29: The Princess and the Princess
“So… not one of you,” Luna addressed her remaining Stormtroopers. “Had the presence of mind to take one of these intruders alive?”
Five white-armored troops stood at attention before her, quiet as could be. Three had perished from the thermal detonator, while two more were injured but stable. None of them said anything to the alicorn.
“So we know absolutely nothing about who was here and why!” Luna hissed. “It could have been anyone, for any reason! Another criminal launching a raid! Our target, covering their tracks! Some other agency within the Imperial government! Someone else going after our target! We don’t know!” She seized a helmet on one of slain men, ripping it off with telekinesis. “I have no idea who this is.” She propped up the man’s face so everyone could see. “Do any of you?”
Again, the Stormtroopers chose to remain silent.
“Ugh,” Luna rubbed a temple with one hoof. “Do I have to do all the thinking around here? Fine, next time we fight an unknown opponent, try and take one of them alive for questioning.”
“Yes ma’am” the men saluted.
Luna continued rubbing her head. This not gone as planned. She hadn’t meant to kill the man she disabled outside, the lightning had simply forked to him of its own accord as if eager to murder. She needed to exert tighter control over the power in future. The alicorn didn’t much care about the deaths of Vader’s henchmen, but half of her contingent was dead or disabled, and that made things harder. Then there was the mystery of the papers scattered all over the floor, and one man had apparently neglected to flee and spent the last moments of his life ruffling… through… them…
Luna looked up, blue eyes scanning the ceiling. There, tucked away in a small cubbyhole about halfway down the halfway: a small camera with an excellent view of the area.
“You idiots!” she snarled at Vader’s minions. “We’re being watched!”
The Stormtroopers followed her gaze upwards, helmets turning slowly. About half a second later, they barraged the camera with red blaster bolts and it exploded.
“Oh for crying out loud…” Luna reached out with the Force, focusing her frustration into anger and anger into power, searching for a connection. She felt the presence of hundreds of alien scum in vicinity, but tuned them out as best she could. She was looking for someone with just the right mix of… aha!
“Lock down the perimeter,” Luna ordered her men. “And see to your wounded. I will return shortly. Oh, and get me a scan of those papers the thieves were after.”
Luna didn’t bother watching as her men hurried to obey her wishes, simply turning and walking cleanly through the hole she’d cut in the back door. Once outside, she burst into a run, allowing the dark side of the Force the guide her steps and make them faster. As she sprinted, lightsaber at her side, there was just one small nagging question.
Why did this presence feel vaguely familiar?
Twilight watched the scene with horror and incredulity. This wasn’t right. It couldn’t be! Princess Luna had been abducted from Equestria months ago, and nopony had seen hide or hair of the deep blue alicorn ever since. This had to be some kind of trick, some illusion or imposter.
But no, her logical mind wouldn’t allow for such a comforting delusion. From the camera’s angle she could clearly make out Celestia’s sister’s facial and cutie mark, hear her voice snapping at the same Stormtroopers that had killed her friends. Twilight watched with mouth agape as the elder alicorn – somehow wielding telekinesis without a horn – held up one of her dead comrades and used him as a prop to chide the Imperial soldiers with. Her computer shook in her hands.
“Who’s Princess Luna?” Eight’s voice in the comm interrupted her thoughts. “What’s going down there?’
“A F-Force wielder,” Twilight lied a little shakily. “I’ve h-heard of her before. She’s here! She killed th-them! She killed them!”
“If she’s a Force-user working for the Empire, of course she did! What were you expecting?”
Twilight didn’t answer. She instead stared down at her wobbling computer screen as her mentor’s sister seemed to stare right up at the camera with piercing blue eyes. She felt like Luna could see right through it, see her. A second later, red bolts filled the screen and the feed was lost.
“Seven? Seven?! Answer me! What’s going on down there?”
“She knows.” Twilight was already tapping other functions on her screen, half by instinct. “She saw the camera and figured out I was watching. I’m sending the entire recording to your datapad. Take it and run – we have to split up now!”
“If there’s a dark-sider after us, I agree.” Twilight could hear Eight already clambering down from his high lookout point. “If I don’t make it back, get that information back to command.”
“The same for you,” Twilight replied.
“Force be with you.”
“And you.”
Twilight deactivated her computer, tossed it into her pack, turned, and ran for her life.
