Not Another Good Guy

The moment I stepped out of the bedroom, I ran face to face into Shiny what's-his-name.

"Uh, hi there," I said, confused. "Didn't I say that you were supposed to rest for a day before you started following me around?"

He bowed before answering. "Yes, Master. You did, but I wanted to get started on my duties early." A moment later, his face fell. "Do you... wish to punish me for disobeying orders?"

"What?! No!" I said, far too loudly for the rather narrow hallway. What gave these ponies the impression that I'm some sort of sadistic tyrant?

"Thank you, Master," he said, bowing deeply again.

I sighed and rubbed my temples, trying to ward off the headache that I expected to arrive soon. This is not going to work.

"Shiny!" I said. He went back to bowing halfway out of his most recent bow. "First off, cut that out. Stop bowing to me after every sentence, stop standing at attention, and stop being so tensed up. Seriously, your whole body is going to cramp up eventually and I don't want to hear about it."

"I would never complain about serving you, Master."

Ooo-kaaay, that's not creepy at all. "...anyway, stop calling me your master all the time. My name is Tom. Use it."

He saluted me instead of bowing. "Yes, Master Tom."

I managed to resist the urge to bury my head in my hands, and instead settled for rubbing my forehead and thinking happy thoughts.

"Alright then, Shiny. We're going to go visit the prisoners. Lead the way." ...so that I don't have to feel you staring at my back the whole way there.

"Of course, Master Tom," he said, moving forward at a brisk pace.

And then came the headache.

"Halt!" shouted the guard at the dungeon door. "Who goes- Oh, my apologies, Master." Unsurprisingly, he bowed.

"Shiny here is going to relieve you of your post while I am speaking with the prisoners." I said.

"Of course, Master," he said before quickly scurrying off mid-bow.

I turned to Shiny somethingortheother. "Stand guard out here. Don't let anyone inside."

"Yes, Master Tom." Happy thoughts, Thomas. Happy thoughts. Happy, fluffy, not-killing him thoughts.

I entered the dungeon and immediately knew something was up. Nothing was obviously out of place, but Twilight had a strange look on her face. It was a look that practically screamed "guilty".

"So..." I said, casually walking over to her "You mind telling me what is going on here?"

"Nothing!" she responded a little too quickly.

"Right," I said, looking around the room. Just as I had suspected, Luna and Celestia were looking much better. Their manes had regained that strange light in them and glowed ominously. "How's Celestia doing?"

"Uh, fine, I guess," she said, confused.

"Really? So your princess hasn't moved, woken up, or done anything other than lay here?"

"Precisely!" she said, vigorously nodding.

I simply cocked an eyebrow at her. "You are a terrible liar, Sparks."

Celestia and Luna both let out sighs and sat up, stretching in what little room the chains that bound them provided. "Twilight," said Celestia with an annoyed look, "remind us to teach you how to effectively lie when this is all over."

I shook my head. "It was really obvious anyway. You fell asleep due to severe magical fatigue. If you had enough magic in you to make your mane glow, it would only make sense that you would be awake. I'm not as stupid as you seem to think I am."

"Just evil," said Luna, eying me curiously. She didn't have the glare that Celestia seemed to have mastered. She looked more confused than angry.

"Evil or not, you need my help to get out of here," I said.

Celestia gave a humorless chuckle. "Not necessarily. Discord will use his magic to come and free us as soon as he realizes that Fluttershy is involved in this mess."

"Discord?" The word felt strange to me. Just like so many other things, it was familiar but confusing at the same time. Maybe I'll ask the strange voice about this Discord person next time I meet him. If he bothers showing up to my dream, that is.

Twilight grimaced. "Yes, Discord," she said his name as if it had a bad flavor. "A self-proclaimed god of chaos who happens to be quite powerful."

"So... where is your god now?" I asked, gesturing around the room. The three princesses glared at me in silence. The pink demon let out a chuckle seemingly at random, reminding me of the sleep that claimed her friends.

"Twilight, how exactly did you manage to wake up before your friends did?"

She continued glaring at me in silence. Ah. The silent treatment. Quite mature of you, Sparkles.

"Listen, Twilight," I said, sitting down in front of her. "I am going to need your cooperation if you want me to help you get out of here."

She did not respond.

"The other option is that you and your friends die here," Twilight flinched slightly. Good, I'm starting to get through to her.

Celestia raised her head as high as the chains would allow and glared. "Not if I can help it," she said.

I shot her a glare of my own. "You can't help it. I can." I turned back to Twilight. "I don't plan on letting any of you die down here, no matter what." After a moment's pause, I let her have it. "Do you really want to end up like your brother?"

