58: Farewell
The door to Palpatine’s audience chamber reopened only a few minutes afterwards, and a pair of alicorns. The armored sister carried herself with what she imagined to be a dignified yet deferential air – as if he couldn’t sense her petty and ill-concealed hatred. But let her hate, so long as she feared. As to the other one… the state of her soul reminded Sidious of the broken woman he’d spoken with after the razing of her homeworld.
Excellent.
“Ah, you’ve returned,” he said in Palpatine’s kindly old man voice. “I do hope that everything went well.”
Both siblings knelt in that awkward fashion that quadrupeds did, and Sidious felt the dark one’s resentment spike. That was amusing.
“It did indeed, your majesty,” Luna said to him. “My sister and I had a very productive discussion, and came to the only reasonable conclusion.”
“I am glad to hear it. Discord between siblings is always a little saddening. And of course you may rise.”
“Yes, majesty,” said Luna as both did. “Celestia and I talked it over, and we had decided that it was best if I remained in the service of the Empire. Our world does not need my services so greatly as the larger galaxy, and I fully trust my fellows back on Equus to manage our rebuilding.”
“Are you certain?” he feigned surprise. “If this is about potential repercussions from Lord Vader or his allies, I give you my personal assurances that no harm will come to you or your system as a result of your decision today. I am, after all, a man of my word.”
“I am sure, your majesty,” she replied almost immediately. “I’ve seen what happens when the galaxy is left in the disorder of the late Republic. I know I must do my part to prevent that from ever happening again. Perhaps in a few decades, when things have more completely stabilized and the dangers of war are far behind us I shall seek to return home, but not before then.”
“As I said before: your patriotism is truly an example to us all.” Sidious nodded slightly at her. “Very well, if you are absolutely sure that you wish to remain in service to the Galactic Empire, I cannot in good conscience turn you away. Not when there is so much still to be done.”
“My thanks,” she bowed her head once again.
“And Governor,” Sidious turned his head towards the hollow-eyed sister, “I must thank you most sincerely for all your assistance, and your willingness to part with your own blood for the sake of all beings. I do apologize if you were surprised or felt in any way let down by what occurred today.”
“Think…” she said in a low voice. “Think nothing of it.”
He didn’t even need to see her thoughts to know how empty that was.
“I thank you both, again, for your services. I regret only that I don’t see more dedicated citizens like yourselves. However much as I hate to be brief, I do have many other matters to attend to.” Sidious sat back in his chair, nodding to his Royal Guards. “See to it that the Governor and Inquisitor are seen safely off. Return the Governor to her quarters and the Inquisitor to her ship.”
As the two alicorns were escorted out the door by two guards, Sidious swiveled his chair back around to face the window. When the doors closed behind them, the Sith Lord allowed himself a short peal of soft laughter.
Luna strode purposefully down the palace hallway, Royal Guard in tow. She was eager to be away from this place, to return to Vader and continue her training. She had no idea what Sidious was playing at with apparently calling her here simply to crush her sister’s spirit, but the further she was from him the better she’d feel.
Behind her, at a far more sedate pace, walked Celestia. Her sister’s gaze was downcast, her eyes strangely empty. Her aura in the Force was at a similarly low ebb, radiating melancholy. Had she really been such a fool as to pin any hopes on the word of Palpatine? Even if she had no idea the man was a Sith, surely only a naïve idiot would place any trust in the man who led the system that enslaved their nation. And to be so psychically crushed by the mere news that her sister would not go back to a wretched life of powerlessness? Luna felt her lips curling.
The two of them soon reached an intersection, and the guard with Luna indicated that they should proceed to the left. The one with Celestia indicated right. The dark alicorn followed the direction without question or hesitation.
“Luna!” she heard Celestia calling out after her. “I… goodbye…” Her voice seemed to die in her throat.
“Go home, sister.” Luna did not spare so much as a glance backwards. “You’ve done enough.”
As the two sisters parted ways once more, she could hear the soft sounds of sobbing from behind her. Luna felt, for the briefest of instants, an odd and painful constriction in her chest. A feeling that she couldn’t quite identify took shape in the back of her mind, but she knew that she didn’t like it. A moment later, she gritted her teeth and forced her memories of Celestia willingly aiding the most evil being in the galaxy search for immortality to the forefront. Her anger surged, drowning the unwelcome sensation in a torrent of familiar dark side power.
Shaking her head to rid herself of the last of such distractions, Luna pressed on without a another thought of it.
