Even before coming here, finding myself in this strange world without warning, I'd always been a bit of a paranoid fellow. For a brief stint during my teenage years I'd even become one of those conspiracy theorists you hear about on the news, seeing intricate government plots everywhere when, usually, there was really nothing of interest.

But here and now, in this most unusual of positions, I could be forgiven if I took Twilight's admission of fealty with a grain of salt.

"What are you doing?" She asked fearfully, ears splayed back and tail tucked between her legs. The rest of the eggheads and those guards not loyal to me watched on with morbid fascination, not one of them lifing a hoof or voice in protest.

I ignored Twilight's question. She wouldn't like the answer anyway. With one massive hand cupped under her chin and the other resting on her crown, just above her horn, I allowed my dark power to leech into her mind. Twilight whimpered in pain and though I would normally prefer the procedure to be painless and swift, I was not yet versed in this particular form of magic.

In breaking Sombra's hold over his victims, I'd managed to glean the intricacies of his curse and with each added recruit, my understanding of his spell grew. Even so, Sombra's curse was astoundingly complex and the brief understanding of it I now possessed was not nearly enough to successfully replicate it. I could, however, create a variant of it.

I planted a portion of my will on Twilight's mind, anchoring it much the same way as Sombra's curse dug itself into the recesses of its victims' minds. That part was easy. To engender complete and utter loyalty from her? Well, I wasn't there yet.

"What have you done to me?" Twilight whispered in mute horror.

"I've implanted a portion of my magic within you. Know that I now hold the power to end your life as I see fit, no matter where, no matter when. It doesn't matter now how far you go. If you attempt escape or conspire against me..." I willed my magic within her to flare, and Twilight sank to her knees, a cry of pain escaping her lips. "Your life will be forfeit. This is the price you must pay if you are to become mine. I can kill you with a thought. I can inflict the most horrendous pain imaginable should you give me a reason," I calmly told the shaken pony. "But I am fair as well. Serve me faithfully and loyally and you will be rewarded. Your will want for nothing and your enemies will become mine. Consider your options carefully."

I left the little mare with that and moved on, eyeing the rest of the eggheads. I approached a nervous looking stallion, thin and gangly and wearing a pair of oversized square spectacles.

"And you? Will you swear fealty to me? Will you pledge to serve and di..."

"Yes! Yes, please!" He bursted out into tears. "I will do anything you want, your evilness. It would be an honor to serve under you and..."

My hand wrapped around his thin neck and squeezed. "Don't lie to me," I said lowly. "I will know if you do. Know that you all are concerned, honesty is the best policy. I have little time or patience for honeyed words."

He bawled like a baby, blubbering and snot dribbling down his nostrils. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry..." He babbled. "I'll do whatever you want. Just please... I don't want to die."

I nodded stiffly. "Very well." I repeated the same procedure as with Twilight, the stallion whimpering in pain as my dark power invaded his mind. When the deed was done, I allowed him freedom. His hooves freed, the stallion scuttled away, hiding behind Twilight.

I stepped in front of the next pony, a unicorn mare. Approaching middle age, if I guessed correctly, around Quantum Point's age. I met her steady amber gaze with my own dispassionate one. Unlike Twilight and the blubbering stallion, a slight, unconcealed hint of defiance adorned her features, her poise proud and rigid.

"Your name?" I asked.

"Astral Drift," she said evenly.

"Astral Drift. You have heard my terms and the consequences that come from breaking them. Will you enter into my service and swear fealty to me. Do so and be assured that I will reward your loyalty accordingly."

The pony stared back, distaste creeping into her features. "You despicable monster," she spat. "You may have cowed my employees with your words and crude ways, but know that your immature threats mean little to me. I have lived a good life and made peace with myself. I hope you and your wretched kind burn under Celestia's light."

The mare had sealed her fate.

I looked across the room, to Permafrost. "Your dagger, Lieutenant." I held out my hand and the pony dutily handed it to me. Steel, nothing special about it. That would have to be rectified in the future.

I circled back around Astral Drift, grabbed her mane and pulled her head back. A swift motion on my part and the dagger sliced the tender skin of her neck. Twilight and a few more of the eggheads cried out for the pony, but made no move to intervene.

As Astral Drift choked on her own blood, I placed a palm on her chest, unheeding the hot liquid that soaked my hand. My mouth worked to form words, an incantation in a language known by very few and spoken by even less. As the defiant mare's life gave way, my speech quickened as I called forth the darkest magics into being.

My hand sunk into Astral Drift's chest, bypassing muscle, skin and bone entirely. I concentrated, the ancient words still flowing from my lips and with a mighty pull, I extracted my hand from the mare's lifeless body.

The ponies cried out in exclamation and horror at the sight before them. In my hand, eyes wide and uncomprehending, was the spectral form of Astral Drift. I released the figure and allowed her to examine her discarded mortal shell.

"This... how can this be?" She whispered, eyes wide in disbelief. She turned to face me. "You. Monster! What have you done to me?!" The spectral pony launched herself at me while I stood my ground, not batting an eye. She flailed her hooves in a mad attempt to strike me, wrapped her legs around my throat in a futile hope of strangling me and me... I allowed her to try and enact any number of revenge against me, knowing her efforts were for naught.

Eventually, she lost heart and sunk to the ground, weeping and stewing in misery over her failed gamble.

"You have seen now what I can do," I said to the rest of the ponies. "I have a hundred ways to kill you and a thousand more to torture you. Even in death you will find no reprieve from me. This wretched soul dared to defy me and now her ghost is doomed to walk this plane of existence, bound to me until I see it fit to release her into the next life. Now," I said and approached yet another terrified egghead. "Will you serve me, or die?"

Author's Note

Just a brief little chapter to get me back in the game. Next one should be quite a bit meatier and eventful.