It was a good thing I had sat down out of her reach. Twilight immediately swung her hoof at my face, missing by only a few inches. "Don't you dare talk about my brother after what you did to him!"

Celestia fixed me with her best glare yet. "What have you done, monster?"

I felt particularly fed up at that point. Instead of answering, I walked over to the door and opened it up. "Shiny, come in here for a moment."

"Yes, Master," he said. Twilight began sobbing as he entered. Celestia's glare slid away and was replaced with a look of pure horror. Luna looked like she was going to be sick.

"What is your purpose in life?" I asked him.

"To serve you, Master," he said, bowing. For once, I wasn't frustrated about it.

"That's... That's impossible." said Luna.

"Is that so? Shiny, would you do anything that I commanded you to do?" I said.

"Of course, Master. Anything for you."

"Good," I braced myself for the next part. I really didn't want to do this, but I had to get their cooperation. If I had to use drastic measures to force them to work with me, then so be it.

"Shiny, go get my backpack." He quickly bowed and left without a word.

"What are you doing?" asked Luna.

"You will see," I said.

Shiny returned swiftly afterwards, setting my backpack down before me and bowing. "Is there anything else you want from me, Master?"

"Yeah, wait here for a moment and ignore everything I say to the princesses." He nodded in the affirmative. I opened up the backpack and took out the jewelery box.

"Do you recognize this, Twilight?" I said, taking out the Element of Truth. "I want to remind you now about how it would be suicidal to tell a direct lie while in contact with this." I placed the ring just at the edge of her reach, just close enough for her to be able to pick it up. "What you are going to do for me is simple. You will pick up the Element of Truth. Then, you will verbally agree to help me in any way possible."

When the only response I got was three incredulous looks, I continued. "Before I begin, I want you to consider just getting it over with and saving us all a lot of pain. You agreed to help me before I controlled your brother, so you can agree to it again. Keep in mind that I also wore the Element of Truth and told you that I had no intention of harming you, your friends, or any pony at all."

I walked over to Shiny and fished around in my backpack, coming back up with the knife. "Shiny, take hold of this knife." A moment later, it was floating in his magical grasp.

Twilight's eyes widened in alarm. "You just said that you weren't going to harm anypony!"

I gave my best nonchalant shrug, trying not to let her see how much this was getting to me. "That was true at the time I said it. Also, you can clearly see that I am not the one holding the knife." I paused as a sudden thought came to me. "It's actually somewhat ironic. This knife belonged to the previous bearer of the Element of Truth. It seems fitting that it is now ensuring the fulfillment of the words I spoke while holding Truth. Shiny, press the blade against Luna's throat."

Luna immediately jumped backwards in surprise as the knife soared over to her neck. She quickly reached the furthest extend that her chains would allow her to lean away, and the knife rested against her skin. I was caught off guard when the she softly chuckled a moment later.

Luna gave me a smug smile. "I am immortal, monster. The pain you could inflict would be only temporary. The worst you could do is separate my body from my spirit, and that would only free me from these bonds."

I shrugged. They're going to hate me even more for this. Hell, I'm going to hate myself even more for this. "Alright then. Shiny, put the knife on your own throat."

"Yes, Master," he said, the edge now resting on his neck.

That got an immediate reaction. Twilight was on her hooves and leaning against the pull of the chains in an instant. "Wait!"

"Yes, Twilight? Something to say?" I felt sick to my stomach, but I forced myself to continue. It was a necessary evil. Just as the Voice said, this was the only leverage I had available.

"Twilight!" said Celestia, who was starting to panic. "Don't give him what he wants! He won't kill your brother if it's the only thing he can use against you!"

I shrugged, trying not to let Twilight see how accurate Celestia was. "Believe what you will. Shiny, push the blade more firmly into your skin."

Twilight was continually nervously shifting in place, looking between Celestia and me as if she couldn't decide who take take more seriously.

I crossed my arms, displaying a calm attitude that I certainly did not feel inside. "I don't see any blood, Shiny. Fix that."

Twilight let out an audible gasp as the first few drops of blood stained his coat red.

"It's very simple, Twilight." The crimson coloration began to slowly spread down his neck.

Tears were freely falling down her face. "No... please..."

"Don't give in, Twilight!" said Celestia.

"Shiny, red is a good color on you. How about some more?" I barely managed to say the words without my voice shaking.

Twilight was completely panicking now. "No! Stop!"

I gestured to the ring lying at her hooves. After a moment more, her shoulders slumped. Finally.

