4: Sirens and The Dragon
Sonata and her sisters had managed to make it into the main command building of the colony, more a one-story bunker really, and locked the entire thing down before they managed to catch their breath.
Before the youngest of the Dazzling’s could begin to fathom what had happened or what was going on outside, Aria began shouting at Adagio.
“What the hell was that!?”
Adagio was still rubbing her throat from where the strange man had lifted them and scowled, “I don’t know Aria!” she turned and began rummaging around the command center, “Humans don’t have magic, or at least the ones on this colony didn’t, so why did this one?”
Aria knew Adagio was correct and sighed, “What are you looking for?”
“That walking tin can told me that the previous colonists had contacted him,” she began fiddling with the holoprojector, “I remember using my magic to force the old captain to contact someone to get us off this rock, but I never ordered him to get someone like this!” the projector came to life and Adagio filtered through the different messages sent and received until the date she was looking for came up and she gave the computer the command to play.
A hologram of a man in his mid-sixties appeared before the three sirens and his message began, “To any Imperials who receive this report,” he looked around the room before continuing “There is a disturbance on the colony, some of the civilians are waking up with gaps in their memory, while members of the militia we brought to defend against the local wildlife have been acting more aggressive when policing the colony.”
He once again let his eyes roam the room before continuing, “But now, I believe this to be the work of a rogue Jedi hiding among us.” He smirked, “one of the colonists has asked that I call for a ship to evacuate, but I won’t do that, I refuse to fail the Empire that way. Instead, I request that some reinforcements be sent to root out this Jedi before he damages our colony any further.”
With that, the transmit icon cut out, leaving Sonata confused, Aria annoyed, and Adagio furious.
“He kind of did what you asked…” Sonata started before trailing off as both Aria and Adagio glared at her.
“He betrayed us, and if he hadn’t died to that jungle flu I’d have killed him myself!” Adagio growled before going to the weapons locker and taking out two blaster pistols. She threw one to Aria and kept the other before turning to the security feed.
“What are these for?” Aria questioned, fiddling with the blaster while Adagio tried to get the security screen to turn on.
Adagio didn’t turn to face either of them, “A precaution. If he gets past the colonists we’re going to have to handle him ourselves.”
Despite the situation, Sonata couldn’t withhold a laugh at that, “Like he’s going to get past all of them! We sent like, everyone after him!”
Adagio didn’t get the chance to respond, because the moment she began the security system booted up and, while she couldn’t get the video feed to work, she did manage to get the audio, though she sorely wished she hadn’t.
One of the quirks of the Dazzlings’ magic was that the more often a person’s mind was dominated by them, the longer said domination would last.
The length of the domination was also affected by multiple other factors. In ideal situations, Adagio or Aria could maintain constant control of the colonists if they took the time to maintain the mental connection.
This required slight, but constant concentration from one of them. When the dark man outside had tried to kill them, Adagio’s concentration broke, but luckily Aria managed to hold onto hers long enough to call for help from their minions.
Said concentration snapped the moment they had fled though.
When the audio feed opened to the three, they at first couldn’t make out anything other than constant blaster fire and a few muted screams. Then the sound of blasters stopped as one of the colonists called for a cease-fire.
The Dazzling’s hopes soared! They didn’t have to worry about that strange man coming after them after all and, as a bonus, they would finally be able to leave this world with his ship!
Their celebration was killed before it could even begin though, as one of the colonist’s voices could be heard through the receiver.
“What the Hell is going on?! Why aren’t you all at your posts?!” a deep voice crackled through the security audio.
“S-sir, is that…?”
“Oh…Oh, Lord Vader, we weren’t alerted to your- No, wait! What are you-!?” that same deep voice was then cut down by the sound of the laser sword.
“W-what's going on!” a voice screamed, followed by another exclaiming
“Who cares? He’s trying to kill us! Open fire!” With that, the blaster fire began with renewed vigor and Adagio cut the feed.
The eldest siren turned to her two sisters and observed their reactions, all the while trying to formulate an escape plan.
Aria, on the surface, seemed unfazed by the wholesale slaughter going on outside, but anyone who knew her could tell that she was bothered. Her eyes were locked firmly on the door, and her index finger was tapping a nervous beat on the side of her blaster pistol.
Sonata, on the other hand, was not subtle about how upset she was about the Dazzling’s current situation, she was rocking back and forth on the heels of her boots, her cheeks streaked with tears from what Adagio assumed was fear.
