6: Into the Unknown
Inquisitor Cia folded her hands behind her back and without a further word proceeded to walk directly into the double doors of grey durasteel, which parted to open before her. The Chiss vanished quickly into the dark corridors within the Imperial facility, which most of the worn students took as their cue to follow her. All kept their heads down as they did, not wishing to be the next to draw her attention. Most were relieved to be getting a chance to be out of Korriban’s miserable weather conditions. A few even seemed to perk up a bit as they crossed the threshold into a climate-controlled building once more.
Princess Luna thought them all wretched.
How could they just do as they were? How could they just shake off what had just happened? One of their own, a fellow pupil, had just been abandoned to die and, when that didn’t do the trick, callously murdered for the crime of following her instructor’s orders and being injured! Not one was pausing to honor the fallen. Not one was bothering to even try to bury Mirabelle’s headless corpse. She knew that these aliens were miserable scum, but even the night princess hadn’t thought them so cold to their own kind!
Luna snorted disdainfully at them. Once again, the outsiders proved their lack of even the basic decency one could find on Equus, much less the harmony that flowed through Equestria. Separatist, Republic, or Empire, they were all the same violent, self-centered murderers without empathy or even the simplest kindness.
The princess’ eyes flicked down to the human’s corpse, trying to make a split-second judgment. She hadn’t the time to bury Mirabelle on her own – if she was not in soon enough, the blue-skinned Imperial harlot might well lock her out to die in the desert – but that didn’t mean she couldn’t do her one last kindness. Even these aliens did not deserve to have their remains desecrated or left to rot.
Hastily, Luna pawed at the red sands around with two hooves, rapidly digging a small trench. With as much gentleness as she could manage with only her blunt hooves to work with, she placed the human’s head inside the hole. It was a gruesome thing, the woman’s last expression having been one of surprise and terror. The dark alicorn rapidly filled the hole with sand before turning and hurriedly galloping in between the slowly-closing doors. They sealed shut behind her with an ominous clang.
It was dark inside, but Luna could hardly be called a fit princes of the night if her eyes weren’t able to easily compensate for low-light conditions. Even now, without magic to help her see, her blue eyes adjusted almost immediately. The barely-lit room around was in fact a long corridor, with numerous smaller doors and hallways branching off in all directions. Straight ahead, however, was where everyone else was going, and so that is where Luna went as well.
The hallway was long, metallic, and dark, lit only by thin strips of white affixed to the ceiling every twenty feet or so. Luna could not see Cia from where she stood, but the rearmost of her fellow students were clear enough. Four legs and no magic might have denied her much manual dexterity, but they did enable her to catch up with the others very quickly.
Princess Luna filed in behind the others to a much larger room with better lighting. As the others spread out before her to get a better look at what was ahead of them, a few of them muttering to one another in the process, Luna was able to force her way through the others to get a view more befitting royalty. Before them, on a slightly elevated platform built into one of the walls a crude stage, Inquisitor Cia stood motionless, hands still behind her back. And beside her…
Luna’s heart skipped a beat as she recognized the red-eyed droids.
MagnaGuards! Soldiers of the Confederacy of Independent Systems! Personal bodyguards to the likes of the loathsome cyborg General Grievous! They had been among the many droids to participate in the destruction of Canterlot, and Luna found bile rising in her throat to see them here. But what, her logical mind asked, would Separatist machines be doing in a facility of the Galactic Empire?
As if waiting for a cue, Cia raised a hand and conversation once again instantly ceased.
“Welcome to first formal gathering of the latest class of Imperial Academy of Korriban,” she said, her voice booming easily through the auditorium. “As you have no doubt noticed, there are droids on the stage with me.”
A fresh round of whispered speculation was exchanged in the brief pause before the Inquisitor silenced everyone with another wave of her gloved hand.
