No words were said as the ponies made their way down the winding slope to the airship. Twilight's stomach felt as if it was twisting itself into a tangled knot. Queasy and terribly uncertain, the young unicorn would never again complain about having a bad day.

It wasn't bad enough Quantum Point's nerves had been getting gradually strained. Having no luck piercing the strange crystal that contained their new lord and master, the professor had started to take out his mounting frustrations on his apprentices.

Twilight had been the latest victim in the aged unicorn's warpath of pettiness, having been ordered to stay up the night monitoring the crystal for any such readings of the faint magical waves it radiated. A pointless exercise to be sure, so who could be more surprised than Twilight when the faint, sporadic trickle of magic took a sharp turn in the opposite direction, growing from almost nothing to staggeringly obscene levels in a matter of seconds.

The sharp spike sent out a roiling wave of magic at its most primal, wild and unfocused and it hit her senses with all the subtlety of a rampaging minotaur... and alerted Sombra's forces to her location. Had it not been for the force of guards stationed nearby to protect the precious crystal, Twilight and her fellow apprentices would have surely perished at the hooves of the invading forces.

By all accounts, Ganondorf's emergence should have been a momentous occasion, a fascinating new entry in the annals of anthropology and the magic arts. As the first pony to make contact with him, Twilight could surely form a bridge of trust between the two and come next morning, to the astonishment of Quantum Point and her colleagues, Twilight would proudly introduce Ganondorf, and so her rightful and well-earned rise in the academic fields would begin.

No longer would she have to toil in obscurity and have to carry out the grunt work of her superiors. Her dues would be paid and she could escape the constraints placed by those above her to truly branch out and begin independent works of her own. She would prove them once and for all her one abysmal failure all those years ago did not define her. Doors would open everywhere for her and Twilight would be awarded so many recognitions that even she would realize her mistake in not taking Twilight as a student all those years ago.

But her foalish dreams were just that - dreams. And the gossamer veil of her fantasies came crashing down around her.

Ganondorf was as far from the noble remnant of a long-forgotten race as could be. In his wake rose a cruel overlord who shackled them all with his dark power, demanding complete obedience; and seeing the terrible fate that befell those who dared oppose him, Twilight would be made to comply.

But Twilight was a good pony. Or at least she tried to be. Her loving parents raised her as best they could and they, along with Shining Armor, did their best to instill good values in Twilight. Her introverted nature drew many a bully in her darker foalhood years and even with the rare few who decided to get physical with their bullying, Twilight could never dream of fighting back.

Hurting another pony went against everything she stood for. So how could she possibly play a part in another's death?

"Why have you stopped?" Permafrost's hard voice said. Twilight looked up to see that indeed, Thunderlane and Permafrost were well ahead of her. "We got a mission to do. Keep moving."

"I... I feel..." Twilight grimaced and heaved, spilling her stomach's contents on the grassy plain. The pegasus, Thunderlane, moved forward to pat her on the back, but offered no words.

"Can you keep going?" Permafrost asked, trying not to sound impatient.

"I think so," Twilight said thickly. "I just... I don't..."

Permafrost sighed, mentally rolling her eyes. "You've never killed a pony, have you?"

Twilight shook her head.

"And you won't have to either. Just put on a smile and act like everything's normal. We'll take care of the rest."

"But they're my..." Twilight did not know what to call them. Were they friends? Acquaintances, perhaps. The introverted pony was proficient in many academic and scientific fields, but in social interactions she failed spectacularly.

"This will be done with or without you," Permafrost said. "If Ganondorf finds out you did not do your duty, he will kill you where you stand. Better them than you."

"Lay off of her," Thunderlane snapped, more angrily than he intended to. "Not everypony is like you imperial scum."

"Shows what you know, pegasus," Permafrost sneered. "Sombra brainwashed the ponies under his command to kill, me included. You should bear me as little animus as you would a spider killing a fly."

"You heartless nag! These aren't flies. These are my comrades! Do you really think I can just kill them like some unfeeling machine?"

"Yes. If you want to live to see tomorrow you will. Whatever your choice, it matters little to me." Thunderlane's fur bristled in anger. "I can kill them all myself if need be, with or without your help. You should ask yourself if you're willing throw away your life knowing your friends will die no matter what. Feel free to do so if you're feeling noble. If you want to live to see tomorrow, you'll stay silent and follow my lead."

There were no more words to be said after that. Thunderlane's whole body trembled with rage, his visage fixed in a mask of mental pain. He had never killed anypony. As a member of the Iron Hoof squadron, the most he'd ever done is maybe push back unruly individuals getting too close to his clients and now he was expected to kill in cold blood? The ponies he'd known for over a year, no less?

Every fiber of his being screamed at the injustice, the sheer wrongness of the atrocity he was about to perpetrate. But his sense of self preservation niggled at the back of his mind, pushing against any reservations he may have had. As much as he didn't want to go through with Ganondorf's plan, the idea of a fate worse than death was very much unappealing.

With no other options, the small group mobilized again.

Twilight settled on a modest canter, not going too fast or too slow, trying not to hyperventilate and to relax the clenching of her jaw.

Her thoughts raced, desperately trying to find a way to mitigate the coming damage. Her mind was one of reason and logic, long since used to solve many an academic problem. Her current situation though, was far from academic. She looked at the situation with an objective eye, finding slight comfort in the well-practiced routine.