Adagio hated to admit it, but she was terrified too. The entire predicament the three were in wasn’t something they had experienced before. Sure, Star Swirl had hunted them down, but he never tried to kill them with his magic. Honestly, no pony that the Sirens knew of had ever tried to do such a thing.
Adagio’s thoughts were cut short when Sonata suddenly screamed, “DAGI, STOP! I DON’T WANT TO HEAR THE SCREAMING PEOPLE ANYMORE!”
Adagio looked over at the scared girl, confusion and slight annoyance written on her face, “Sonata, what are you talking about? I shut the feed off.” She looked to Aria for support but instead, all she received was a look of abject horror.
‘No, she isn’t looking at me… she’s looking at the door!” Turning around, Adagio noticed it, the screams that Sonata thought were from the security feed, were coming from the door to the building they were now in.
The noise started with fists banging against the metal door at first, with people begging whoever was locked inside to open the door, to save them. Then those gave way to blaster fire, the colonists desperately using their cheaply made rifles and pistols to try and break through the door.
The screams began shortly after that until all that was left was the deep breathing of that dreaded man and the hum of his weapon creeping its way through the cracks in the door.
‘He can’t get through… the door has bought us some time.’ Turning around, she began giving orders, “Did either of you manage to absorb any of the human’s anguish before they died?” she cared not for the cattle that had just given away the girl’s position, but hopefully they had managed to give them a much-needed boost in power.
Seeing Aria nod was a relief, seeing Sonata shake her head wasn’t surprising, but was disconcerting.
“Alright, well, with the amount of negative emotions we’ve drained, that added boost between Adagio and I should be enough to handle this guy…” she inhaled softly, her gem glowing as she did so before she exhaled. “Once we handle him it’ll be easy pickings, ladies. Perk up and let’s get ready to get rid of this freak!”
Aria smirked a little at Adagio’s pep talk, “Yea, he probably tired himself out dealing with all the cannon fodder anyway.”
Sonata didn’t say anything, she merely stood up and wiped her eyes clear of tears before nodding to Adagio.
“Right, from what I remember, our song stunned…” Adagio began, but her plan was interrupted by a sudden groaning reverberating through the entire building.
All three of them turned to the source of the noise, the door in front of them, only to see it slowly being dented and crushed until it was finally ripped from its track and tossed aside.
No longer blocked by the door, the hum of the dark man’s blade and the rasp of his breathing echoed freely throughout the room, and the field behind him was littered with the bodies of the horrified colonists.
“Dagi, what do we do…?” Adagio heard Sonata’s voice, but for once she had no answer.
Darth Vader stepped through the bunker door and looked at the three girls standing before him. He chose to ignore the Ponytailed one trembling in the corner. Her presence in the Force was negligible and she was no threat to him.
The other two though intrigued him. All three had lost significant portions of their power when they tried to control him, and when he retaliated they diminished even further trying to defend themselves from his telekinesis. Now, though, they were near the level they had been when the confrontation started…
Vader weighed his options, these three obviously had some way to grow stronger in the Force. Perhaps they stumbled across Nihilius’ Holocron and learned his lost art. Putting that aside, they also had immense talent with Force Dominate, something that even Vader could grudgingly respect.
But could he afford to waste time training such undisciplined, power-hungry fools? He observed all three of them one more time. The one called Adagio Dazzle radiated fear, as she should, but looking deeper she also exuded cunning and a lust for power that would have made her the perfect Rule of Two apprentice… but not one that Vader would want for his plans.
His gaze fell to Aria Blaze, her lithe frame shaking in terror, waiting for him to strike. She would not do either, she was filled with anger and hatred for him, yes, but she too wanted more than what her station would allow and was thus a liability.
With the two stronger sisters out of the way, he finally let his gaze fall to the mouse in the corner, Sonata Dusk. She was nothing compared to her sisters, her power diminished because of fear and whatever was causing them to lose their powers in the first place. That didn’t dissuade the Sith Lord though, because if her sisters could raise their power in the Force, why couldn’t she? Instead, he let his gaze travel deeper, seeing the true self beneath the scared child.
She was not a good person. Just like her sisters, she had willingly enthralled and sent people to their deaths, something Vader didn’t judge them for. Unlike her sisters though she either did not realize the consequences of her actions or she did but ignored them to try and maintain her innocence.
She felt fear, she felt hatred towards him, but most important for Vader’s long-term goals, unlike her sisters who were ambitious and willing to do anything to get what they wanted, Sonata only wanted what was best for her “family.” And that would be her undoing.
