10: A Grievous Encounter
General Grievous advanced step by step towards the horrified alicorns, his talons clacking loudly against the stony ground. A blue and a green lightsaber clutched in his hands, the towering cybernetic monstrosity rapidly ate up the distance between them. Princesses Luna and Celestia were both shrinking back before the sudden appearance of their old foe, but Luna especially so. The stub of her horn seemed to ache with the pain of the burning lightsaber Grievous had used to severe it all those years ago.
“Thou…” Luna managed, in between gaping like a fish. “Thou c-canst not be here! Thou art d-dead!”
Grievous chuckled without breaking stride. “And if I am? This is the land of the dead, princess. Such trivialities are of little consequence here.”
“Thou a-art…” Luna was able to back away a few steps, but was still too stunned by the rapid turn of events to do much else. “T-Thou art naught b-but an illusion!” she accused, pointing a hoof at him. “A s-specter conjured from our p-past by the energies of t-this place! Thou canst n-not harm-”
“Illusion this!”
Grievous, by now virtually on top of Luna, lashed out with a swift kick of a single taloned foot. It impacted squarely on the side of the dark alicorn’s face, breaking skin, knocking loose several teeth, and most importantly sending the princess hurdling through the air. Luna smacked roughly back onto the valley floor some yards away, rolling a not inconsiderable distance before coming at last to a halt.
The sight of her sister being injured seemed to jerk Celestia from her cowering stupor, replacing it with gritted determination. As Luna rose shakily to her hooves, fresh blood oozing from her old, bandaged wounds, she saw her sister conjuring a bright golden field around her horn, with evident strain. A beam of golden magic burst forth and threw itself at the cyborg. But both lightsaber blades formed an X in front of Grievous, catching the attack and dissipating it harmlessly against the burning plasma blades.
Before Celestia had a chance to try again, Grievous was on her. He swung both sabers from different angles, the stolen blades arcing down towards the white alicorn’s head. Frantically, she ducked and scrambled backwards, managing to evade the blazing death by scant inches. Against the follow-up kick, however, she was not so fortunate.
Celestia flew backwards the instant Grievous’ foot made contact with her chest, all her size and weight accounting for nothing against his enhanced strength. She smashed back into the ground head-first, skidding a short distance along the sand-covered stone to collapse in a heap at her sister’s hooves.
“Tia, get up!” Luna shook her dazed sister rapidly as Grievous began once again to stomp his way towards them.
Celestia moaned painfully, Luna’s eyes flicking between her and the rapidly-closing cyborg with frantic urgency. Calling on the power she knew was there, Luna jerked her head forwards and sent an invisible telekinetic blast at Grievous. Somehow, though, he seemed to see it coming, shielding his chest with both arms. With a grunt that was half effort and half triumph, Grievous simply powered his way through the Force push, his sturdy frame shaking but not moving a single millimeter backwards. Luna attempted to pin his feet to the ground with another concentrated telekinetic grip, only for the cyborg to nonchalantly shatter the invisible bonds as though they weren’t there.
Luna gasped out of both surprise and effort. The power she had used against the tuk’ata was still out there – she could feel the icy strength of the dark side permeating this place. So why wasn’t anything working.
Concentrating deeply and struggling to ignore the increasingly-overpowering sensations of pain and fatigue, the princess cast her mind back to Grievous’ invasion of Equus. Tens of thousands dead, millions homeless, Equestria in ruins, their freedom sacrificed to the Empire – all because of the being that now stood before her. Focused on her rage at the injustice and hatred for the perpetrator, Luna’s eyes burned yellow once more. With a cry, she channeled it all into the wild and instinctive lightning that she could call on in such moments. The supernatural blue electricity surged through the air and threw itself at General Grievous.
To absolutely no effect.
The cyborg simply stood there, lightsabers crossed, taking the lightning head-on. It sparked and crackled as it flew into the blue and green plasma blades, but it did not flow onwards or strike Grievous. The crossed blades absorbed every last volt without difficulty. No matter how much energy Luna summoned, it did not break the barrier. To make matters worse, Luna felt the power of the Force slipping away as her injured body threatened to surrender to exhaustion. The lightning died soon away, the burning sulfuric yellow of her eyes fading back to their ordinary, weary blue.
