Intros-a-plenty

It happened so suddenly, A rush of power, roaring wind, sounds of explosions, screaming metal.

A tear in space, a featureless portal, showing little other than a metal tunnel and destruction on the other side, appeared in a location planned to be abandoned, a simple nameless meadow in the middle of Equestria, a considerable distance from any settled location.

Through it floated a remarkably quiet block of metal, shaped with a clear angular window on the front, composed of shining black metal and hovering on a series of small orbs about the size of a ponies head, equally black and glowing an eerie red. Ontop of it, instead of inside, sat an odd creature that was bipedal in shape, covered head to hoof in a similarly shiny black material that had various red accents on the gloves, shoulders, and boots, and lastly a smooth black bar on the head concealing eyes.

There was an odd screechy noise in the air for a moment, before it grabbed a square device from it's torso and poked it to silence that, and immediately the device it rode on began moving, wheeling around in a circle and driving forth into the northern-most edge of a forest that looked most invitingly dark and creepy.

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I could scarcely believe I wasn't dreaming, it had been a success, I MADE IT! I left behind a big 'fuck you' to all my doubters and traversed the planes into another world using SCIENCE! as far as I was concerned this is what heaven should be, a new world, filled with new things for me to experience... But first, i needed to find a place to hunker down and hide my things while explore and plot out how to introduce myself on my own terms... afterall, I'd hate for the princesses to come running to investigate that big disturbance and mistake me for an invader.

No, i was a visitor, even if i didn't technically have a way to go back.

Of course, i knew enough of this world from taking to heart my theories born of a certain entertaining little 'kid's show'... they all thought I was insane for trying to prove it was real, but a man of science just gets this 'feeling' of being right and MUST find out for themselves. Of course, I also expected this world to different, afterall, my grand theory of the infinite multi-verse said so, I seriously doubted my aim using a purely experimental device was perfect enough to land directly on the 'prime' equestria, not that I was worried, I at least didn't land in the 'discorded' version.

Once My ATT, all terrain tranport, oh how I loved my world's advanced technology!, passed the edge of this delightfully grim forest I removed my helmet, taking in a deep breath of the air of a new world while letting an ample collecting of red hair fall free. "Ahhh, I can practically smell how different this world is... I wonder if this tingly feeling is the magic I've always dreamed of studying... oh wait, that's the 'danger tingle', wonderful!" I had of course out-fitted the ATT with some basic defense measures, aside from being made of metal that most forest beasts wouldn't be able to easily tear through, it had an electrical stun field to 'pain away' anything that posed a great enough threat, and my favorite bit of technology.

A quick press of a button on my PCA, personal 'control' assistant, as it certainly did far more than just hold 'data', and the ATT became cloaked. Sure it wasn't perfect, it was hardly what I would call invisible, but a reflexive reflection of the surrounding area, in 'this' forest, would work wonders for keeping it un-seen.

It floated on as i scouted for a good hiding place, as well as keeping an eye out for 'danger', though i hardly expected the known creatures of the forest to be a real threat, they hadn't had to tear through 6 inches of Electrical metal armor... Looking back, i should have interpreted this as evidence that the 'danger tingle' was reffering to something that I 'would' consider dangerous.

It took remarkably little time to location a cave... more of a big hole in the ground really, it didn't go very deep, but for the purposes of hiding a camouflaged Transport vehicle it should do wonderfully, at least until I find a more suitable location and start actually 'building'. I took but a minute to step off, slip into it, strip off the protective suit, gather some preffered tools, and step back out clad in my favorite Black lab coat [which might as well just be a trench-coat, they're pretty identical except for lab coats being white], loaded with the fun little tools i'd need to make notice difficult while i study the locals... Then i saw the 2 things that completely changed the path of my future.

In the light at the entrance of the little cave was a pair of... i guess i'd say, 'entities', both appeared to be made of smokey material, one black and the other purple. Though they didn't have faces I'd describe them as 'glaring' at eachother... then they noticed that I'd noticed them, and shot through the air towards me. 'I really should have expected that the 'defeated bodiless evils' would be able to move and track faster than the fancy princesses...'

"Oh Bugger!"

I had not intended for this to happen, and i had nowhere to go, so i did what i consider the best course of action in a situation like this... Accepted that it was going to happen, began plotting methods of turning the inevitable situation in my favor, And proceeded to sit down to avoid physical harm from falling, close my eyes, and see what happens.

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I awoke again in what I could only assume to call my 'Mindscape', It's not like i'd ever done so before, though i had plenty of experiences with lucid dreaming, some meditation, theories about the 'worlds in our minds'...

Mine was unsurprisingly very dark... I liked dark places and disliked bright lights, i'd often keep lights dim wherever i go, it also helped me see better in dark places if i wanted to be sneaky.

