Star Wars: Power of the Dark Side

Star Wars: Power of the Dark Side
Chapter XX: With Silence Comes Fear

The dull hum of Rarity's lightsaber was enough comfort, however small the feeling was, to have near her. It reminded Vesper that she was not alone, which kept her spirits up. Her constant isolation away from the good ponies of Ponyville had started to weigh on her, driving her mind into dark places of which there is no return. They had to have been traversing the inter workings of the cave for nearly three hours now. Leading down tunnels and twists that all but confused her and threw her off track. To be honest, she was given little information for what she is specifically looking for. All Scorpan, and the notes she had found, told her that it could help her in her fight with Venator. It did not explain what or who it was. Which frustrated Vesper to no end.

Her salvation rested in the care of an artifact she has never seen before and a former Sith with Celestia knows what intentions. However, with all of these facts she kept a level head, because she was with one of her friends. She always felt more confident with her friends. And considering recent events, she could really use somepony she can trust.

The tunnel was damp and eerily in the distance they heard the sound of water dripping into a pool. Monotonously it fell and joined the small puddle of water. The only light being projected was from the lightsaber and the bright aquamarine blade gave little help to the darkness to stave off the shadows. Rarity lead the way slightly, with Vesper resting a hoof on her sword she looked inside herself and calmed her nerves. Accepting and drawing in the raw dark side energy that rested within the cave. She was definitely getting close to whatever it was that would help her. She could feel it.

Round a corner Rarity asked, "Why did you put so much trust into Venator anyways?"

Vesper shrugged, "I don't know...it was the heat of the moment...I didn't think with my head."

Rarity smirked, "That's a first. I cannot imagine you functioning without using your head."

Vesper smirked and exchanged a warm face with Rarity, the slight grin and the casual way that she presented herself made her glow and her beauty projecting even in the lack of light. Rarity added, "I can understand acting on instinct, we all do it, we all make mistakes. It's the mistakes that make us who we are."

She turned her attention back to the cave and commented, "And truly the Sith could have found a better place for their knowledge, this place is filthy."

Vesper chuckled, "I don't think they were thinking about aesthetics when they were hiding their knowledge away."

Rarity scoffed, "Well if I were them, I would find some secluded place in the mountains to put it. Not a dark hole in the side of a mountain. That's just not functional."

They continued on in relative silence, a deep hanging feeling of unspoken tension had risen between them. They were still on opposite sides there is no preventing that. But there was something else, something that she just could not put her hoof on. After twenty minutes of traversing the stone, Rarity chided, "So, how far ahead have you thought about all of this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...when you finish your fight with Venator, what will you do then? I have no doubt that when you finish off Venator you will be a...a Sith."

"I..." Vesper thought, resting her hoof now on the holocron, "I will find the other Kaiburr Crystals. And protect them with my life."

Rarity asked, "I see..."

Vesper shrugged, "What?"

Rarity sheathed her lightsaber and turned, "So when this is all over, we are just going to go back to square one? Where it all began, with leaders fearing themselves and keeping their tails between their legs."

Vesper was surprised and said, "To be honest I agree with you on that, there needs-"

"Change needs to occur," Rarity said with absolute seriousness, "We cannot have the Sith and Jedi at each other's throats anymore. Both sides need to incorporate small teachings of the other side to know that they are allies and not enemies."

Rarity shook her head, "But we have leaders that not only fear the dark side but they fear themselves as well."

Rarity looked dead in Vesper's eyes and said, "Change. Needs to. Happen. Starting with a change in leadership. And you can implement that change."

Vesper snapped, "With what Rarity? I am one pony, against an ideal and a pony that has an entire nation at her hooves. I would need-"

"-A miracle?" Rarity raised an eyebrow in indignation, "Allies? Twilight, you are not the only one that wants change-"

Vesper shook her head, "No I am not going to ally myself with those hypocritical Sith lords who claim the mantles of Dark Lords of the Sith. And if I do, I will have to kill them anyways to fulfill this prophecy. Their Sith ways are tainted and I am supposed to cleanse the Sith. Then I will become no better than them."

Rarity sighed, "Consider it is all..."

Rarity ignited her lightsaber once more and they continued on through the cave network. Vesper now wanting to get this done and over with, she was thankful for Rarity's reality check but she would cross that bridge when she got to it. Allies were not the concern at the moment, she was.

The walls began to change, after thirty more minutes of walking and wandering, the cave walls became less and less damp with water and became somewhat warmer. The once jagged stone floor, now slightly smoothed and sharp metal points jutted up from the floor. Their hooves sounded and clacked against the pointy ends on the floor. Then the floor, as they moved on, became large jagged slabs of stone and the cave began to have a light stench of burning hair and smoky ooze. They lead together at each other's side, an unspoken bond has developed between them over the years. Making a bond unbreakable and their friendship their great strength, as well as their great weakness.

The surroundings reminded Vesper of when she had stumbled into the hive of Queen Chrysalis. However that hive was filled with fresh green slime and residue that Vesper could not identify. This, had a whole new feeling entirely, but held very similar traits.

Rarity voiced, her voice echoing softly off the walls, "Are we inside a changeling hive?"

