Star Wars: Power of the Dark Side

Star Wars: Power of the Dark Side
Chapter IX: An End of Innocence

Celestia leaned against her hoof to her right, her other incessantly tapping the arm of her throne. Celestia released a sigh of contended boredom, one of her least favorite parts of being one of the rulers of Equestria. Her head unmoving, but her eyes glanced over the Halls of the Sun.

The columns held the ceiling of solid stone, columns made of granite and accented in gold. The floors polished stone that reflected everything above it, being able to see the well painted and decorated scene on the dome ceiling. It was a picture of Celestia and Luna, it was an artist's interpretation of the Battle of the Sun and Moon. That dreaded night when her dear sister had fallen from her place as a loved princess, to a fearful tyrant. The night that the well thought of castle that was meant to keep out all outsiders, was destroyed from the inside.

Celestia was glad that the artist knew nothing of the actual event, the less the public knew about it the better. She glanced quickly over the well decorated tapestries and the beautiful stained glass windows that shaped the lighting of the room. She moved a hoof through her mane as she thought of her well put up wall to the rest of Equestria against what will utterly split her ponies further.

No pony rose against her yet, but she has heard the whispers. She has heard the rumors of her and her sister. Her sister's rumors being that Nightmare Moon never left and she is merely lying dormant in Princess Luna. Or that, she would return to her envious ways. Either way, more ponies were fearful of their princess of the night than love her.

The rumor that s spreading about Celestia is possibly the darkest one that she had ever heard in her life. There are some who believe that Celestia enjoyed Luna's banishment and believe two things. One, they believe that Celestia is plotting a way to set it up so that she will send Luna back to the moon. The second, and the most disturbing one, is that Celestia is planning an assassination of Princess Luna and blaming it on a noble family of Canterlot. Celestia shook at the thought, her hoof quivering for a mere second as images flashed in her mind the horror of Celestia standing over the lifeless form of her sister, blood dripping from a freshly stained knife.

Why her ponies would ever think of such a thing is beyond Celestia, she had thought that she created a land that was filled with peaceful ponies. She had thought that all those that held strife in their hearts from centuries before were all but gone. Generations gone. Celestia pressed her head on her hoof and thought about everything she had set up. And now this. Now this...

The golden doors opened and warranted Celestia's attention up, squaring her shoulders and fixing her slouch. Royalty never slouched, as her mother had once taught her. She prayed to the stars that it was a simple matter that she could take care of quickly. A little matter that could have been handled in less than a few minutes. A taxation issue, a property war between nobles, a magical mishap that she could fix. Her hopeful face slowly crawled into an unamused emotionless expression, at the mere sight of those that entered.

First entering was Moonshadow, Luna's personal student and protege. But not like normal, not like Twilight Sparkle or Sunset Shimmer. No, she was her Padawan of the Harmony Knights. Well, know she was a fully fledged knight. She held a double bladed lightsaber at her side, sheathed and of a simple yet elegant design. It was a glistening mixture of gold and mainly silver. Celestia clenched her teeth at the sight. Moonshadow was a small and well muscled mare for somepony of her age, no older than Twilight herself. She wore a light colored tunic, and her armor over the cloth garb of the Harmony Knights. Light and allowed her more mobility in combat. She always preferred the light crafted barding of the Night Guard than the Solar Guard.

The two guards next on either side of her looked to their princess. Celestia merely nodded her head and waved her hoof. The guards then bowed and left the room, their barding clanking as they passed the student of the night.

Moonshadow's voice was somewhat deeper than a normal mare and it projected loudly around the circular room, "Master Solinara, I fear the worst has come to our attention, I am afraid-"

"The holocron was found," Celestia gave a half nod, her voice holding no emotion and yet still carried its motherly tone, "One of my court mages already informed me."

Celestia dropped her hoof and dictated in a warm tone, "And I am not Solinara. Not anymore any ways."