Of course the scene around me was hardly a 'sneaky moment'... I was sitting in a large padded chair, comfortably, not restrained, and before me in the dark, a nearly invisible battle between 2 dark forces raged... I have good eye-sight, but not nearly good enough to watch Darkness fighting Darkness inside Darkness... That's way to much darkness!

I could hear it thought, Snarling, shouting, clashing.

I could feel it too, I think, then again it 'was' happening in my mind so it stands to reason that I'd be able to.

I just took a little while to mull over what i remembered before sitting down and presumably being dragged into my mind on the same flow as the 2 entities had used to force their way in through 'opened gates'... From what knowledge i had, i could surmise, through familiarities in the black mist and it's purple counter-part, just 'who' specifically it was fighting for superiority in 'my' mind... I could also reasonably guess how weakened and likely desperate they must be from knowledge of how they had been defeated previously.

Of course, having 'no' knowledge of magic I imagined it was a certainty i couldn't handle either one forcibly even in their current states.

But I 'did' have knowledge, a sharp mind, and LOVED a good mental exercise... So I decided to try something with 'my' mindscape.

It was quite sudden that the world around us lit up, no visible light source produced the red light that poured over everything, mysteriously not altering the natural perception of the 2 'invaders' as they appeared normal then, but the 'world' around me was suitably dark, like a large featureless room, which oddly stood to reason... If my mind had any natural defenses I figured i'd most likely have subconciously guided them to some 'empty room' so that their fight couldn't damage anything.

Of course it also revealed that I was sitting upon something rather throne like 'wow, i didn't think i had enough ego in me to be sitting on a throne while watching a deposed King of darkness fighting the Queen of the Night like entertainment... just... wow.' I didn't really believe that, but it's fun to tease my own mind sometimes.

Of course before me were a familiar Royally armored Unicorn, and regally proportioned Alicorn, both inches from driving horns together with conjured manifestations of their powers surrounding them... which vanished in an instant as their attention was dragged away from eachother at the sound of a booming 'WELCOME!''to my mindscape!' echoing through the confines of my mind, drawing their attention to me, which appeared to be a completely black featureless bipedal entity sat in a throne... not exactly black in the cheesy way of implying 'awesomely dark power', more so in the way that It seemed this entity didn't know what it 'should' look like, even inside it's own mind.

I had noticed this but chose to leave it for later as I pulled out a bit of flair to grab attention and see just how effectively i could use words for this, my voice still echoing strangely, but given the emptiness of this little corner it didn't bother me all that much.
"King Sombra!" a sudden surprised expression appeared at being recognized by a creature that he had only just detected entering this world.
"and 'Queen' Nightmare" A similar but more controlled surprise appeared then.
"whyever are you both fighting inside my mind?"

I wasn't foolish enough to believe either would consider me important enough to bother answering, but perhaps the strangeness of the environment they were suddenly in, and the surprise, left them a bit more open to playing along.

However, I had to stiffle a snicker as they both spoke in near perfect unisorn.
"I Need/require a Physical Conduit..."
A short pause to glare at eachother
"In order to Rebuild my power..."
Now angry sneers and growls
"And create a new body worthy of me"
Now both appeared exceedingly enraged at the other not taking a back seat to the short little explanation, though their attention switched again at a Racous laughter. "YOU DARE?!"

I'll admit, it 'was' hilarious, but the laughter also should serve my intentions. "GYAAAHAHAHAHAAA!... HAH!, My apologies" I shifted my position, crossing one 'leg' over the other and propping my hands finger to finger in my best 'evil genius planning' pose. "It just never ceases to amuse me how few dark entities actually take the shot at 'asking' first."

This created a moment that appeared as if both had been physically assaulted by those words.

"I have quite a mind, so much active and useful to me, and yet some delightfully 'dark corners' that I would abide containing a couple of new Residents... You needn't fight for control here as i'll gladly just 'let' you in... Have you never considered working 'together' for anything before?"

Sombra's Mildly irritated huff preceded his complaint "PFF, why would I ally with such a creature as you? You don't even have any magic, you're hardly worth more than a shell to recover in."

The Nightmare, not to be out-done, sprung forth next "Besides, what could possibly make you think you would be a worthy vessel for this shadowy pretender? Much less a 'goddess' such as myself?" This of course drew an indignant sneer from The dark unicorn.

Another small snicker earned 'me' a sneer from both "Because you both Failed, one to 'harmony' brought to bear by a half a dozen fillies that had been 'mostly' normal before Twilight Sparkle came along and had them rip you free of a certain princess. The Other to love caused because you were silly enough to leave the key to your defeat in the same place you dwelled, where simply casting it off into the snow could have prevented it."

As I droned on about their failures both grew infinitely more furious towards me, but before anything could 'explode' I rushed into the next part "However! I can promise Victory for you both." this cooled it a bit but the suspicious and unbelieving glares said plenty.

