not some puppet following a preordained path, Dooku,” Luna huffed indignantly. “Of course not. But search your feelings, you know it to be true.” “…” “I’m right, aren’t I?” “Aye,” Luna admitted with a heavy sigh. “Tis the truth. The Emperor and his Empire must be bested if our ponies are to breathe free again.” “And I will help you to do it,” Dooku said. “For you know as well as I that you will confront Sidious eventually. Simply agree to hear my instruction,” he spread his hand wide in a magnanimous gesture. “And you will gain the power you need to triumph.” “We still do not trust thee.” “It doesn’t matter. Your ends and mine are the same. To help you is to help myself.” Luna eyed the spirit warily. Dooku simply smiled and waited patiently with his hands behind his back. At last, the princess of the night let out a long sigh and nodded. “Thou hast a bargain, spirit.” The count smiled broadly. “I’m glad to hear it. It is my pleasure to formally induct you into the Order of the Sith Lords.” “We said nothing about that.” “You are becoming my apprentice, no?” “In a certain sense,” she admitted. “Then you must take a new name, in accordance with our traditions. It will represent you rebirth into the power of the dark side.” “We like our name just fine.” “Nonetheless, it is unfitting for a Sith Lord to lack a proper title. Henceforth, you shall be known as Darth…” he paused, considering. “Noctis.”