“For this particular course, I will be your one and only teacher. As such, I have acquired a considerable amount of confiscated Separatist war material from Imperial warehouses. They will be serving as teaching aides, curfew enforcers, and performing general base maintenance. I find that they are a general improvement on living staff on Korriban. They are much less likely to be possessed or driven mad by voices in their heads,” Cia paused to allow that to sink in. “You will be seeing a good deal of them, I suggest you grow accustomed to it. Any of you who suffered at hands of similar machines during the Clone Wars are advised to take that pain and turn it into hatred, and allow that hatred to fuel your power. You will have your chance to exact a measure of revenge on them… if you are strong enough.”
“Soon enough, that will not be a problem, wench,” Luna thought, already relishing the idea of scrapping the machines and cutting down the Chiss who led them. She would learn what this woman had to teach, and once her power was restored…
Well, she’d just have to see, wouldn’t she?
“Now,” the Inquisitor continued. “We shall begin your training with the most basic of exercises: meditation. Take a seat. Close your eyes. Tune out all distraction. Focus on what inside of you. Seek out the darkness within you. Find your pain, your rage, your envy, your hate. For now, I simply want you to bring it to the front of your mind and hold it there.”
Inquisitor Cia looked around, her already-luminescent eyes seeming to blaze. Luna and a few others were getting to their knees, sitting, or otherwise lowering themselves to the floor, but some had yet to do so.
“Well, what are you waiting for?!” she barked. “Get started!”
“Yes, captain,” Princess Celestia was saying to an armored pegasus stallion. “Please, see them in. Make certain they are comfortable while they await my arrival.”
“Yes, your majesty,” Captain August Wings of the Royal Guard saluted crisply. Turning, he exited the villa study that Celestia called her own, shutting the door behind him.
Sighing, the solar alicorn turned back to her composition. It was a formal petition to no less a figure than Emperor Palpatine himself for the immediate release and return of Princess Luna and their stolen subjects. She had tried to contact the galaxy’s reclusive monarch by hologram, but had been met with an impenetrable stone wall of bureaucracy. At length, her persistence had drawn the intervention of Grand Vizier and head of the Imperial Ruling Council Mas Amedda. The blue-skined, horned Chagrian male had gruffly informed her that if she wished to petition the Emperor, she must do it through proper channels.
Celestia had little hope that her plea for her sister’s liberation would get anywhere. Nonetheless, every potential means of freeing Lulu from… wherever she was had to be at least attempted. The alicorn had drawn on her centuries of diplomatic practice to make the petition sound respectful and humble without seeming sycophantic. The result was, she hoped, a moving plea from a subject to a ruler for help.
Still, she doubted it would get anywhere.
But she had to try.
Celestia read over her petition for a final time and, with another weary sigh, sealed it. A golden glow enveloped her work, sending it away to be sent to the Emperor as soon as she was through with this next piece of personal business. The ruler of Equestria got to all four hooves, stretched her stiff wings, and then gently trotted out of her study, past the saluting guards, and down the hallway. She stopped before a particular set of double doors, steadied her composure, and then walked in.
Instantly, the five ponies seated or standing about the guest room halted what they were doing, turning their immediate attention to the princess of the sun. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack watched closely as Celestia stepped inside, the doors magically sealing themselves shut behind her. The solar alicorn invoked a brief spell to shield the room from prying eyes or vigilant ears, a practice that had become necessary since the rumored arrival of personnel from the Imperial Security Bureau – the feared secret police of the Empire – to Equus. Their technological toys, Celestia had heard, could be anywhere.
“Princess Celestia!” Rainbow Dash, the brash mare she had ever been, was the first to speak up, getting almost directly in her majesty’s face. “What gives?! Twilight came knocking in the night, said she had something real important to do, and then just- mmph!”
Rarity and Applejack were on their friend quickly, before she say any more. The unicorn and earth pony together pulled the squirming a few feet back, giving Celestia a bit of space.
“Now now, Rainbow dear,” Rarity soothed as best she could. “I’m sure Twilight had a very good reason for what she did.”
“And ah’m sure,” Applejack cut in. “The Princess Celestia is goin’ ta give us the low down on this whole thing,” she looked up at the alicorn. “Ain’t ya?”
