In the dark of the Everfree forest, a lone castle stood crumbling from the centuries of disuse. A lonely column of black smoke slowly drifted down from the clouds and alighted on the grass of the courtyard below. The smoke slowly dissipated, revealing a lone human figure dressed in a long black coat, his hood pulled up to hide hi identity. He slowly turned his head to take in his new surrounding, and smiled ruefully. He abruptly turned and walked swiftly into the ruins, his stride full of confidence.
Just inside, where the elements of harmony once resided, sat a large steel cage, holding a single object. A large statue of a strange creature, made up of many different animals. He was in a pose of shock, his face frozen in panic.
“Discord, my old friend…”
The mans voice was fairly deep, with dark overtones, like a hollow and evil echo. He stepped up to the cage and stopped, brushing aside the left side of his cloak to reveal the hilt of a sword. He grasped the handle, which was wrapped in blue cloth, and extracted a magnificent black blade. It was a hand-and-a-half sword, with a golden cross guard and a dark pink gem set near the tip of the blade.
“Grand Marshals long sword. This should be enough to cut these bonds.”
He drew the blade back and swiftly sliced the bars in half. With a small bit of effort he lifted the top half of the cage and tossed it aside where it landed with a great clatter. He then set about cutting the base of the cage into pieces and pulling them away. At the end of his efforts Discord stood, exposed to the world yet again.
The man then proceeded to take four stones out of his cloak, each the color of the setting sun, and place them around the base of the statue. He set the tip of his blade on the ground and placed both hands on the top of the handle, closed his eyes, and began to meditate.
At first, nothing happened, but within a few minutes the gems began to glow gently. Then they began to hum, a very low and hollow tone that rattled the stones nearby. Slowly cracks began to for on the surface of the chimera statue as Discords stone prison began to fail. Suddenly, and with a great flash and a bang, the stone shattered.
The captive inside fell to the ground with a grunt, and simply lay there, too tired and sore to move.
His task complete, the cloaked figure sheathed his sword and stooped to gather his gems. As he knelt, he spoke, quietly.
“We had a deal.”
Discords ears perked at the voice, then he grimaced and moaned in recognition.
“Oh, fate is such a cruel mistress. I take it you’re here on business and not for a friendly chat?”
The chimera slowly stood up, his lack of powers leaving him weak.
“In a sense, yes. You did not uphold your end of the bargain. You failed to get rid of Celestia, failed to plunge this world in chaos, and failed the Continuum. You know what that means don’t you?” The man smiled as Discord suddenly drew back in fear.
“No. NO! You can’t… I… I can try again! It wasn’t my fault! If those Elements of Harmony…”
“SHUT IT! I set everything up for you to succeed, but you just had to play your little games. Well now you owe the Continuum, and I’m here to collect.”
Discord began to tear up. “Very well then. Just make it fast.”
The man smiled even wider with evil intent in his eyes. “You of all people know that’s not how I play.”
He then unsheathed his blade and held it out before him. The length of the weapon shimmered as the tip began to glow.
A white beam of energy shot out and smashed into Discord as energy began to flow from him into the blade. His screams of agony fell on deaf ears, as his soul was rent from his body.
His skin and flesh began to evaporate as his essence was stolen. Then with a last cry he vanished.
The man walked forward and picked up the small golden orb of magic the Lord of Chaos left behind.
“Weak fool. Equestria will belong to us, it’s just a matter of time…”
Pine needles and other small forest debris crunched under the mans boots as he picked his way through the underbrush. It was slow going, but any nearby trails could have travelers, and his secrecy was key. As he marched silently, he began putting a new plan together. 'The Chancellor will not be pleased about my failure. But I've never failed before. Maybe he'll be forgiving. Either way it doesn't matter; this world still needs to be disarmed. But how am I going to be able to take out two goddesses by myself?'
His musing were cut short bye a magical hum. A pulsating sort of buzz. He reached into his left coat pocket and pulled out a flat round purple gemstone. The stone had a faint blinking luminescence. He put his thumb to the center and the tone halted. A small holographic image of a truly strange being appeared above the disk. Like a robot, but more organic looking. The being spoke in an Icy, but not threatening voice. "Darius! Good to see you! How did everything to with..." he pause to check a small notepad. "Um, Discord. Did he do his job as instructed?"
Darius shook his head in frustration. "The fool was too caught up in his mind games to be of any real use. Only lasted a day. But now we have new information. 6 natives wielding very powerful magical artifacts defeated him. Well have to deal with them before the rulers of this infernal world can be dealt with."
"Excellent! More data to catalog! But I have some bad news as well. As you may have inferred, the chancellor is most displeased with this latest development. He has decided to delay the assimilation until more information can be gathered. For of course all of this world’s culture must be preserved before it can be erased. So as punishment, you are on info detail."
Darius did a double take, halting his forward advance. "Did I just hear you correctly? I have to gather all the data!? Myself!? But I'm an assassin! A precursor! I kill and roll out the red carpet for the invasion force! Not do meddlesome bookwork!"