“Your little tricks won’t save you this time,” Grievous taunted. “You may have gotten lucky once, but there’s no Republic to bail you out anymore. Heh heh heh heh heh ha ha ha ha ha ha ha HA HA HA!”
Luna gaped openly. Her most advanced Force attack, the very same skill that had sent Grievous plunging over the side of the Canterlot cliffs… had been completely useless. He had shrugged off everything she had thrown at him. Was this truly the revenant of General Grievous, sent from beyond the grave to eliminate her? Had he perhaps somehow survived the Clone Wars and sought her out once again? Or, part of her wondered, was this something else altogether?
More importantly: did it matter?
“Lulu,” Celestia gasped out as she finally shook off her dazed state. “Run.”
After she had pulled her sister up as quickly as she could, Luna did exactly that.
The tuk’ata hound stared down from its high perch in the Valley of the Dark Lords. Standing atop an ancient, weathered statue depicting a mighty lord from the days of the golden age of the Sith Empire, it could spy on the valley floor for miles in both directions. It had held this position for many days, loyally playing sentry over this section of the great valley. The Sith Lords who had made the beast and its kin to guard their tombs were long gone, but the tuk’ata were ever loyal and would never abandon this place for so long as they lived.
At the moment, it was keeping a careful watch out for the intruder its fellows had warned it about. She had dispatched two of the pack and wounded another near the valley’s entrance. That was unusual, and therefore she was more of a threat to the masters’ tombs than those few grave robbers and rabble that occasionally showed themselves here. She would have to be eliminated, but only when the time was right or she posed a direct threat to the sacred tombs. The pack could not afford to take too many losses on a regular basis – its reproduction was far too slow to permit that.
The creature’s keen luminescent red eyes spied a small cloud of dust towards the extreme end of its watch. The tuk’ata adjusted its position, hopping out onto the statue’s extended, half-crumbled arm to get a better view. Very swiftly the situation resolved itself to the beast’s satisfaction. It was movement, definitely, and not by one of the pack. It was advancing deeper into the valley, towards the sacred sites that the hounds had been created to guard.
The tuk’ata bounded down from its high perch with astonishing speed and grace, its mind focused entirely on where it was going next. The pack must hear of this.
Luna and Celestia fled through the red-brown sandstone of the Valley of the Dark Lords in an adrenaline-fueled sprint. Their quadrupedal gait and large size lending them speed no biped could hope to match, they tore through the rubble-strewn valley with the ease of experience. They dodged around jutting stones and broken statuary alike with the grace of the divine, seeming almost to flow around the obstacles that littered their path.
Not far behind the alicorns, scuttling along the ground like some enormous metal insect, was General Grievous. His two arms split into four and legs reversed, all six of his limbs gave him the speed to match the alicorns. He climbed, jumped, and crawled over what terrain barred his path in a graceless but highly-efficient gait.
Luna, with a backwards flick of her head, sent another wave of Force energy flying at Grievous, attempting yet again to slow him down. Somehow, the cyborg saw it coming. Out of the corner of her eye the princess saw him push himself up and off the ground with all four arms, flipping nimbly forwards as the invisible wave shattered a rock behind him. The cyborg landed on all six of his limbs without delay. Far from being slowed down, his maneuver had slightly closed the distance between him and his prey.
Now openly breathing hard from the effort of summoning such sorcery with her wounded by while running for her life, Luna caught a glimpse of Celestia trying something of her own. Visibly pained with the strain of it, the white alicorn’s golden magic enveloped a weathered obelisk. With a grunt of effort, she yanked her head to the side, cracking the ancient stone. With a noise that resembled nothing so much as an agonized wail, the Sith monument toppled over just as the sisters ran beneath it, kicking up a great cloud of red dust as it slammed into the valley floor.
Luna flashed her sister a slight grin, but if Celestia saw it she did not respond. Together, the two continued their frantic flight deeper into the valley. Very soon, a metallic thunk behind them informed the princess that her sister’s maneuver had only bought them a few moment’s head start. Luna pressed herself forward in spite of the agonized protests of her wounds, which begged for nothing more than a moment’s rest. She could not afford that, so Luna was forced to ignore her pain and bone-deep weariness. Further, she divided her attention between looking immediately ahead for obstacles and frenzied checks for an escape route or anything she might turn to her advantage.
All in all, it was placing an enormous strain on her rapidly-diminishing energies.