“Very perceptive, both of you,” the alicorn complimented. “And you can let your friend go, I assure you that I don’t mind.”
Both ponies released Rainbow Dash right on cue, who glared balefully at the two but sat herself against one of the room’s couches and sullenly awaited an explanation.
“Now,” said Celestia once she had everypony’s undivided attention again. “Yes, Princess Twilight left you with only hurried goodbyes. The reason she declined to provide an explanation on the spot,” she paused momentarily. “Is because we feared that the news might get out by chance or accident. I invited you all here because you are the heroes of Equestria and you have all earned my greatest faith a dozen times over. But not everypony that might have been around you is so trustworthy.”
Immediately, there were objections.
“Now don’t y’all go insultin’ ma family, now, ya hear?”
“You think I would associate myself with loose-lipped gossips?”
“I don’t squeal on my friends!”
“My animal friends… they can keep a secret…”
“I Pinkie Promise I wouldn’t tell a soul!”
Celestia raised a hoof for silence, and after a moment got it.
“I do apologize for any emotional distress this has caused you, my little ponies,” she said. “But you must understand: the circumstances Princess Twilight found herself necessitated the utmost of secrecy. It was vital that news not leak. You are all utterly trustworthy, but I cannot completely say the same about anypony that might have found out by accident. So, before we gone, I want all your words’ that none of what I’m about to tell you will ever leave this room.”
After the alicorn had received a due chorus of assent, she continued.
“Twilight Sparkle has left Equestria along with Spike,” Celestia told them. “In fact, she has left our planet altogether.”
“W-Why?” asked Fluttershy.
“Because, my little ponies, we do not wish to remain subjects of the Galactic Empire forever.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” grumbled Rainbow, with a baleful glance out the window towards the Imperial Hub.
“But we cannot hope to break their grip on Equus on our own. For that, we will need… new friends. Twilight has gone to seek them among the stars.”
“Then why didn’t she take us?!” Pinkie asked. “We’re great at making friends! I’ve got so many pony friends that sometimes-”
“She didn’t,” Celestia interrupted. “For a number of reasons. First of all, because excusing the absence of her and Spike alone will be difficult. The Empire may not care much for us, but eventually somepony is going to start wondering where our fourth princess has gone. For all six of you very prominent mares and Spike to vanish at the same time would be extremely suspicious. I have a series of destinations that should buy her some time, but if this mission takes as long as I think it might, I will eventually be announcing her untimely death.”
There were a series of gasps and fervent denials at that.
“It would be a heavy blow to the ponies of Equestria, but if she must be thought dead in order to have time to succeed, then Twilight understands. I know how hard this would be to you in particular, which is part of the reason I tell you here and now what is going on. Now, the second reason she did not take you along is that in order to leave the planet, Twilight has disguised herself as a human. She has experience in such a body and has studied their culture extensively, which will help her maintain her guise. None of you have comparable experience or knowledge. You would be much easier to pick out. Thirdly, disguising you would be very taxing on her magic. Species transformation spells are not easy to cast, much less maintain for prolonged periods. She would be forced to spend much of her energy just to prevent you from reverting in your sleep or the like. The fourth reason that she did not ask you to join her is that she believes that the false identity she set up in order to secure passage off-planet will be discovered eventually. She thinks six false identities would be sniffed out much faster than one. By leaving with only Spike, she gives herself more time to slip away before the Empire notices something out of place.”
Celestia chose to give the five ponies a moment to contemplate what she’d told them before giving her former’s student’s final reason.
“And lastly, Twilight Sparkle knows that you have your own lives here. Picking up the pieces of shattered homes and slain loved ones even as some of you begin to start families of your own has not been easy on any of you. She believes that you have sacrificed enough for the nation, and that you should remain behind and continue with your lives.”
“That isn’t her decision to make!” protested Rainbow Dash.
“Actually, Rainbow, I’m afraid it is,” Celestia looked weary. “She is a princess, and the original proponent of the mission. It was up to her who came along.”