Luna immersed herself in the currents of the dark side as she galloped. Terror, rage, hatred – this place was rich with all three, and they feed her strength the more she opened herself to them. Her hooves moved faster than they had any right to in nature, guiding her down several streets, through an alleyway, and directly towards another building some few blocks from Ur’s compound.
Luna didn’t slow down for a moment, reaching out instead with the Force. Channeling all her frustration from the night, she unleashed a telekinetic shockwave that outright tore the building’s front door from its hinges. The durasteel plate flew backwards as oversized projectile, conveniently scattering what few beings were in the cheap apartment complex’s lobby at the hour. They wisely chose to flee in terror as the princess hurdled through, little more than a blue blur. She paid it no mind.
The midnight alicorn smashed the entrance to the stairway open with a second blow from the Force, darting in and immediately looking upwards. There! A few stories above her, scrambling to get down another flight of stairs, was yet another figure in that grey armor the intruders had been wearing. This one was built more slightly than the others – probably female. It didn’t matter. This one wouldn’t get away!
With a primal cry Luna seized her lightsaber, activated it, and hurled the red blade spinning upwards in one smooth movement. The crimson blade carved a path through shoddy piping and rusty handrails, going straight for her enemy’s legs. The dark side guided its path, and the princess watched as it arced right up to the unfortunate woman and – bounced away at the last second in a purple flash.
The night princess watched incredulously as her lightsaber spun off to the side, cutting through the railing two stories down from the woman and clattering harmlessly to the floor. Her shock lasted only a moment. Summoning more power Luna called great forks of lightning into being and sent them tearing through the air. The woman above threw her arms up in front of her chest, and a magenta bubble encased her. The blue arcs of Force lightning crackled and lashed against it, but failed to do anything to the woman underneath.
Luna’s jaw dropped. This wasn’t like any Force trick she’d ever seen. It looked more like…
No, couldn’t be.
She was jolted out of her shock with the sound of blaster fire. The woman above had drawn a gun on her and opened fire with several blue ring stun blasts. Luna cursed and flung herself to the side, but not quite fast enough. One of the blue rings clipped her back left leg, and she cried out as she toppled over roughly.
Acting on pure instinct, the alicorn rolled, avoiding several follow-up shots. Without her lightsaber, she had no defense against the energy blasts save cover. She rolled underneath a section of piping and hit the wall roughly. She couldn’t move one of her legs and struggled to stand, breathing heavily. The next second, there was a purple flash directly behind her, and before the princess had a chance to turn around she took another stun blast to the back of the head.
Luna crumpled to the ground like a puppet with her strings cut, almost her entire body seizing up as her nervous system was overloaded. Lying awkwardly on the dirty floor, she could vaguely perceive the armored woman standing behind her, gun leveled at her. She couldn’t move, so she just lied there, allowing her humiliation to fuel her hate, and her hate to fuel her power. She didn’t have to wait long. The woman crept cautiously closer instead of just executing her where she lay.
“Big mistake,” Luna thought.
When the woman was all but on top of the downed alicorn, she lashed out with the power of the dark side. Invisible iron clamps seized woman’s throat and squeezed with all the desperate strength of a staving python. She dropped the gun as her hands immediately went to her neck, instinctively trying to pry what was choking her off. They clawed at nothing, while the princess poured in her power. The woman was lifted slowly off the earth, legs kicked wildly as the pressure around her neck only intensified. Just a few more seconds…
Then the woman vanished in another flash of purple, and Luna’s clamps grasped at nothing. She heard a pop in the distance, followed by heavy coughing and choked gasps for air. That was impossible! No trick of the Force enabled a human to just vanish and reappear like that. The only ones in the galaxy with the secret of teleportation were…
If Luna’s eyes could have widened at that moment, they would have.
Eventually, the hurried gasps for air slowed down and petered out. From her vantage point, Luna couldn’t make out much, but she did hear the sound of her humming red blade being deactivated. A magenta aura surrounded her limp form as the woman again chose to creep closer rather than attempt a deathblow.
Luna again called on the dark side. But this time, she seized her own mouth and throat with it.
“Who… are… you?” she forced herself to say. “Not… normal.”
“I’ll tell you that,” the voice from the helmet sounded firm, but Luna could feel doubt underneath. “When you tell me why you just murdered my friends.”
“Didn’t know…” precise control was difficult this way, and she bit her own tongue. “They were… yours.”
