A War on Two Fronts

Not for the first time did I wonder what sort of trouble I got myself into. It's bad enough I find myself in a pastel colored land filled with midget, three-flavored ponies. Hell I could even handle being Ganondorf, to a degree. But apparently, if what the prof guy says it's true then there aren't even any other humans here save myself! Well, humanoid, at least. Technically Ganondorf is a Gerudo, not a human, but still.

"Is... is that what you are called?" A small voice asked. It was the little lavender mare. "A human, I mean?"

"I am," I said simply and moved over to stand in front of her. Our difference in height became all the more pronounced and she gulped, her ears folded back as my massive form loomed over her. I kinda wanted to feel guilty, seeing how she seemed to be a nice little egghead and how... cuddly she looked. Still, way too many thoughts raced through my mind and almost all of them pertaining to know what the hell I got myself into. "And you are?"

Gotta give it to the little pony. Scared as though she may have been, she licked her lips and answered to the best of her ability. "T-Twilight Sparkle, sir."

"Ganondorf."

"Excuse me?"

"My name is Ganondorf," I clarified. "And you... you little ponies found me. How?"

At this, the prof guy started to protest, but a menacing glare from my part shut him up. Twilight seemed to get the message.

"Our lab equipment detected unusual readings below the bedrock of the Palindrome. From those readings we were able to identify the source as a large deposit of minerals that brimmed with an unusual form of magic. We spent weeks trying to dig deep enough to be able to retrieve it, and when we did..." Curiosity highlighted her features, while fear lessened. "We've never seen anything like the crystal that contained you.

"Its composition tested harder than any other known mineral... even diamonds. We tried different methods to try and break off a piece for study, but it resisted even our most powerful spells and strongest drills. Besides its unusual readings, we determined that something lay at the very center, but we didn’t know what."

"Me," I muttered.

"Yes. We hoped that whatever lay inside would yield... something. Something we could use to help Equestria match the fury of king Sombra's armies."

I mulled this over. "You talk of this king Sombra who you're at war with. Who is your faction, little pony? Who is its leader?"

"I am a citizen of the sovereign monarchy of Equestria, ruled over by princess Celestia."

"Celestia..." I tasted the name on my lips. "And you answer to this Celestia, do you?"

"No, she doesn't," the prof guy called out loud and clear. "And neither do we. We are subjects of the monarchy, but this facility and its findings are privately owned and funded. The crown has no claims to ownership of our discoveries and research."

"Is this true?" I asked Twilight. She nodded stiffly after a moment's hesitation.

I was, to put it lightly, in a bit of a pickle here. The no human thing would make me stand out no matter where I went and the Triforce of Power would more than likely put me in the crosshairs of more than a few individuals. Such is war.

"Who is winning this war?" I asked Twilight.

"Sombra had the advantage at first. He pressed on the northern borders of Equestria until we slowed his advances, but our losses were heavy. The Empire's war machines were unlike anything we'd seen before. Many ponies fell prey to them," she said solemnly. "To combat this, Equestria was forced to embark on a technological revolution for any means to combat Sombra's machines. We've managed to slow him down, but his army is nothing if not relentless."

"It's unnatural, is what it is," a male unicorn said, one of the eggheads. "Sombra's done something to the ponies under his control. They fight longer, harder and tirelessly. He does something to them. They're unfeeling. Cold and ruthless."

"I-it's true," a pony mare, a regular one piped up. "He bolsters his ranks with prisoners of war. He conscripts them... brainwashes them or something. They fight for him. I've seen them kill friends, family, loved ones. Even my sister Starbright, she..." The pony trailed off. She squeezed her eyes shut, pushing back what without a doubt was a painful memory.

Damn it. Goddamn it! What did I get myself into here?

The logical side of me overrode any emotional, impulsive response. What did I have so far? Stuck in Ganondorf's body, another world, sapient ponies warring among each other. A research facility where they found me. And these eggheads... they set out with the goal of finding something to help them win the war... only to find me.

I had absolutely no desire to be involved in the conflict between entirely different, alien species. And yet, I couldn't run. Perhaps there existed a way to return me home, though I did not know it. For the foreseeable future, I'd be stuck in this strange land. Options, options, what are my options?

Sure, I could go off and live like a hermit in the wilderness, but I have absolutely no survival training. I'm a city person, dammit. No, no. Whatever it is I am to do, the fact remains I'll remain on this world for the moment. Sooner or later, the natives will find me. My presence will be made known. It is inevitable but even so, I have a measure of control over the situation.