Minutes later, Luna was walking briskly towards her craft, eager to be away from this place. There were dozens of shuttles and small ships parked in rows on palace’s vast landing platform, and a number of dignitaries from far more worlds than she had ever heard of, though a clear majority were human. Her teeth bared in a snarl as she recognized one of them.
There, walking down the ramp of a shuttle with what she supposed to be the human idea of a pretty young woman on his arm, was a man she could hardly fail to recognize. Once an Admiral, now a Moff, Wilhuff Tarkin positively exuded confidence. And why shouldn’t he? After threatening a helpless species with genocide for failing to comply with his demands quickly enough, he’d been rewarded with a promotion and oversight of some “special project” she had heard nothing about. But from the way his mind felt, it was going well.
It was only when the man’s eyes wandered her way that Luna realized she had stopped, and was staring. The human halted himself and raised an eyebrow, brushing off his paramour with the flick of a wrist. Despite the armor, it only took him a moment to blink in recognition, then smirk.
“I’m pleased to see you’ve made the wise choice,” he said, eyes flicking pointedly to the Imperial symbol on her pauldron.
“I’m… pleased to see that you are doing well for yourself,” she forced through gritted teeth.
“Oh yes, quite well.” Tarkin brushed an imaginary bit of dirt from his sleeve. “And here to deliver a report to his majesty in person.” He eyed the still-silent Royal Guard behind Luna. “As I see were you.”
“We must not keep the Emperor waiting.”
“No. We mustn’t.” The Moff folded his hands behind his back and began to walk on. “Oh,” he paused, “and give my regards to your home planet.”
It was all Luna could do not to throw her lightsaber at him on the spot.
Many hours later, in the familiar if not homey confines of her appointed apartment, Celestia finally let the last façade of control die. Tears trickled down her face for but a few moments before becoming a flood. The white alicorn buried her head in a pillow, and allowed herself to weep. Her soft sobs muted by the soft shimmersilk, she simply surrendered control and allowed her emotions to pour free?
What had Vader done to her sister? What kind of cruelties and deprivations could drive Lulu back into his arms willingly after only a few mere months? How could he have twisted her so quickly, that she would attack her own sister so easily? Or… even worse, what had she done to her sister? Luna had accused her of being selfish and neglectful? Had she been? Had it been Celestia’s own failures that had opened up an old fault line between them?
Was this all her fault?
The solar princess lost track of time, drowning in a sea of guilt, fear, and worry for her poor sister. Just imagining the kind of thing Luna must be going through was enough, even the possibility that it might be her doing only made it worse. Minutes became hours as the sun set in the window, but she took scare notice.
It wasn’t until, many hours later, the princess heard a very gentle cough that she finally bothered to look up. It was Stormy Skies, one of the two pony honor guards that had accompanied her to Coruscant and stayed here these months, one of her few links to home. Celestia brushed a tear aside with her wing.
“Yes?” she sniffed. “What is it?”
“A thousand pardons, your highness, but…” he hesitated. “We’ve received a gift for you. It’s from the Emperor.”
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Palpatine is definitely showing off his manipulation skills, seemingly only to showcase his true power to Luna. Yet the alicorn has not fully realized that she will likely never be powerful enough to face Sidious. It literally takes beings of prophecy to defeat him.
8701851
Luna was herself the subject of prophecy. Not really an apposite prophecy, though.
8701874
Not only is that prophecy irrelevant to the Force, as you yourself said, but she was also the villain being stopped in hers.
8701881
Surely nothing is irrelevant to the Force?
A gift, eh?... Wonder what it will be? Some recording maybe? An artifact? Or maybe even a holocron?....
A gift? What kind of gift? Palpatine, what sort of game are you playing here?
I see two immediate possibilities. One is that he's doing everything he can to get Celestia to lower any and every possible mental guard she has around him by making her as comfortable as possible. Afterall, he's consoling a poor heartbroken woman now, isn't he? Then when the time is right, he'll steal her body.
The other possibility I see is that he's going to work on slowly turning her to the Dark Side. Small, seemingly innocent objects that will start her down a path, and then with time they will get ever darker. Molding her into a suitable apprentice and possible heir. For all his desires for immortality, I don't think he's beyond setting up a backup plan just in case he should fall. And after all, an immortal apprentice/heir would ensure his empire and the Sith would never fall, now wouldn't it?
All right, Sidious, don't screw this up. You have only ONE chance, and if it's not cake, then...
Sigh... sorry.
Sith lord + Gift doesn’t compute. I wonder how he intends to add salt to Celestia’s wounded mind.