Vesper squinted her eyes as they continued on, "No...at least I don't think so."

Rarity shivered slightly, "Whatever it is, it feels like it is bleeding with the dark side."

Vesper unsheathed her sword and readied for an engagement, "Be on your guard, I do not know what might lurk in the shadows."

The tunnel grew wider, as if it was meant to transport a small army of ponies. Fifteen ponies long, a ceiling that constantly rose up. The stone became smoother and more shiny as it continued. The power of the dark side growing stronger and stronger as they moved closer. Neither faltered in their quest for a way to get Vesper's horn back. This and protecting Rarity as all that Vesper cared for at the moment. They drew closer and they saw in the distance the tunnel open into a large chamber.

They proceeded through and the chamber was vast, the ceiling drawing up sixty or seventy feet tall, the circumference of the room perhaps being sixty feet around. Tunnels and large open cliffs lead to different areas, blood red torches lit the ways illuminating the smooth obsidian stone and the glossy texture of the stones gleamed in the small amount of light. There was a ledge on the far chamber wall, three tunnels lead away from the chamber. Two tunnels were underneath the ridge and a ramp that curved around the left chamber wall lead to up to the ridge. Various other small tunnels dotted the walls and the ceiling of the chamber.

Vesper to readied for a fight. She raised her Sith blade and said, "We have reached the Tunnels of Jikunn, the lair of the Varnoks."

"Varnoks?"

"Yes, changelings twisted and misshapen by the dark side. The Varnoks believe that their leader, Vilinistha, is their eternal leader and their deity sent by the living force to guide them on a path of destruction to take the surface world as their own. The Sith kept them at bay for centuries and after a long and arduous battle, the Sith sent them deep underground. They live in constant fear of the enemies they could never defeat."

"Is Vilinistha a rogue Sith?" Rarity asked, keeping her voice down in fear that it will carry through the chamber and to the unwanted ears of the Varnoks that are likely hiding and waiting for them.

Vesper answered, "Yes, he was an apprentice of Venator's until he believed that his path lied in the destruction of the Sith and Jedi alike. He went underground where he found a lost changeling hive. He was captured by the changelings and they corrupted his mind. He fought off the corruption for years, countered it with the corruption of the dark side. And when it had finally culminated to the breaking point, Vilinistha became an abomination and seized control of the hive."

Rarity asked, holding her lightsaber close, "Wasn't Chrysalis a member of the Dark Blessing? How come her changelings were not affected by the dark side?"

Vesper answered once more, "Because she stunted her dark side powers to keep a wall between her own brain and those she was connected to. She did not want her changelings to become corrupted by it like her. She wanted a different fate for her hive."

This fact always rose fear within Vesper, if Chrysalis had allowed full submersion into the dark side because of the Changeling's natural ability to feed off of emotions, then she would be one of the strongest Sith to ever walk Equestria. Matching only to Venator or the Jedi Grandmaster at the time.

Her armor weighed heavy on her slightly as they had been walking for nearly five hours. The strain on her muscles were a familiar one, as she had been training her body hard for the past few weeks. Never wanting to repeat what had transpired a few weeks ago, she needed to improve her physique to continue and did this she did. She had gained a considerable amount of muscle since she had started. Now she could handle most tribulation given by combat. She aimed to have her physique equal in power with her mind. Balance in all things.

Right now, her force powers outweighed her physical strength. She would have to use her physical strength sparingly if it had come down to immediate combat. Vesper accepted the dark side powers inside of her and she could feel its raw energy flow through her veins and connect to the sword, she could feel it on the blade. The blade had grown colder and the weight felt better in her hooves. She felt its hunger for force powers.

Both of them proceeded with caution, Vesper knew where to go and Rarity knew this as she stepped forward to lead. She drew them closer to the ramp and she whispered, "Once one of them sees us, they all see us. Remember this, we can only have surprise on our side for so long."

Quietly they crept along, Vesper could not sense any other lifeforms nearby and it did not help her as she moved up. They shadowed each other's movements as they made their way up the ramp and to the ridge, the tunnel on the far right was the one they needed. She could hear the silent call of the artifact, its haunting echo for her to take it. This artifact, it felt familiar but she could not place it on exactly what it feels like or where she had felt it before.

They had come to the top after what had felt like forever and there, nearest to the tunnels was what they were fearful of. There, a small group of Varnoks stood watch and stood like statues in sentinel positions. They looked like changelings, with cold glowing red eyes and pitch black exoskeleton. At their sides they held gnarly looking spears, made from jagged obsidian, but they bled with dark side energy. It was clear that they used it and it tainted their exoskeletal bodies. Red web like cracks marked them and branded them as dark side users. Slung on their backs was some sort of weird looking piece of wood and iron. Each one was perhaps six feet in length and wide at one end.

Dressed in tattered grey rags with a single spaulder on their left forehoof shoulder, bore the insignia of the Varnoks, painted red like blood. They looked menacing indeed, but Vesper did not fear them. Vesper raised her hoof to order Rarity to stop and they all turned towards them. Vesper realized what it was. Rarity was a Jedi, she glowed like a beacon to all other force users in the area. She was the only light side source that there was. That and the thrum of the lightsaber was rather loud.