I looked to the black armored ponies. Walking over to them, I removed one's helmet. A white-maned, blue-coated unicorn. Female, I believe. Her red eyes glared at me in defiance and I stared back dispassionately.

"Your name?" I asked evenly.

"Fuck you, thing!" She spat. My fist met her jawbone. Her head snapped back from the force of the blow. She moaned in misery as she got her bearings, spitting out blood and a tooth. You had to admire her. Despite the pain she no doubt felt, her defiance remained.

Stubborn? Maybe, but would she really risk further injury for something so banal? No, this was something else. Loyalty. Either she was loyal to a fault or, like the pony said, she really was brainwashed. I looked to the rest of Sombra's lackeys. They too held in their eyes that tell, that sign of absolute, unyielding will. This might be trickier than I thought. I needed information from their side, but how to get it? Bribery, extortion, blackmail. All respectable venues, if I had anything to use as leverage.

I turned to the prof pony. "You. What's your name?"

"Professor Quantum Point," he declared proudly.

"And tell me, professor, what is your theory on how Sombra buys his soldiers' loyalty?"

He hesitated. "You must understand, this is not my field of study," he said carefully. "Most of what I know has been heard secondhoof from various colleagues in Canterlot."

"And that is?"

"From what I hear, Sombra imparts an enchantment on his soldiers' armor... a curse that imposes a measure of his dark magic in their minds, slowly overriding their will and mental fortitude until all they know is loyalty and servitude to the mad king."

I grunted in acknowledgement. This is good enough to go on.

From what I knew, even before coming into the possession of the Triforce of Power, Ganondorf was already an accomplished sorcerer, eventually becoming a master. His feats with dark magic were many and varied and he could use his near limitless reserves of power to fearsome results. Breaking a curse shouldn't prove too hard.

The unicorn mare flinched as I placed a massive hand on her head. Her struggles, curses and protests fell on deaf ears. I closed my eyes, concentrating and delved into the inner recesses of her mind. An odd sensation to say the least. The material world ceased to be and I found myself floating within a field of emotions.

Images flashed before my eyes, fleeting. A filly passing the doors to her first day of school. A broken vase, anxiety flooding her system; adult ponies, standing in front of her looking down disapprovingly. A flowery meadow, laughter and children's voices in the warm air as she played with her friends. An emotional goodbye as she set out from her parents' home, heading out into the world. Terror as her city burned, legions of black armored equines laying waste. Her struggling body forced into a set of cold armor, a foreign presence overriding her will.

These images and many more—a lifetime's worth filtered through. I pushed them aside and delved deeper. There was a presence there; an oily, dark thing latched onto her consciousness like a parasite. It overshadowed every single aspect of her psyche. It's presence was foreign, clearly it didn't belong there. I poured a measure of my magic in an effort to pry it off. No such luck.

Sombra's curse had been there a while. It had time to grow and burrow enough into her mind, all but fusing itself to it. To remove it by force would cause massive trauma to her brain. Death would likely follow. This... this is good.

Sombra's corruption flared all around, encompassing the pony's psyche. If I couldn’t remove it, I could do the next best thing. I used my own dark power to counter Sombra's own. The opposing magics clashed, vying for dominion of her mind. I could sense her physical body, wracked with pain, spasming as the inner battle took place.

Even then I could tell Sombra had quite a talent for magic. His curse was... sophisticated. Beautiful, even. To be able to inspire such fealty on an individual without erasing any semblance of personality and independence was no small feat. And to be able to perform it in such a large scale as an army... well, my respect for him increased tenfold.

Nevertheless, the limitless amounts of mystic power the Triforce granted me proved more than enough to undo his influence. My power overcame his, engulfing the leech planted in the pony's psyche, thus replacing his will with my own. If I couldn't free the pony, then I would make her mine instead of his.

When it was done, I pulled back, extracting myself from her mind. The physical world greeted me, everything exactly as I left it, my hand still resting on the pony's forehead. She moaned pitifully and I removed it, taking a step back and allowed her time to come to her senses. Her eyelids fluttered open and found me. The hostility I'd seen there not long ago was no longer present. She now eyed me evenly, a measure of respect evident on her features.

Her stone prison crumbled at my will and when she stabilized her footing, she saluted, her figure a perfect poise of a military salute. "Sir," she said loud, crisp and clear.

I smiled. There was no question now. She belonged to me.