Ganondorf. Who was he? What did he want?

She could not say for sure. Even in the extensive lexicon that was her mind, she'd never even heard of such a creature. Clearly he was versed in the dark arts, employing them to horrific effect. Could he be another Sombra, a sinister entity drawn to the worst war Equestria had faced in a thousand years? She'd read past tomes on how strife and conflict could draw malevolent supernatural beings, like the Windigos who'd punished the ancient tribes for their petty squabbles.

Was Ganondorf such a being? She doubted it. He didn't seem driven by instinct, nor did he lay waste to all he saw. Murderous actions aside, he appeared to be a perfectly logical, intelligent creature. But, Twilight noted, he appeared out of his depth to some degree. He questioned her and others on commonly known matters, though that was to be expected, seeing how he'd been trapped in his crystal prison for what was surely thousands of years, possibly dating back to a time before the first ponies set hoof on the land they would claim as their own.

Which led to the question, who trapped him? Did the first ponies face him? Did they encase him in the crystal and seal him away, hoping he would never return to plague Equestria again? Was he a dark lord who sought power and conquest like Sombra?

Possibly, but she couldn't say. Twilight tried to put herself in his hooves.

If I were trapped for thousands of years and suddenly awoke to a strange land, surrounded by ponies on two sides of a war, and those same ponies attacked, what would I do?

If she possessed Ganondorf's stoic composure and power, she would subdue everypony and get some much needed answers. She would want to avoid conflict until she'd gathered enough information to decide what her next move would be.

She nodded to herself. So far this seemed in line with Ganondorf's way of thinking. He was cold, intelligent, ruthless, but most importantly, practical.

He could have killed them all and eliminated all witnesses. With his power he could surely go unnoticed for some time, yet he obviously knew the value of keeping a loyal force who could be of service. He killed Anchor Weigh for his defiance. He killed Astral Drift and shackled her disembodied spirit to demonstrate his power to carry out punishments worse than death. Their demise served a purpose and even the two imperial ponies who'd attacked Ganondorf had been spared.

More sure of herself, Twilight assessed her view on Ganondorf. Here was a creature, hostile and cruel, but rational to a degree. His actions so far did not speak of one who killed unnecessarily or on a whim. Rather, those actions served a purpose; a purpose which could be of benefit to him. So what if, Twilight thought, he could be convinced to spare the ponies not yet under his service.

Enough ponies had died today and if she could prevent more from falling at the behest of Ganondorf's orders, then she'd resolve to see it happen.

Swallowing hard and gathering her courage, Twilight halted in her tracks. She turned to see a hard-faced Permafrost.

"W-we don't have to kill those ponies."

"This is not up for discussion, Sparkle," Permafrost said harshly and Twilight shrank back. "We have our orders. Or have you forgotten what happens to those who defy Ganondorf?"

She certainly didn't. Anchor Weigh's screams as the dark specters devoured him and Astral Drift's anguished cries would stay with Twilight for a very long time.

"I remember," Twilight said quietly. "But Ganondorf hasn't taken everything into consideration."

At Permafrost's expectant look, she continued. "L-like you said, these ponies trust me. They'll let their guard down around me and—and you could just as easily incapacitate them. Killing them would be wasteful a-and wouldn't it be better if they live to serve Ganondorf? Surely he could see the value in increasing his forces." She then pointed a hoof behind her, where the shadowed top of the airship peeked above the trees.

"And we need somepony qualified to fly that ship," she said more confidently, knowing she spoke the truth. "These machines are complicated. Ganondorf will need somepony with the know-how to actually get it working."

"That's right," Thunderlane said quickly, eager to add his two cents. "By the captain's regulations, a pilot and at least two engineers are ordered to stay close by the airships in case we need to move out quickly. Without them we won't even be able to operate the ship."

Permafrost said nothing for several moments. Her sharp eyes darted back and forth between Twilight and Thunderlane, searching for any sign of deceit. She had her orders and she was compelled to follow them, but as her experience in Sombra's army had taught her, things did not always go according to plan. Mistakes were made, parties could act unexpectedly, intelligence could be faulty and it was up to a capable leader to adapt to the changing situations and devise a way to carry out their task.

Not to mention she found it hard to pinpoint any weaknesses to Twilight and Thunderlane's argument. She considered the possibility they were lying, but surely Ganondorf's dark magic would strike them down if they sought to conspire against him. And having fought on the frontlines of Sombra's technologically superior forces, Permafrost knew for a fact pilots and engineers were indeed necessary to work the machines. Their skills and knowledge were not easily replaced.

Repressing the urge to sigh, Permafrost knew what she had to do.

"Very well. We'll subdue and restrain the ponies and let Ganondorf decide whether to enlist them." Twilight and Thunderlane perked up at this. "But I am still in command and should the situation dictate, we will use lethal force."

The two ponies seemed to have barely heard this and nodded well enough. Now they moved again, Twilight with a more confident spring in her step and Thunderlane in considerably higher spirits, having secured this small victory against Ganondorf's madness.

Author's Note

It appears to be a concern with some of you, so allow me to put those worries to rest. There is not and will not be a crossover planned for this story in the near or long-term future.