Celestia stood up and crossed her hooves, stretching her large wings as she stood. She kept her full attention on the knight and inwardly disapproved. Why her sister clung to such a uniform and forgotten way of teaching morales was beyond Celestia. Yet, so far it had proven better than what Celestia had employed. The mare breathed calmly despite the news and Celestia commended ehr on that, normally any other pony would have not held their head.

Celestia stood on her hind legs, increasing her height significantly, she said, looking down from her elevated deus, "It would appear that those few survivors of the Sith know this too. I have already ordered my Sky Sentinels to take care of them."

Moonshadow, unflinching, commented, "It would appear that you missed a few then."

Celestia smiled, "You share your master's sense of humor..."

Celestia let her last thoughts to wander away as she began making her descent closer to Moonshadow. Going back to all fours, her hoofsteps light and careful. Each hoofstep echoing closer to the young knight. Still calm despite her feelings, Celestia switched quickly over to the powerful amounts of Force that she carried. She might be a Harmony Knight but she was more in tune with her emotions than most. She could feel the under toe of her suppressed anger. Not anger at the Sith, anger directed towards Celestia.

Reaching the bottom steps she was a few feet away from Moonshadow, her stance shifting slightly. Celestia finished her statement, "I left her alive because she had a different destiny, I saw it."

Moonshadow retorted, "You saw that, yet you could not see this happen?"

Celestia quoted a close friend of hers, "Time is a fickle thing, Moonshadow, time is not set in stone. You might be able to affect what can happen, but you can never stop it from happening."

Moonshadow gave no clear reaction to her quotation and through the Force she could feel no shift of emotion, except for her anger subsiding by a sliver. Moonshadow swallowed hard, "We have to do something."

Celestia sighed and turned her attention at the doors, "I know...and action will be made against these upstarts. I have already moved the pawns, now it is time to ready the knights."

Entering were two pairs of hoofs. One of them belonging to her dear sister, the sound of her meticulously careful hooves hitting the ground was unmistakable. Joining her, however, was none other than Rarity. But they were both dressed accordingly to the orders they served. Rarity wearing elegant silks, despite it supposed to take the look of simple tattered cloth. Gold flower accents around the garment and her brown Jedi robe over. Her mane and tail done up in their original style. And her lightsaber, a curved hilt and intricately designed with inlays of elegant designs.

Her sister wore similar robes but made of a cheaper material, with darker colors. Her lightsaber strapped to her belt, a simpler design, yet it took the shape of a cross. The two edges on the side making a guard, making the lightsaber like a claymore. Her mane done up in a ponytail similar to Moonshadow's though it still fluttered in the wind.

Celestia swallowed hard as they joined next to Moonshadow, she was not going to like the sound of this. There was silence when they joined next to Moonshadow, each second stretching out and reaching eternity. The air was colder than usual and the sun dimming, likely from clouds moving over the sun. Celestia was not eager to decide what they should do, she looked at her sister who carried great tension and anxiety on her shoulders. Celestia knew how she felt about war and strife, and did not like it.

Rarity, or as her name is Master Adamas now, broke the silence, "We have to do something. We can't just wait here for the Sith to gain a head start."

Lunara added, "And yet what choice do we have? We can't just go storming in assuming that this holder of the holocron has ill intentions."

Adamas shrugged, "While I agree, it is still a weapon against Equestria. We have seen too many like these in the past and it must be destroyed."

Celestia clenched her teeth briefly, "With that logic, should I have destroyed the Elements of Harmony?"

Adamas looked over and shook her head, seeing that it had offended Celestia in some way, "Solinara, I am sorry please forgi-"

"I am not," Celestia angrily barked, her connection with the Force getting stronger, causing her unable to switch back to her magic. She pressed a hoof to the bridge of her muzzle, "Solinara anymore."