Before Vader could even begin to implement his plans, a shot rang out from inside the room and a stunner round slammed into his shoulder, staggering him but ultimately doing nothing.
“Aria you had it set to stun!” Adagio admonished before she too began to open fire upon the Sith Lord.
Unfortunately for them both, Vader had recovered in time and began to deflect the blaster bolts, retreating outside as he did so.
“Ha! This guy isn’t that tough! Those humans must have just been too weak to handle this big wimp!” Aria began firing her own pistol after fixing its setting, joining Adagio in her pursuit of the fleeing Dark Lord.
Sonata slowly stood up from where she had been crouched and watched as her sisters pursued Vader out the door.
She was about to follow when she heard the deep baritone of the Sith Lord exclaim “All too easy.” Before the blaster fire ceased.
Sonata’s heart stopped and her feet planted themselves to the ground… were Adagio and Aria dead? ‘No, they can’t be! They didn’t scream like the people outside did…’ her train of thought was interrupted once more by that dreaded voice.
“Come out now, or they will suffer the consequences of your cowardice.”
Sonata knew she shouldn’t listen to him… her instincts, the ones left over from when she was still physically a Siren back on Equestria, told her to leave them, that they were weak, and they deserve the death they were being given. It told her to sneak out the back door and ignore the evil man, leaving the two fools to their fate.
The Sister in her though, the one that loved Adagio and Aria unconditionally, told her to save her sisters, to face down the darkness with as much bravery and power as she could muster.
Inhaling and drawing up whatever smidgen of power she could she walked out the door and nearly felt her courage leave her when she saw her sisters frozen in place, blasters raised and laser bolts still floating in the air mid-shot.
Vader looked at her, his saber now off and hooked back on his belt. “How nice of you to join us, Sonata Dusk.”
“L-let them go!” Sonata barely managed to get out, her legs were shaking, and her hand was pressed to her gem for comfort, but the small amounts of paranoia, dread, fear, and other negative emotions were just feeding into her own like a feedback loop, diminishing the small amounts of power she had managed to draw up.
Observing the girl and seeing how she held her brooch like a security blanket confirmed to Vader that the three’s power had somehow come from those trinkets, which meant he could confiscate them off their corpses if he so desired.
Instead, he asked, “What would you do in return for their safety?”
Sonata didn’t answer, instead, she glanced at her sisters once more before looking back to the dark lord, who merely stood there waiting for her response. When she didn’t give him one, he began to walk over to Aria.
“You hold onto this… trinket like a lifeline,” he used his right hand to turn the gem on Aria’s neck before removing it from its chain, he then did the same to Adagio’s before turning back to a now-ashen Sonata. “What do they do?”
“I… I can’t tell you that!” Sonata shook her head, clutching her gem even tighter now.
“I have ways of making you talk, Sonata Dusk,” He began making his way towards her, “Either tell me what I want to know, or your sisters suffer the consequences.”
Sonata backed up in terror, only to stumble over one of the colonist’s corpses and lose her footing. Falling to the ground, Sonata could only watch as the Dark Lord loomed over her.
“This is your last chance, child,” Vader glared down at her, “What. Do. These. Do?”
Sonata looked over at her sisters one more time, seeing their terrified eyes pleading with her not to tell him anything, so, using the last of her courage she remained silent.
Vader didn’t say anything for a moment before his saber flew to his hands and ignited once more.
‘This is it… he’s going to kill me’ Sonata thought, trying to close her eyes, but her body wouldn’t let her. Instead, she kept looking at the dark man above her and waited for the swing that would end her life.
To her dismay though, he did something that was even worse, at least in her opinion.
With his free hand, he tossed the two gems into the air and suddenly, as quick as lightning, cleaved them in half with his blade, destroying them.
“NO!” Sonata tried to get up and catch the falling remains of her sister’s lifelines, but instead, she felt a sudden pain in her back, before everything began to fade.
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Poor Sonata the magic backlash is not going to be fun for her.
There's always a bigger fish.
Come to think of it, who is stronger of two: Vader of Nihilus?
My 1st thought was Nihilus but really I have no idea
Sonata, the Sith. Sounds unique.
I guess we all called that Sonata would survive but damn did that hurt. She just had to watch as her sisters died. Then again this could come back and bite Vader as Sunset could get her to turn for the right reasons. Also I see you are using TFA timeline more then the Legends canon.