Now, I eagerly await the moment Twilight, hopefully, will spank Noctis’ flank hard, and make her
open up her eyesrealise how deeply she’s failed her world, her people and herself.8701851
I personally disagree with that seemingly widely spread view that MLP’s strongest characters couldn’t hold their ground against characters of other universes (Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, ...). Noctis isn’t the most powerful and trained Force-user yet, but she does have power, and with enough time (and time she has, as an immortal, she might become among the strongest. Sidious is powerful, but not invincible.
Anyway, I also think Luna won’t be the one fixing things, but Twilight might at least end up playing a major role, if not becoming the main hero of this story arc.
We yet have to find out what role the ponies will play in the galaxy’s fate, and how much it will change from Star Wars’ canon.
So how low are going to bring poor Celestia? I hope that some how Twilight can start to help her people more. I feel that unless Twilight can find a way to completely erase the location of her home planet from the databases this story is going to be just depressing. I see the ponies definitely becoming a slave labor race sooner rather then later for the Empire.
Hmm I wonder what further manipulations Palatine has for Celestia because if he's giving a 'gift' its almost certainly to manipulate her further.
8701937
That suddenly makes me want to see Starswirl the bearded and Palatine or go at it on the imperial senate floor which isn't likely going to happen given he's trapped in limbo and twilight likely isn't going to be trying to free him given she's rather busy.
8701989
I find your lack of faith in Twilight disturbing. The light side of the Force will prevail!
8702001
This reminds me of another MLP / SW fanfic (now dead, sadly), in which Twilight and Celestia unite their magic to shoot a big magic beam... and blow an Imperial class destroyer up in 10 seconds...
Palpatine said that Darth Vader is a failed apprentice and was weak now and now he has celestia the older sister to Luna who in such a short time has grown so powerful under the teachings of darth imagine what could happen if Palpatine the greatest sith ever was to be able to turn and teach celestia luna really would be completely out matched
8702061
Only when a whiny farm boy from Tatooine come on the stage.
I just think that Twilight is doomed to not being able to do anything until Luke shows up.
8702117
We can wonder how well Luke would have fared against his father (before he got his black suit). I think he wouldn’t have lasted 10 seconds. The Force helped Luke to achieve success. In this fanfic, the Force could help Twilight do something grand as well.
I would personally prefer if the ponies werent’ rendered useless, having to watch from the sideline while Luke, Han, Leia and co do everything, decades later.
But well, at the end, it depends of what Snake Staff has planned.
8702133
They will be helpful, at least the ones that Twilight can get of planet. I just don't see the people of Equis being major players in the whole galactic civil war, just a footnote in the whole thing. And this makes me sad but it makes sense as how big the galaxy is.
8702148
I meant the main characters (Twilight, Celestia, ...), not the whole population of Equus. In the movies, Luke and co change the fate of the galaxy ; in this fanfic, Snake Staff might have the main MLP characters, by their actions and decisions, leave their hoofprints in the galaxy’s destiny.
We’ll wait and see.
8702189
It's all in the grand jedi master sith dark lord Snake staff's hands now
8702133
You mean when Anakin was a 9-year-old kid? Anakin wore black throughout Episodes 2 and 3
Ah Luna being a mass of fuckup once again, boy does this princess seem to have a shitty track record of being helpful or out right harmful to others. Nightmare Moon issue, not helping when changelings attack during a wedding, Tantabus issue, lets add her going all sith to this list, and of course also helping old Palpy in his plot to manipulate Celly.
Yeesh at this rate should be a trope for Luna messing things up.
8701922
Probably the latter of those two. From how the doc bot's report on Celestia went, it sounds like immortality isn't exactly biological for Celestia. Thinking along those terms, taking Celestia's body would probably end it's Living stasis. Probably be easier to try to make a clone and ascend the body himself.
But Palpatine didn't get to where he is by not knowing potential and not using it until it's nothing. All of his apprentices are proof of that. If he wasn't convinced before Luna showed up that Alicorns weren't powerful Sith material, he probably is now. Vader is a useful tool. But Palpatine was ready to throw him away for a nice and new Skywalker at the end of the first trilogy.
8701922
I find the second one unlikely. Palpatine doesn't truly trust anyone other than himself. Even his apprentices are just tools to be used and discarded, not truly meant to be his heir.
8701937
Given what's been shown in the story itself, Noctis couldn't beat Vader let alone Sidious.
Oh man... I can only wonder if this is gonna go the route I think it's gonna go.
That question mark seems out of place...
Good show otherwise