"Fine," she said, picking up the ring and holding it on her hoof. "I promise to help you until we are free from this cult. I will not betray you or resist you until then."

I smiled at her. "See, that wasn't so hard. Shiny, drop the knife." It clattered to the floor, and Twilight let out a sigh of relief. A moment later, the dark magic in him began to repair the self-inflicted wound. Unfortunately, I couldn't stop now. "Good, now pick it up again."

The relief on Twilight's face instantly vanished. "I agreed to help you! You can't hurt him any more!"

"I don't think you are in any position to say what I can and cannot do. There is another small detail that cannot be overlooked." I deftly swiped the Element of Truth from her and tossed it between the livid Celestia and sickened Luna. "Two more promises must be made."

"Never," growled Celestia. Twilight paled.

"Alright, Celestia. This is on your head, then." Dammit, Celestia! Don't make me do this! "Shiny, back to your own neck. Start cutting."

"Celestia! Please!" Twilight pleaded as the red began slowly trickling down her brother's neck once more. Celestia did not respond.

"Pick up the ring!" Twilight cried. Luna's gaze went back and forth between Celestia and the Element of Truth, undecided over what to do.

Pick up the ring! I silently begged.

"He wouldn't dare," said Celestia, adamantly refusing to even look at the ring.

Celestia had effectively called my bluff. It was time to improvise.

"You're right, I wouldn't. Shiny, remove the knife." Twilight let out a sigh of relief as the knife hovered in front of her brother. I am so terribly sorry for what I am about to do, Twilight.

"See?" said Celestia. "He wouldn't-"

"Shiny, put the knife on your sister's throat."

The words died in Celestia's mouth. Twilight froze in fear as the blade pressed against her neck.

"What are you doing!?" Celestia shouted.

I shrugged. "Waiting for you to pick up the ring." I bit the inside of my lip to stop it from quivering.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" she screamed.

In a surprising move, Luna grabbed the ring. "I swear to do whatever you say until we have dealt with the cult. Until then, I will fully cooperate," she said before dropping the ring in front of her sister.

"Luna..." said Celestia, eyes wide. "What have you done?"

"What you are too blind to do, sister," she said, shaking her head. "Like it or not, the monster is right. We will not be making it out of here without his help. We have only put the ponies we seek to protect in more danger by resisting. I made my choice, now you should do the same."

Celestia shook her head bitterly. "You've changed, Luna."

Luna sighed. "You haven't changed at all."

I cleared my throat and pointed at the Element of Truth. "This is very simple, Celestia. You cannot win this. Cut your losses before I cut her open."

She shook her head, still seething with rage and defiance in spite of the circumstances. "You wouldn't dare."

I turned away so that none of them could see my face. My eyes were watering up, and a few tears had gotten free. I didn't want any of this to happen. I never wanted to lead a cult. I never wanted anyone to get hurt because of me.

For a moment, I reconsidered my actions. If I just went along with the cult, things would be so much easier. All I had to do was put on the Element of Darkness and let it influence me. I could just wash away all my concerns over right and wrong. I would be powerful. I could have whatever I wanted. It would be so easy...

I remembered something then. A few days ago, I had dreamed of killing Joy and Charity. As I had been driving away, there had been a moment where I had realized what I had become. For a brief moment, I had felt horrible about the things I had done. By that point, I had gone too far to turn back from the darkness.

But here, things were different. I had a choice now. Two paths were laid before me, and I was running out of time to make my decision. I could take the easy route. Let the darkness in, rule the world, take what I want, and live happily ever after in my own evil. Then there was the difficult road. I could force the cooperation of the princesses, escape from the crystal caverns, and then help them take down the evil Cult of Man. My future would be uncertain from there, and likely painful.

I turned around and looked at all the ponies who were my prisoners. Twilight still had the knife floating at her throat. Luna was glaring at Celestia. Celestia was glaring at me.

Something inside me snapped. I was sick and tired of getting only anger from these princesses. I wanted to help them, but they wouldn't listen. Now I was forced to stoop so low to make sure that they get out of this alive. This whole situation was so stupid.

The pink demon began quivering again. Twilight had said before that she does that before "a doozie", but how she did that in her sleep was beyond me. It didn't really matter though, because she was right about one thing. They were all in for a doozie.

"Shiny," I said, my choice having been made. A grin set itself upon my face. "Since Celestia won't agree to my terms, there is only one thing left to do."

Twilight began shaking slightly. "Please..." she said.

Luna could only stare at Celestia with a mix of sadness and fury.

Celestia held her adamant glare at me. She wouldn't be budging, and that was okay.

I had made my choice, and boy was it a doozie.