Already she could feel the memories she suppressed so hard, started flooding back. Her carefully built wall was now falling and she would soon feel the effects of the Force and how it held a very close connection to the Force. Darker and darker she felt, her connection growing stronger. She resisted with all of her will to the connection making it grow further, her teeth clenching hard on her tongue. She felt iron in her mouth as Lunara defended her, "The Elements of Harmony are different. They can be only used by the pure of heart and the specific bearers."

Adamas corrected, "Not necessarily, Sunset Shimmer had stolen Twilight's tiara about a year ago and used it successfully. Sunset was not a bearer."

Her strength failed and her connection to the Force re-established. Her veins calming, releasing her tongue, getting a revelation. She exclaimed, "Twilight...Twilight!"

Lunara shrugged, "What about Twilight?"

Solinara explained, "I can send a letter to Twilight to ask her to look into who might have taken the holocron. Ponyville is not that far from the Everfree Forest, likely it could have been a pony from Ponyville."

Solinara eyed Adamas and Moonshadow, "Leave us, await further orders."

Adamas nodded, Moonshadow simply grunted at the master Jedi. They turned and left the room. Solinara waited until they completely left the room until she closed her eyes and focused using her strong will and her connection to the Force. A gentle breeze rustling her mane and tail. There was no glow from her horn, as she was not using magic.

The floor rumbled underneath her hooves, the ground clinking and thrumming with life. Solinara and Lunara stepped off the seal in the center and watched as a section of the floor rose. A compartment rising high, the memories fully returned and all of the battles she had fought well known and well stored in her mind. She had never truly forgotten and their return marked a distant feeling of melancholy to overtake her.

A little over a thousand years, it was all that she had of her peaceful magical land that had no strife or war since the old Equestrian era. She glanced over at her sister as she said, "I wish that there was another way of solving this."

Solinara moved her gaze over to the fully lifted compartment and she looked on and in slight awe of the sight.

Solinara stepped forward and soaked in the familiar sight. In the compartment was the thin white and black robe with bright gold and silver armor. Barding for the chest, hooves, saddle, and neck. An empty hood and a harness fitting over the chestplate.

The armor reacted to her and in slow movements they levitated down and strapped themselves to her, listening to the Force that was manipulating them in place. Her long white silken robe fluttering as it fit her just as well as it had centuries before. She rolled her shoulders, checking the weight, and the straps. Everything fit surprisingly well.

After everything fit and strapped on, Solinara looked back and the hood cloth wrapped around her shoulders and the spaulders sitting over it, she said, "While the holder of the holocron might not be a Sith, there is still one that cleverly evaded my grasp."

Lunara spoke, ignoring the comment, "What about the public? Will they know about this or will this be kept from them?"

Solinara answered, "We need to keep this from the public as long as possible. If we announce that the Jedi are once again reformed, then it will split the ponies of Equestria. Those that will remain with the Empire, and those that will ally with the Sith. For now, the less they know the better. We need their support if we are to make it out of this."

She turned back to the compartment and behind the armor was the sight that made her heart flutter with pride and remembered glory. There, strapped to a harness was her lightsabers. All six of them.

Their styles all different, ranging from purest of metals to dark and archaic in style. Each one of them besides two, were trophies of her battles with powerful Sith. Their crystals changed with her own personal ones. The two that were originally hers were white and gold metal that were more pristine and untouched by time. She levitated the harness down and strapped it over her armor. The hooked hilts clanked against her armor over her flank. Three on each side. Solinara had forgotten the feeling of them and now she felt complete. Though in her heart, it still pained her that her well made magic society was crumbling. It was only a matter of time before her ponies would split into loyalists of her empire and the Sith.

Solinara commented as she turned, the rumbling returning as the compartment collapsed and became nothing more than the seal on the floor. Lunara reassured her, "It was a worthy try, sister. To try and make something peaceful. A thousand years was not bad for the lifetime of an empire."

She stepped closer to her sister, and Solinara clapped a hoof on Lunara's shoulder and proclaimed choking back a lump in her throat, "I just wish that you could have ruled next to me."