The dark alicorn heard the sounds of metal clacking against rock growing louder as the minutes passed and the trio began to see the first of the many elaborate tombs built for ancient Sith Lords. Almost imperceptibly, she could sense her pace slowing, her worn legs simply unable to maintain this speed indefinitely. Luna cast her eyes about the valley, desperately searching for-
Intruder.
Luna stumbled, the sheer shock of the moment throwing off her coordination. She only just kept her balance, and she could hear that Grievous was already making good use of her delay. Gritting her teeth, she rallied and, ignoring the sudden voice in her head, forced her aching legs back into a full-out run.
Then the voice spoke again.
Blasphemer.
This time, the princess of the night did not stumble, astonished as she was to hear a hissing whisper inside her mind. Was she, part of her wondered, cracking under it all?
Transgressor.
Was the heat finally getting to her?
Death awaits you, defiler.
Maybe it was blood loss?
Your flesh shall become our plaything.
Or maybe… just maybe… the Inquisitor had been right about the ghosts of this place.
And your soul shall writhe in an eternity of torment.
“Tia!” Luna managed to shout, shutting out the pain, weariness, and voices in her head as well.
“Lulu?! Celestia yelled back over the sounds of hooves and metal clacking against stone.
“Sister…” Luna gasped out. “Fly! Fly… away!”
“What?!” the white alicorn looked aghast.
“Thou canst… still fly. Thou must leave… this place!” she managed.
Luna’s rational side was telling her that she was probably doomed. It only made sense to make sure that her sister did not join her in death – especially if the voice spoke truly about the fate of her soul.
“Lulu, I won’t… leave you!” Celestia cried.
We can sense your terror.
“Shut up!” Luna snapped.
“What?” her sister answered.
“Nothing!” Luna lied. “Tia… thou must… flee! Into the air!”
“Your fate is mine, sister! I will not let you go again!”
“Sister, do not be… a fool! Think… of our ponies!”
Your fear feeds our power.
“I will never abandon you!” Celestia declared.
“Please! See…” Luna panted. “Reason!”
Doom comes for you on swift legs.
“Nothing will make me- ooph!”
But first, another offering.
Luna jerked her head to the side just enough to take in the scene. Celestia had tripped, a hoof caught on an unstable rock formation, and tumbled roughly onto the valley floor. The same instant that the dark alicorn turned herself, determined to help her sibling no matter the cost, she bore witness to a horrible sight.
General Grievous, already almost upon the two alicorn sisters, threw himself into the air. Time seemed to Luna to slow as four blazing blades of blue and green sprang to life in his hands in mid-leap, his legs adjusting themselves once more. She watched in silent, helpless horror as the cyborg descended above the still-prone form of Princess Celestia. Before the alicorn could so much as pull herself to her feet, Grievous landed directly atop her, his lightsabers plunging through her magnificent wings.
Luna saw her sister’s beautiful plumage burned through by the vicious plasma blades, saw Celestia’s wings crudely amputated from her body. At that moment, she could not tell her own anguished scream from her sibling’s tortured, heartrending wail.
Grievous’ sheer weight and the sudden loss of her wings were more than enough to undo whatever progress Celestia had made, forcing her directly back to the ground. The cyborg by contrast easily regained his bipedal footing, towering over her prone form. Shutting down his lightsabers, Grievous reached down and almost casually seized Celestia by the scruff of her neck. He lifted her sobbing, screaming body high off the ground.
An incoherent and mangled cry of mixed outrage and terror bursting from her lips, Luna immediately charged Grievous. Her anger fed her energy, drowning out the pain and soreness. She found the strength to conjure another wave of the Force, flinging another invisible shockwave at the cybernetic monstrosity as she fearlessly charged him. But he once more took it head-on, talons digging deep into the ground to anchor him to the spot. A single kick to the face with one long leg sent Luna flying back the way she came, where she crashed roughly onto the desert ground.
“I burned your nation,” Grievous said in an oddly calm tone.
Luna blinked and shook her head weakly, frantically attempting to clear the dust and blurring from her eyes as well as the daze from her head.
“I killed your servants,” continued the cyborg, reactivating a pair of lightsabers.
Luna tried to rise on shaky legs, only to collapse back to the earth as her weary body at last betrayed her.