"Simply put, I am a newcomer to this world, an out-side perspective, one with many useful 'toys' that this world has not seen as well as a fair bit of advanced 'knowledge', i 'did' recognize both of you. I may not have magic yet, but I can acquire it, ohhh, I want it so badly." I deliberately poured a sound of soul wrenching hunger to my voice, bringing a curious glint to their expressions. "I had intended to quietly study this world and see what i could learn of magic that might allow me to use it... yet here, both of you 'literally' dove into me, 2 of the most magical entities to exist, dark or not, and I have built my life on being adaptable, countering failure at every turn, ploting contingencies and secondary layers of protection... hmhm, I would relish matching wits with Twilight sparkle! Or Celestia herself!... HRM!"

I may have let myself get a little too carried away there, though it seemed to be doing it's job, a potential third party interested in going against the princess, from another world no less?, the anger and suspicion was very slowly draining into curiousity and scheming faces "The big obstacle at this moment is that I am at the most minor and mundane point of my 'adventure' here, i am but a human, magicless, standing out, and i'm sure your presence would have a noticeable effect on me overtime, So I have a proposition to offer you both, if you'd like to listen?"

Sure, most expect them to just be mindlessly hostile to anything that isn't serving them, but i could see in their eyes that their minds were grinding away at the mystery that was 'me'... oh, i like that idea, being a mystery, something that someone else is having trouble solving, it's ever the useful advantage against an enemy, and until I was certain i could withstand their presence without being over-taken and erased, they were absolutely my enemies, whether in my body or not.

The Nightmare struck first this time "I can see 'potential' here, a body to recover in safely while remaining inconspicuous... But you are as much an unknown to me as to Celestia! I can scarcely trust you when i know nothing of you!"

"one thing I 'can' agree with her on, you wouldn't even register as one of my 'servants' as you are now, you have no 'power'... However impressly you can 'speak', that won't do any good against our enemies, you'd be a burden at best."

I actually snorted at their reaction, something i would not have 'expected' i'd do 'really? can they be this dense? ... well, maybe they can, i mean, look at what 'beat' them? the only one more stupid was chrysalis... seriously, putting your main threat in a cave with the most vital piece of your scheme? utterly idiotic!... but they have power and I won't ignore this chance just because they aren't all that 'geniusy'.' ... though that brought up another idea, perhaps I could encounter Chrysalis as well sometime, perhaps there are other hives, OH! The possibilities... Getting off track here.

I quickly started speaking again as i saw the irritated reactions to my noise "Honestly? Is that how simply you think? No wonder you were beaten! The most vital part of victory against 'do-gooders' is a powerful 'mind', and this I have... I out-smarted the entire world where i came from, oh sure, they found their way to me, far too late... at this moment there is a giant crater where a mountain used to be, and the entire world will be drifting into chaos over the following weeks, turning my home government up on it's head and tearing down every ounce of control they had on the people as they attempt to reign in their corporate 'slaves' once more."

My apparent gloating seemed to get their attention, perhaps it seemed more familiar to them, of course i was gloating after a 'success', and I launched into what appeared to be a full on ego trip, even if I had done it all for personal fulfillment instead of just wierd evil genius kindof shit "I RIPPED THE FOUNDATION OUT FROM UNDER AN ENTIRE CIVILIZATION WITH ONE GROUND BREAKING DISCOVERY! I USED SCIENCE TO TEAR OPEN THE BARRIER BETWEEN WORLDS AND ENTER EQUESTRIA! I USED ELECTRICITY AND WIRES AND STEEL TO REND THE VERY FABRIC OF REALITY!!"

The sudden explosive demonstration of what i let appear to be my interpretation of my achievments got much more 'pleasantly' shocked and interested expressions from them, so i added on one last little bit "Just imagine... what I could do... with 'magic'." Personally, i thought i over-sold it, and i felt so very silly for using such cliche super villain behavior, not to mention a bit dirty for bullshitting my true view of what I'd done, but honestly, i didn't give a shit, If i could talk them into 'allying' instead of 'taking', I didn't just get to keep 'myself', but I could potentially gain access to the delightful magics of this world through them.

Either way, both of them seemed to be contemplating it hard... I always had been a good speaker, I rarely used that ability, it practically felt like mind control sometimes... then suddenly bother spoke at once "FINE!, what is this proposal of yours?!" though neither reacted to having spoken at the same time again.

I saw a small flinch from them, i could only imagine the glee I felt at that acceptance translated into the grin i held, perhaps it actually appeared even though i thought i had no mouth in this place, that would be so wonderfully creepy. "DELIGHTFUL!... As for my proposal, this is it, in several 'requirements' and 3 steps.