9697175
I'm mixing both
9697130
Naturally? Vader
9697130
Depends on your definition of power. Vader is extremely powerful with his only real weakness being electrical attacks and Luke. On the surface, Nihilius could easily be considered more powerful than Vader. However, he has little control over his draining ability. He can’t stop ( but it literal or lacks the willpower) himself from draining his subordinates, only slow it down.
He would inevitably lead to the death of all life if not destroyed. Even Sidious knows it is better to rule than to destroy. The power to destroy or drain lasts only as long as there is anything left to drain. Ruling over a living galaxy allows power to last until the end of stars.
In that respect... Vader is more powerful, but Nihilius is more destructive.
9697200
9697130
Yeah, Nihilus was ultimately little more than a walking wound in the Force, eating everything around him. He is technically stronger in that respect, but he barely has any will left, just a never-ending hunger. That would (probably?) make Vader more dangerous.
And then there's the Sith Emperor...
9697154
No it's: Sonata "Starkiller" Dusk
9697200
Vader is the force controlled, Nihilus is the force unleashed. When Nihilus was able to control is force output, he could devour entire planets, but that required significant concentration, and because it continued to add to his power, it made it that much harder to control. It's why he never did any of that 'world devouring' stuff during his fight, he couldn't control it. So if Vader can get to him, then Nihilus is screwed. Nihilus just can't control his power. Vader is the opposite. His armor, his weapons, and his training make him nearly unstoppable. Unless Nihilus got the drop on him (which is certainly possible given the fact that Nihilus was a wound in the force), Vader would come out on top.
9697217
well we've all seen the immeasurable power a force wound posses, literaly the power to wipe out all life in an instant.
which emporer? there's been several and many more powerful and successful then palp.
9697265
Palpatine is the most successful sith emperor in galactic history.
He's the only one to actually achieve the two goals the sith always had
1. Kill the jedi
2. Rule the galaxy
9697265
Vitiate or whatever he's calling himself these days? Guy from the MMO.
Jesus Christ, this was so fucking dark... I felt really uncomfortable reading this...
9697274
palpatine was good at exactly one thing, playing the long game.
his rule as a sith emporer was one of the shortest on record and in the time he did rule where other sith emperors actually rule he drove his empire to near bankruptcy and starvation, he equipped his troops with inferior armor and weapons and cut all corners imaginable to keep the appearance of his supposed success.
canonically the jedi he failed to kill is actually much larger then expected as there are where jedi outposts across the outer rim who went dark when order 66 happened that didn't have a clone presence.
the plan he used was his masters plan, the master he attempted to kill and in the expanded universe failed outright.
we've seen sith emporers who have taken over the galaxy and ruled it sucessfully for a decade, yes they where resisted but they still held power. we've seen sith emorpers who tore the jedi apart from within and we've seen a couple sith emporers who actualy gained a workable form of immortality.
palps a dissapointment not a example.
9697296
Then my goal for this chapter has been met
9697299
You evil bastard... I wanna give Sonata hug so badly, I felt like crying with her...
9693172
Sorry, you're gonna have to point me in the direction of the comic/novel which states this.
9693172
Not to mention that by this point, Yoda likely had some years to reflect on what went wrong, particularly with guidance from the force ghost of Qui-Gon Jinn.
9697298
I think it depends on what the author is taking as canon for this story. Movie canon Palpatine would definitely be at the top. EU things get a lot murkier.
9697414
The way i interpret it. Is p
Force power wise Palpatine is number 1 but he is a basic Sith Lord. He is insanely powerful in all of the basic sith force abilities and maybe a few lesser known ones but he neglected things like Sith alchemy or magics. So he is more powerful than say Vitiate but is less skilled.
Can we get back to Sunset?
9697420
Next chapter patience this is needed for the overarking plot of the entire story
If I read that right Aria and Adagio are still alive, just stans gems. So they would, so long as the shattering of the gem was all the elements did, be fine, just magicless.
Though it is possible they will now starve to death.
They might still be force users, Sunset's presence in the Force is seemingly sperate from her magic after all. So while Sonata would be the strongest, and her rage in the Dark Side ever more so, the other two could well gain true Dark side power as well.
9697175
Im borrowing from the force awakens power wise because Kylo freezing someone was the only cool thing he did
Man, this really chilled my bones. The Dazzlings basically see other humans as mere cattle. They could be really scary if they fought for the Sith.
9697461
Good to know i succeeded in one of my goals for this chapter!
I suppose this is what happens when the unprepared face Darth Vader...
9697482
I had way to much fun writing Vader
9697483
And they can't even complain: they're still alive and whole.
