Chapter IV - "A Vision in the Dark"
Canterlot glowed, set ablaze atop its holy mountain. Green fire rained down upon the city from the heavens above as Twilight Sparkle looked on. The sky was dark, the sun blocked by enormous triangular vessels in the sky. The streets were littered with bodies, both familiar and not, caused by the raining hell fire. Twilight Sparkle gasped in horror at the sight. Never had the alicorn seen such atrocities committed before. As the Princess continued to stare at the devastation in terror, white blurs rushed past her through the streets and began dragging survivors from the ruins, executing them on the spot. Twilight wanted to scream, but the only sound that could escape her mouth was little more than a quiet, breathless whisper that barely resembled the noise of distress.
And then he appeared.
Princess Twilight watched in terror as a shadowy being emerged from the fire of a nearby burning building and ignited a glowing red sword. The dark specter approached the trembling alicorn, towering over her with piercing yellow eyes. He raised his weapon to finish her off, but found his sword met with one that beamed like light. A second specter, this one clothed in white, emerged from the smoke just in time to clash with the dark figure and fend off his attacks as the green flames continued to rain down on the once great metropolis. Twilight Sparkle could only watch in horror as the two creatures dueled through the ruins of the city, locked in an epic battle for the fate of the Princess. For a time, it seemed, the battle would never end, but then a massive pillar of light fell from the sky and struck the ground with tremendous force. All of a sudden, the entire city—and the ponies that Twilight loved—were obliterated in the blink of an eye.
Then Twilight woke up.
"No!" Twilight Sparkle shot up in bed, panting breathlessly as she frantically looked around. The dark corners of her bedroom receeded as Spike, her adopted brother, lit a candle and rushed to her side to check up on her.
"Twilight! Are you okay? What's wrong?!"
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief as the candlelight illuminated the area around her, revealing the face of her faithful friend.
"I-it was just a dream..." she stammered. "Just a dream..."
Spike rested the candle on the nearby nigh table and gave a sigh.
“The one with the creepy guy and the flaming red sword?”
Twilight Sparkle nodded, quietly.
Spike sighed the rubbed the back of his neck.
“Twilight, m-maybe we should tell Princess Celestia. You know—since it’s been keeping you up so much lately.”
Twilight wiped a bead of sweat on her brow and rested her head back on her pillow.
“I don’t know, Spike. Princess Luna hasn’t sensed anything unusual. She’s says I sleep dreamless nights, untethered by luminous thoughts. If the Princess of the night can’t detect anything wrong with me, I don’t know if I should bother Princess Celestia about it.”
“Well, what if it’s something else?” Spike suggested.
Twilight Sparkle lifted a brow.
“What?”
“Your dream. What if it’s isn’t a dream at all?”
Twilight sat up again.
“What else do you think it could be?”
Spike shook his head.
“I don’t know. But if we don’t start exploring other possibilities we might never know what’s going on.”
Twilight slowly nodded her head.
“You’re right, Spike. We should analyze this. Study it. Perhaps it’s something else—a projection, or-or a misfiring neuron!”
“Yeah, or maybe that cheese you’ve been eating all week,” Spike giggled, managing a small grin.
Twilight giggled along.
“Yes. Maybe.”
Spike smiled at his sister for a few moment. After the two let the small banter sink in long enough, Spike picked up his candle and headed for his bed.
“Welp! Glad I could help. Let’s continue this conversation in the morning!”
But before Spike could make a get away, he quickly found himself engulfed in magic and brought alongside his sister who had jumped out of bed and began heading for the library.
“Sorry, Spike,” The lavender alicorn said with a chuckle. “I’m afraid this can’t wait.”
Spike gave a sigh and rested his scaly cheek on his claw.
“Yeah, I figured.”
With that, the two began their day, woefully ignorant of the threat soon to come to them from the stars...
Somewhere, far, far away...
The Inquisitor sat in his meditation chamber with his legs crossed and his mask resting on his lap. The dark side of the force flowed through his body as his bright yellow eyes opened in surprise at the connection he had just made through the force. Somewhere, out there in the farthest reaches of the galaxy, a being had seen his future and merged with his mind.
“Interesting...” the Inquitor mused to himself.
The connection he had made had only lasted for a moments, but he had seen enough to know something beautiful existed in his future. The dark side did not show such things without a promise that such fortunes could come obtained—provided the recipient was willing to do what was necessary to claim it.
The inquisitor smiled to himself and moved to get up. Just as he stirred from his meditative position however, the doors to the meditation chamber whooshed open behind him. The Inquisitor paused as he heard an Imperial Officer enter the room.
"Sir," said the officer, standing a distance from where the Inquisitor sat. "We've just received coordinates to an unidentified system in the unknown regions. According to the transmission, it appears the rebels are stranded there. We’ve got them, sir."
The Inquisitor did not reply. Instead, he slowly turned his helmet around and put it on.
"...Sir?" the Officer lifted a brow. "Is everything alright?"
The Inquisitor stood up and turned around.
"Take us to them," he replied. "The hunt begins."
The officer gave a salute and went to do as he was told.