The Requirements:
1. My mind stays my own, period, you can dwell within me all you like, even look through my memories, you'll know the areas I'll not have you entering, act outside of me or through me, preferably with common sense used so you don't do something stupid and get us all revealed and executed... I am not above playing as though you were manipulating me the whole time!... If we're fighitng for control of my body then you'll just recover slower, i'll be distracted worrying about you stabbing me in the back, and we all are weaker for it.
2. You both work together, I also don't need 2 powerful warring entities beating the shit out of eachother in the back of my mind! Besides, your combined power will go a great distance towards success here.
3. And this is probably the hardest one, Trust and patience... we will all take 'binding vows' to prevent us from stabbing eachother in the back, afterall, we are bound to fail if we spend half of our time worry about what the other is going to do to ruin us... and patience, because i still must adapt to this world, investigate, learn, disect, experiment, It may take months, or years, but what is a few years compared to the thousand you've already spent? or the thousands 'we' will enjoy in the future?"

Of course, that indignant fury had returned 2 fold at the sound of what I required... I wasn't about to just let them run rampant in my head, it is 'my' head and I 'will' have control of it.

"Now, the Proposals!
The first step... Rest, I will provide both of you with my body and mind to recover in and keep yourselves safely concealed from the eyes of the princesses and the elements... I'm going to have to get used to this world and the rest of 'step one', so resting or simply exploring my memories will likely be highly preferable to watching me stumble about figuring out how to use magic.

Now, I'm sure you both have magical abilities to modify things, afterall, if you expect to make a new body for yourself, certainly you can modify an already existing one... I would like to be changed, something 'adaptable' that i know can be considered 'of this world', and while you both are recovering your strength in a place where you don't have to waste any extra to keep existing, I will be becoming acquainted with my new abilities... here's a memory that explains it quite thoroughly."

There was a moment of shock, then some recognition, and finally a bit of an impressed grin from both, it seems my idea was appealing so far.

"Step 2
Once I've become properly acquainted with this world and my own changes, and gained enough of my own 'power' to be of use, and of course you've recovered enough to be strong again, I will go about working on the creation of your own new bodies... This should be understood first of course, Sombra will likely go first, simply from being a 'unicorn' and easier to recreate, I doubt an alicorn body will be nearly so easy and could potentially draw in unwanted attention of 'other alicorn's' at an inoppurtune moment.
This step is going to be especially sensitive I imagine, so i'll have to ask for your patience there, we'll want to make sure we get the bodies 'right' before you try going into them, yet?"

Sombra smirked, and there was a clear annoyance at having to go second, but Nightmare gave an accepting nod.

"Now the last step, and don't get me wrong, you're plans are nice, but they are too simple."

That got glares allover again.

"I'm serious... I'm not saying they are impossible, but they need to be altered, better detailed, and so on. you'll both be responsible for your personal goals and detailing them to be 'better', i can only give suggestions, but likely by the time you 'return' from recovery I will have more than enough plans and counter plans to deal with The Princesses.

First, Nightmare, This 'eternal night', not a bad idea, I love the night, I especially love a full moon night, dark, but with the moon-light detailing the natural beauty of the night... but the world itself is not prepared for it... As beautiful as the night is, the day is still needed in order for life to continue... The biggest obstacle there, is coming up with a way to 'quickly' adapt the world to survive the night... or adapt the night to provide everything that is also provided by the day, without 'becoming' the day... That, or accepting the concept that the way of the world requires a balance of both, regardless of who is in power.

Second, Sombra, There i more to being king than simply controlling your subjects, i can't believe how many dark kings get this wrong... The trick is in holding complete power and control over them while simulataneously putting yourself across as someone to be loved and adored as a leader... heh, make your subjects 'want' to serve you and deny those who say otherwise, make them believe it entirely their will to do so, and you will be a 'true' king.

Lastly, I will be 'integrating' right in the midst of the greatest threats to our success, attempting to put myself off as just another pony, if only one of highly unusual abilities and mental skills. hmhm. There shouldn't be much chance if any of you being detected while you are concealed and resting, but be wary when you 'return', don't accidentally expose us suddenly... if you can remain unnoticed within me, then I should at least be able to get us to the stage of recreating your bodies without being discovered... after that? heh, well, i'm sure you can guess for now"

As they took a few moments to stare at eachother and seemingly silently discuss this, I tried not to think on the fact that I'd just utterly dominated a conversation with 2 creatures that could probably at any moment have torn my mind to shreds and taken control... with any luck they won't notice once i gain enough power to resist them, thankfully I should have plenty of time while they are resting to prepare myself.

Quite suddenly both of them called out "we accept!" of course the threatening glares that accompanied this acceptance spoke of unspeakable horrors for me if I betray them... yeah, spoke of the unspeakable, that bad, of course that's why I included that bit about 'binding vows'.