9697421
I am pretty sure this will end up as another unfinished story with next to no real plot and will be droped after next 5 chapters or so
I will be glad if I am wrong but I've seen it happened with those types of stories all the time
but you are the author so this is ultimatly your decision what to focus on in the story
the first two chapters ware good (not great but good enoght) but I am not all thet interested in the Sirens since they seemed kinda dry in this story like there wasn't any real emotion behind them until the very end , and Vader would not this merciful to someone who he KNOWS was trying to control him
For me the selling point of a fanfic is character interaction and so far it was honestly kinda dry , I like the concept but I dubt I see it develop into anything if the characters just do the plot thing because the plot thing needs to be done
I will keep folowing this fanfic and I will hope it will improve but I am not getting my hopes up just yet , afterall most Sunset fics just end after 10 chapters or so (some don't even reach 5)
Again I am not trying to dicurage you and I wisch you luck
9697523
And what did I say? The very last made before they switched to Imperial II.
9697530
Again for the sake of the story this is a different devastator than the one Vader would later get. Its the same name different ship i used the name devastator because i could not think of a good ship name for vader
Ooh, damn! That's not gonna be good for Sonata. You did a really good job with the dread and terror Vader emanates.
9697526
Vader is being merciful because he found something in Sonata that he CAN use.
Again this is important for the overarking plot of the story as a whole.
Would it be better for us to follow Sunset, have her leave dagobah and suddenly meet the dazzlings for no reason at all and have readers suddenly be like...wtf howd they get here?
Taking two chapters to step away from something isn't a bad thing star wars does it all the time.
9697547
Thx! I had alot of fun writing him
9697542
Starfleet and the US Navy reuse the name "Enterprise" amongst others, so it makes perfect sense that the Imperial Navy would too.
9697571
Honestly that was my reasoning.
9697419
doesn't mean he was the smartest sith lord.
I'm actually concerned that their crystals were destroyed pretty much right out of the gate. What made them such meaningful villains in Rainbow Rocks was the battle of bands, when they had their Crowning Moment of Awesome. At that moment, the heroines realized that unless they somehow got their act together, the Sirens were going to win. That kind of moment gels their threat into something that really grips the audience and makes their loss of power so much more significant.
Consider, what if their power worked over communication systems, and they sang on the Holonet? Imagine how much damage they could wreak across the galaxy without even half trying? That would make them the threat they were portrayed as in the movie, and justify what happens.
But by destroying their crystals right at the beginning, you've essentially turned them into a trio of bitchy schoolgirls, who can't live up to their star billing. I'm worried that this was done too soon. It robs them of their threat potential.
9697627
Didnt say he was he benefited from 1000 years of sith planning
9697628
Sonata still has her crystal
9697628
Also their crystals increased their magical (and by proxy power in the Force.) But they are still force sensative and whos to say they won't learn more ways to drain energy in the future
I really like this chapter, and the story overall. I got nervous at this part, part of me scared that you'd kill The Dazzlings but mostly Adagio so soon. Still, you crippled them essentially, and I really like the trio as a triple threat.
Sorry, I like bad guys and those baddies are underused in my opinion. Especially Dagi.
9697931
One of the things that alot of people aren't getting from what i can see is that the dazzlings were never meant to be the bad guys in this story.
Also that not everything has been revealed yet either
9697957
I didn't mean that they were, just that they're generally bad guys. They're technically bad guys right now, even. I just said that I hope that you don't kill off Sonata's sisters too early... y'know, under utilize characters. I don't know how you write, but I've read a lotta fics that would've killed the Dazzlings very early for whatever reason. And no matter what, I look forward to whatever you write.
9697995
Ah no worries whatever happens will happen
I like we’re this is going
I'm surprised Vader went straight for breaking the gems, since he seemed interested in using them, but on the other hand irrational behavior is kind of expected.
9697550
If we're going to switch back to Sunset until that point, then it might have been better to keep focus on her and have flashbacks later, but if we're switching perspectives more often, then this might be exactly where in the story to have these chapters. It also depends how linear versus nonlinear you prefer to have the narrative. However, you're the one who knows your plan, and it doesn't make a terrible amount of difference anyway. Some people will be disappointed to have less Sunset Shimmer now, since she is the main draw of the story description and art, but once more chapters are up it will matter far less. I'm itching to see more of her perspective as well, but the Dazzlings are cool too. They have room for interpretation, and it's always fun to see what different people come up with.
Anyway, thanks if you read all that and thanks for the story regardless. I'm enjoying it.
9698241
He let Sonata keep her gem. I should go back and word the scene better