“I killed your friends.”
Grievous’ lightsabers made a scissor formation across Celestia’s neck.
“And now,” he said, his yellow, reptilian eyes seeming almost to glow. “I kill your sister.”
The scissors closed.
Princess Luna of Equestria watched in mute, stupefied horror as her sister, Princess Celestia, lost her head. The beautiful face that had inspired countless works of art and poetry froze forever in a death mask, its last expression one of unimaginable agony. Luna’s blue eyes tracked the rainbow-maned alicorn head as it tumbled silently, almost gracefully, to the valley floor below.
For a moment, just a moment, all was silence.
“NOOOOOO!!!” Luna heard herself scream in ineffectual denial. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
“Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh! Hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah! Ah hah hah hah hah HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!!!”
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Grievous have you been taking lessons from the Terminator? You seem unusually durable...considering force push was normally the thing that fucked you over in past fights.
Ah well just Lulu going crazy and her mind making her inner demon take the form of Grievous and get him OP so that fake Tia dies and such. Well lets see how this turns out...Well frankly we all know how this is going to go since it only has one path available but still~
Fyi this is not me bashing the story, every story has these sort of chapters/moments. Even the great ones.
Hallucination...
FATALITY
LOL I love the dark lord's torment they inflict upon those who intrude upon their resting place. Sith sorcery is nothing to sneeze at. But Luna will come out the other side a powerful instrument of the dark side after this.
I really believe this to be some sort of vivid nightmare. Celestia suddenly coming in, and then Grievous from out of nowhere. The Sith spirits are messing with Luna's mind.
5731935 No shit, really?
Seriously though. I watched Clone Wars through to the end. I can testify: When Korriban and its undead inhabitants want to play hardball, they play hardball.
I bet that celestia was an illusion as well as grievous.
Oh, just get on with the Nightmare Moon transformation!
I don't think Snake Staff ever said Luna was going to turn back into Nightmare Moon.
5732126 Indeed they are. It's pretty typical for Sith spirits to do that sort of thing.
Am I the only one that hopes this is real life?
Hail Grievous!
Yeesh, and here I thought the Jedi Exile's Korriban expedition had horrific visions. When do we get to visions of the present and future? Mayhap a Sith Ghost encounter (hopes raised for Revan or Malgus).
Luna's gonna be a villain isn't she
Even though this is all a vision, what's the best way to become a Sith Lord/Inquisitor? Hate. A LOT of hate. And right now, Luna wants whatever's left of Grievous' guts strewn on the walls. This is going to be good!
Had to get one last grevious tittle in didn't you?
I missed the Grevious puns...
5732638 You and me both.
I will first cry if this is an illusion made by the Valley. Then I will hunt down the author with the mafia in order for him/her to "see the error of his/her ways."
5733776
Oh, it's definitely an illusion. There is lengthy list of examples of exactly this sort 'hippy spirit vision quest' stuff in the Star Wars Lore. Honestly, Luna is getting off kind of light for a Dark Side vision.
5734137 ..................you'll be in the same pit of hell with the author (no offense intended author)
BEST CHAPTER EVA!!!!!!!!
5732795 I think I would literally shit my self if they encountered Malgus, or Bane, or Plagus, or the Jedi exiles that met the original sith on Korraban. Mark Ragus, Tu'lock Horde...
Whoa, did NOT see that coming.
5732970 Big time it seems.
Well I've never seen anyone turn tail and run from a force illusion thing that can attack and kill you. I am loving Grievous's ability to do his namesake to those he's interacted with. I await the next part knowing it will be awesome and interesting ^.^ I do wonder what Luna will do
O...M...G! FREAKIN' EPIC!
Dang, this is crazy~ :D
I love it!
Hahaahahahaha
Nice job.
Now there's no escaping the Dark Side for Luna... pretty one good convincing "illusion" though. This gonna be awesome. Sith Luna... Tis the thing of awesome.
Maybe we'll be seeing a Darth Luna? 
Even better!
Illusion or not, Grievous is very much capable of learning from his mistakes. It's great to see my favorite cyborg back in all his glory again.
I just... Thought it appropriate...?
6239981 *sniff* he was so young. only in his 30-40s. also one hell of a badass who's speed makes Darth Vader look like he is standing still
7510294 well darth vader was never really one for speed he was more one for sheer strength