There was momentary silence as everypony processed exactly what kind of task their friend was taking on without them, and why she had opted to do so.
One pony eventually spoke up again. “Uh, princess?”
“Yes Applejack?”
“Ah don’t mean ta sound rude or nothin’,” the orange earth pony scratched the back of her head. “But why ain’t Twi here tellin’ us this herself?”
“A very good question, my little pony. One I also asked her. She told me that the answer was that she wasn’t sure if she could emotionally take the experience. She found even briefly saying goodbye very taxing on her resolve to go through with this. She was not sure if she could bring herself to leave, knowing that it might be the last time you all ever saw each other.”
“So T-Twilight,” Fluttershy squeaked. “Might n-never come back?”
“As much as I hate to contemplate the possibility,” Celestia answered, sounding grave. “There can be no certainties in this task.”
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Going mad by voices? Is Luna going to end up having a conversation with the Sith of the Past? Like Naga Sadow or Ajunta Pall?
good, goooooood Snake Staff. Now kill him. Do it.
wac.9ebf.edgecastcdn.net/809EBF/ec-origin.philly.barstoolsports.com/files/2014/01/SHES-GONNA-DIE.jpg
I sense Luna will, sooner or later, have a Chiss woman as main course and Magnaguards as sides... Metaphorically speaking.
About the unicorns taken by the Inquisitor, where they sent elsewhere in another transport? I'm curious, seeing they aren't in Luna's group.
if Celestia thinks the Emperor will hear her about Luna and the aforementioned unicorns, no doubt she'll find to be gravely mistaken.
I am quite curious to see which planet will be Twilight and Spike's next stop.
5653715
Twi'll be back!
This shit is getting serious. I mean, it already got serious three chapters ago but now it's getting even better!
This chapter was great. Luna's training under the Inquisitor is fascinating to read, and the back-and-forth between locations you have going really works well.
Oh, God.
I do hope we can see some glimpses of hope from them
The first chapter to not have "A New" motiff. An interesting one at that. I feel like the Chiss woman was made an absolute bitch so her death will be a reward for us readers.
I kinda really want to see Luna embrace the dark side, but I also want her to get revenge on the Empire, I don't see how she could accomplish those two together...
Who want's to bet that when Celestia and Luna finally meet again. It will end as badly as it did for Ulic and Cay Qel-Droma on Ossus.
Regarding Inquistor Cia, I would protest that the Chiss weren't really a known thing at this point in the galactic timeline, considering that Thrawn hasn't even been located by that Star Destroyer yet, but I'm sure the author has a very good and not at all half-assed explanation for it. Don't disappoint, k?
5654898
The Chiss Ascendency fought on the side of the Sith Empire in the Great Galactic War, thousands of years earlier. They're reclusive and isolationist, not totally divorced from galactic events. They're even available during this time period as a playable species in Fantasy Flight Games' roleplaying game Edge of the Empire, though the specific individuals are generally noted to be rogues or those infected with wanderlust.
As to Cia specifically, her backstory isn't that great a secret: she was exiled from the Ascendency for falling to the dark side and killing someone in a moment of rage. The Inquisitorius found her not long afterwards, for which you can thank the dark side of the Force.
5654898 If you read the book Outbound Flight, you'd find that Thrawn came to Sidious' attention just before, or early in, the Clone Wars (I can't quite remember which). As such, a highly-connected organisation like the Inquisitorius could feasibly have knowledge of the Chiss Ascendancy.
5653669 Maybe even Darth Nox, The Emperor's Wrath, or even Revan himself.
My least expected would be Xalek.
5654979 See? Like I said, you had an explanation that wasn't half-assed!
5655091 I suppose Palpatine would probably inform the Inquisitorius of the Chiss, but the Emperor's Hands didn't even know the name of his species, so I find it doubtful. But then again, Hands are quite a few ranks below the Inquisitorius.
assent
Another awesome chapter, nicely done so far dude! :D
your icon rules... again BTdubs.
Diggidy damn doo, Luna be getting... schooled...
:P
Awesome! :D