The robot flinched. Well, that's not the worst of it. You have to infiltrate their society incognito, which means being disguised as one of the natives; these "ponies" as they've been dubbed."
He almost dropped he crystal, and had he figure speaking to him not been a hologram he'd have put one glove fist strait brought that metal face. He was doomed. Doomed to become a pony for an insurmountable amount of time.
Angrily, he punched a nearby tree, cracking the bark. "How long does he want me to observe?"
The robot checked another list. "About a week or two; not that long."
Darius released his pent up breath. Only a week. He could manage that. "No, that's not as bad as I thought. Do you have an illusion kit for me?"
"Yes. It should arrive any minute. Good luck Darius, you'll need it."
Darius nodded. "And thank you, Cormack."
The purple gem died along with the image. He slipped it into his coat pocket just as a bright flash signaled the arrival of the aforementioned illusion kit. He walked over to the small silver box and grabbed it by the handle. He slowly pulled up, drawing out a small sliver like crystal. He removed the crystal and knelt down to activate it. It pulsed once, and then an image of a pony appeared in the air above. The oddity was that this pony was a blank. No color, no fur, no features. He touched his palm to the image and it swirled, assimilating his very being. The image grew calm, and what he saw perplexed him. The colt in front of him was almost midnight black, with just a hint of a purple sheen. It's mane was similar to his own spiky almost comic styled hair, but while his was white, the ponies was purple. Same for the long ragged tail. It had wings. Good, a Pegasus meant flight, which meant stealth. Pegasus were lighter than the other ponies. The mark was a dark crimson silhouette of a dragons face, with empty black eyes. His is own eyes were a deep crimson as well, and his trait carried over. The whole thing looked fast, fearsome, but also adorable and harmless. "Dammit. This is so wrong."
He nodded in approval and the crystal shut off. He picked it up and braced himself against the pain. Taking a deep breath l, he slammed he sharpened end into his arm. He let out a grunt as the sharp point pierced his flesh, and immediately the magic took effect. His affinity for the shadows made it the optimal medium for the magic to flow. Like liquid, the shadows of the forest flowed around and over him, forming a cocoon. The shadows fluctuated and moved, then with a pop the cocoon shattered and there stood Darius. Darius the pony. How humiliating.
Nonetheless, it was time to put his plan into action. Before he could even take his first step in his new body, a white flash wen off to his right, and there sat a pale white letter, sealed with wax impressed with the seal of the chancellor.
Gingerly making his way over to the letter, his new legs felt like jelly, not moving the way he thought they should. He made it to the letter, but encountered a new problem. No hands. He cocked his head in puzzlement. "Oh, duh, shadow magic." a small tendril of black wiggled up out of his own shadow and pushed the letter open. He bent down to examine the enteric ate writing.
'Well now, it seems that my finest assassin failed for the first time. But take heart, I am not angry in the least. Your record is impeccable, and this is only a minor set back. I do have a new plan for you though. The Elements of Harmony you mentioned, they are now very important. The magic stored within is now vital to our plans, so I want you to get them. My suggestion would to befriend the wielders of the Elements. Get on their good side, get all the info you can, and get those Elements. At the same time, should you be presented with the. Chance to eliminate the goddesses, take it. Celestia and Luna are too powerful and corrupt to be left alive. And their souls will be your reward. Good luck my friend, do not fail.
~Corsaiphus
Darius read it over twice to commit it to memory, then used his shadow to vaporize it. "Well then, Twilight Sparkle looks like we are going to become good friends."
He laughed manically to himself. Before jumping off and flying strait up into the dense cloud layer. He figured a dramatic entrance couldn't hurt. Ponyville was in for a big surprise.
As was the new Pegasus. The clouds felt alive, not cold and wet like on other worlds. He beat his new wings a couple times and emerged out the top of the thick rain clouds. Up here the sun was un-obscured. The landscape was an endless sea of white and blue. He lazily drifted down and slighted on the plush surface below him. “Oh, my god. I’ve seen the others do this before, but to actually be able to do it…”
THOOM!
A bright flash left him blinded. Suddenly he was no longer standing on a cloud, but human, and sitting in a seat. There was a low roar that grew in volume and frequency. He felt himself start accelerating. He looked around, and found himself in an airplane. He looked out the window as the ground rapidly shot past. With a lurch the vessel lifted from the earth. He looked to the seat next to him, and a man with a kind face smiled back. He had a thin beard and was very tall. He looked familiar. His father or uncle perhaps? But just as suddenly as the memory came, it faded away into the void. When Darius came to, he was lying on the soft surface of the dense cloud layer. “Another memory. If only they lasted a bit longer…”
He didn’t know why it had been set off, probably from the feeling of flight. He shed a single tear. The moisture confused him; he hadn’t shown much emotion since he awoke in the continuums main medical hall nearly a hundred years ago. He lifted a hoof and picked the tear off his face. He held it close and examined it. A single pure drop of saline. He put his hoof back down and let the tear mingle with the rainwater below.