Lunara nodded and the two left the Halls of the Sun. Solinara smirked as she realized something. The Warmaster has returned.

The wind whipped past Koselig as she raced across the plains towards her cabin. While she was not as fast as Rainbow Dash, she could easily outfly these Sentinels. With a little help from the Force, she burst forth and her cottage came into view. There it was, the simple rustic home that she spent her days as Fluttershy. While Koselig was similar to FLuttershy, Koselig was not afraid of anything anymore. Now, nothing could inspire fear into her. She was the alpha predator now. The dark side rose in her pride and she drank deep that emotion, flying faster than she had ever flown before.

She stopped in front of her cottage and looked behind her as she pushed against the wind, her incessant flapping now ceasing. She hovered and turned quickly, heavy breaths bursting from her mouth. Koselig saw them in the distance and they were closing in fast. She thought quickly and looked to Pandora and Lupus who looked at her expectantly.

In between heavy breaths she spoke to them, "Quickly now, to your pack. This is not a fight for you two."

Pandora said in defiance, "No we can fight, we can-"

Lupus interrupted, "Sister, it is foolish. These hoofed ones are too strong for even us. We must flee."

Begrudgingly Pandora nodded and Lupus lead them away. Koselig was relieved, they had no time for arguing. Already Koselig could hear the hum of their lightsabers. Koselig raised her head and releasing a primal and deep roar. It echoed over the plains and found its way past the forest edge. She then turned and faced them.

They came quickly and one came faster than the other, in a quick clash the first thrust towards Koselig. She parried the blow and knocked him slightly off balance. Brandishing her lightpike, she counter struck the second that opened with a thrust as well. A brief burn that singed through his plate bracer, he howled in pain. They quickly recovered from her and they were fast, each of their strikes were well placed and Koselig could barely keep up. She worried that her aid would not come soon, she could keep this up but not for very long.

In a quick blast, Koselig erupted a brief wave of Force that pushed them both back slightly. As they moved to attack again, she spun wildly, lashing out quickly at the Sentinels. They dodged most of her strikes but she grazed the one on her left's hoof and the other received a stab on the shoulder. The first landing blow caused him to reel back in pain.

The second unyieldingly flourished a few quick strikes with their weapon and one of the blows landed and grazed her shoulder. She gasped in pain very briefly, a hot flash rising over her shoulder and causing anger to rise within her. It was small and insignificant but it was there. Using the daze time she felt the blunt end of his lightpike bash against her cheek. The hard blow causing her to fall out of the sky, she landed with a loud thud and grunt escaped her.

She spat blood, some of the inside of her cheek tore and blood ran from the wound. Her bruised face stung with pain and she looked up at the Sentinel that loomed over her, she raised slightly and before she could lift off she saw a large mass tackle the Sentinel to the ground. The growl and roar was all too familiar, Edun and his sleuth. Two of his brown furred brothers burst through the brush and charged quickly on the other Sentinel. Catching him off guard they downed the pegasus with little resistance, one receiving a wound across its heavily fatted and fur shoulder. Blood trickled from the four inch wound. Something Koselig would need to address.

Her gaze turned to Edun who pinned the Sentinel. The pegasus thrashed in fear and found it futile to try and resist the heavy force of the grizzly's strength. His dark black thick fur was a sight for a literal sore eye. She stood and Edun gave her a warm look of recognition and then change to one of harsh fierceness. In his dark blue eyes she knew, she knew what he would ask. She glanced over at the other two younger bears pinning the other down, that one showing more resistance. In Edun's dark blue eyes she knew, she knew what he would ask and she raised a hoof to halt his words, allowing her time to ponder and consider her order. She glanced over at the other two younger bears pinning the other down, that one showing more resistance.

Koselig weighed her options and after dabbing a hoof on her cheek she spoke harshly, "Kill them both."