They turned and hissed at the pair, a primal fury in their eyes as they locked gazes with the Sith and the Jedi. There were six of them and they readied their spears or the strange iron stick on their back. Pressing the butt of the thing to their shoulder and pointing them at the pair like readied spears.

There was little time to prepare for the fight as three of them let loose red barrages of bolts that looked remarkably like magical bolts. They flew at them with astounding speed. In quick response before they could land solid hits, the bolts were deflected by Rarity's lightsaber. Whirrs and crashes of the lightsaber sounded in the cavern as the bolts hit the plasma sword.

Two bolts shot towards Vesper, raising her sword with the flat of her blade the bolts struck the cursed steel and bounced in different directions. As they struck, she felt her muscles strain to keep the sword steady against the bolts. After the barrage Vesper pulled a forehoof in and dark side energy gathered on her hoof and bright purple electricity crackled and spurred on the surface of her hoof. Vesper punched her hoof forward and a in a thunderous crack a bolt of lighting extending from her hoof burst forth and struck two of the shooters with dark infused lightning.

They screamed in pain as it had struck and their carapace sizzled and burst under the force of the blow and they fell off their hooves to the ground. Smoke rolled off of their steaming corpses after the strike of force lightning. She kept the electrical energy as she pressed the hoof to her blade and the electricity traveled from her hoof and danced on the blade. Dark purple wisps of power swirled around the blade as well as she readied with the approaching spear wielders.

Two charged towards Vesper and the other charged towards Rarity. They locked into combat and Vesper focused as her two adversaries closed in.

One thrust their spear, aiming for her stomach. She parried the blow, the spear sliding off of the edge of her blade. In a quick slash she broke through his defenses and slashed at their neck. Pulling its head back it narrowly escaped the electric slash. The other attempted to thrust her side. Using the momentum of the failed strike, she parried the other and raised her sword overhead. Switching to a one hoofed technique, she smashed her blade against the spear and knocked it away opening the Varnok's defense.

She went in for a blow, and the strike connected. A blast of electricity rode through the Varnok as she cut diagonally across its chest. The blow had cut away its carapace chestplate and revealed the soft innards of the insectoid. The force lightning damaged the innards pretty well and caused the Varnok to cough up a red ichorous liquid. Recovering from the strike, she deflected a downward slash from the other Varnok guard. guiding the blow away she cut for the soft neck of the creature and landed a cut. A spray of the red ichorous blood shot forth out of the cut and landed on her sword and armor. On her bracers, hooves, and chest.

The Varnok reeled and screamed in defiance at the Sith, Vesper smashed her blade against the other Varnok's spear and it clattere dot the ground. She plunged the sword deep through the opened chest cavity and pierced many of its vital organs. Blood spraying onto Vesper and heard an unearthingly crunch as it punctured through the back. Normally, a sword would not be able to pierce through such a thick carapace but using the dark side as font for strength, she was able to accomplish such a task.

The Varnok fell against the ground and she fell with it. She slowly drew her sword out and before the other could raise its spear she stabbed the ground next to her punctuating the strike into earth with force lightning that traveled from her hoof. A wave of electrical energy burst out from her blade as it plunged into stone and the electricity traveled from the ground up through the Varnok. Softening its carapace armor.

Leaping up and falling down to her knees in a downward stroke, she cut through its waistline and cut its torso in half. A deep crimson ichor dripped from the iron blade. Vesper breathed deeply as she looked up and at Rarity.

She was fast and almost impossibly to physically see. In wide flourishes of her aquamarine blade. She fought the spear wielder like fencer, keeping him at bay but too close for him to have some sort of advantage. She as well, in the flourishes deflected the red bolts from the other. Vesper looked over at the bolt slinger and summoning all the force she could she lifted her hoof and gripped the Varnok. It froze in fear as it could not move, an invisible force wrapping around it.

She pumped an unbearable amount of force energy and a small wave of force enclosed on the immobilized Varnok. The weight increased and it scrunched with the power. In a final push of power, the force collapsed the Varnok. Breaking bones and snapping limbs as in a spray of ichorous blood flooded out of the squished Varnok guard. She gave a low tone growl underneath her clenched teeth at what she had accomplished. She spat on the corpses and watched over at Rarity as she bashed the Varnok guard with the butt of her lightsaber, knocking it off its hooves, and plunged her plasma saber inside of its chest with no amount of resistance. Its last breath released and in a quick spin she cut directly through its torso, effectively cutting it in half. As she watched she noticed that Rarity fought like a dancer, her movements graceful and precise.

After the two parts of the once whole Varnok fell apart Rarity stood up and turned towards Vesper. Sweat littered her face and her mane ruffled. Her fur matted and her eyes intense with the combat that had just taken place. Rarity nodded and motioned a free hoof to the tunnel on the right and asked, "Shall we?"

Vesper chuckled as they jogged into the tunnel, more vindictive and vigilant than before because they were seen. Vilinistha knew they were in his hive. He would be along shortly after he sends his hove against them. They both kept their weapons out as they rushed through the tunnel and descended deeper into Jikunn.