“And that makes it ok to just cut their legs off and fry them with electricity?!” the woman’s voice sounded almost hysterical with anger.
“Thought they were thieves,” she managed. “In… the way.”
“You tried to kill me too!”
“Not kill… capture. Wanted alive.”
“I’m wanted alive? They know?!” Luna felt the other female’s fear.
“No… I… wanted to take you… Empire knows… nothing.”
She breathed an audible sigh of relief.
“Will tell them… nothing. Would never betray…”
“What do you mean?”
“Leave this… to me.” Luna’s mouth was beginning to regain some feeling. Her eyes rolled to look up at the armored woman. “Go home, Twilight Sparkle.”
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SHE KNOWS
Well Luna knows.
But does this really change things? Vader is expecting those artifacts and Celestia is now a guest of the Emperor, it doesn't seem likely that luna or Celestia are in a position to help themselves.
Oooo this is getting intense, cripe!
Nice job
I am more than a bit disappointed that Twilight got the better of Luna so easily. So very, very disappointed.
7663976
Thank the seventh element of harmony: surprise. Also being able to teleport help. If Luna hadn't throw her lightsaber it would have been a very different fight.
7663976 I feel your pain.
I had hoped that the author would delve deeper in the Tragedy by having twilight's legs sliced with a plasma blade.
Or some form, any form of permanent injury.
Twilight would then forgive her mentor's sister because : that's the (pony) right thing to do.
And that would have given more meaning to Luna's final goal in this arc.
Just a side note : It feels quite sad not having access to the mirror portal from the Crystal Empire.
I wonder if the inter-world diary book has burned as well in the Grievous incident.
Now that was an intense reunion. I agree about not using the element of surprise making things fairer. And while Luna has learned some Sith powers, she no longer has an access to horned pony magic spells, which gives Twilight another advantage. Good for the purple princess.
But I fear things won't get easy from there. I don't think Twilight will want to just go back home, and forgiving Luna for the killing might take a while. If the younger alicorn doesn't stand down, the recently dubbed Darth Noctis sure won't.
That's what they say as they start following the Sith ways. And they end up doing the very thing they were trying to prevent...
Alive, but minus back legs and after a lightning shower!
Celestia sure will enjoy to hear that story!
7664131
I don't think Twi would forgive killing and becoming that ruthlessly evil just like this. Luna hasn't said she'd go back to "good pony princess" yet, and I don't think she even wants to anytime soon. She could still lose control and do something bad to Twilight, the fanfic isn't finished yet.
7664164 You did not understand my comment.
I meant that I would prefer if Luna had caused some form of permanent injury on Twilight's 'body'.
Then, Twilight would forgive Luna's actions, despite the horrors committed.
Let's not forget : Twilight was trained since her fillyhood, unaware that she should have been the Alicorn Princess of Friendship.
That would make the new Sith feel great remorse, pride, respect and belonging towards her home planet and her people.
Because Understanding and Forgive, are one of the founding stones for creating true Friendship (not an element, but still).
Something that would trigger some form of deeply rooted conviction in Noctis ; resurfacing from the depths of her personality (similar to her dark nature).
And help her (Luna), with the emotions necessary to complete her true task : the permanent removal of Palpatine.
Twilight may not forgive a human, or an alien other than her home species. Because she knows that they (for most) have never heard of the magic of Friendship, or would never want to hear a phrase about it. Simple logic : your apathetic level is higher when you encounter a stranger, whereas with family... it's a different topic.
7664186
But the fic isn't finished yet, and Twilight isn't off the hook. Luna still can perform some form of permanent injury on Twilight's 'body' in the next few chapters, by throwing another Dark Side temper tantrum.
I didn't say Twilight would never forgive. I said it would be difficult and could take time. Seeing a close friend, practically family, become a cold-blooded, rage and hatred filled killer will hurt Celestia and her.
7663985
Throwing your sword never works
7664233 Ok. With that explanation, I can see the reasoning behind it.
And again, these are just my expectations. It would be interesting to see.
But there is this other part in me that wants to expect the unexpected, and be surprised by a 180° turn of table from the author's mind, and mostly, mostly free time (otherwise, another hiatus might stab us all in the back until next year).
This not gone as planned
No, couldn’t be
1. This had not gone as planned.
3. No, it couldn't be.