Chapters 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 lifting 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.
With the procedure done, I allowed Twilight her freedom. The little mare barely registered this and remained rooted to the spot. "What have you done to me?" she 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 with a gasp of pain, Twilight sank to her knees. "Your life is 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 you will be rewarded. You 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? Do you pledge to serve and di..."
"Yes! Yes, please!" He burst out in 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 where 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 whimpered 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, she remained composed. A slight, unconcealed hint of defiance adorned her features, her poise proud and rigid.
"Your name?" I asked.
"Astral Drift," she said.
"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."
"No."
"No?"
"I won't," the defiant mare said.
I took a step closer. The proud mare was forced to crane her neck to match my gaze.
"Why?"
This seemed to throw her off.
"You have many years left to live," I clarified. "Are you willing to throw them away just to deny me?"
Astral Drift's mouth twitched. Her chest heaved as she took long, deep breaths.
"You," she said, poison in her words. "Are a blight, Ganondorf. The world is better off without you in it, and I will not taint my soul by doing evil's will. You may have cowed my colleagues with your barbaric actions and crude ways, but know that your immature threats mean little to me. I've lived a good life and am ready to move on from from this world. As for you... I hope that you and the rest of 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.
"No!" Twilight wailed, reaching out a hoof to the elder mare. The other lab ponies made similar actions of distress, but knew better than 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 cursed language lost to the mists of time; first spoken in the ancient past by a lineage of heretical lizard kings. As the defiant mare's life gave way, my speech quickened as I called forth the foulest magics into being.
My hand sank into Astral Drift's chest, bypassing muscle, skin and bone entirely. I concentrated, the profane 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 newly birthed shade and allowed her to examine her discarded mortal shell.
"This... how can this be?" She whispered, eyes wide in disbelief. "This can't be what comes next. This feels... wrong . This," 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 forelegs around my throat in a futile hope of strangulation and other such pitiable efforts to try and exact a modicum of revenge. I allowed her to do so, knowing her efforts were for naught.
Eventually, she lost heart and settled on the floor, weeping and stewing in misery over her failed gambit.
"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 are not safe from me. This wretched soul dared to defy me and now her spirit is bound to me, cursed to wander this mortal plane 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? "
I blinked. Or... I tried to, at least.
What's going on?
My eyes were open. I tried closing them, moving them, but my body would not respond. Something's wrong.
My heart beat. I could feel it, and I heard the blood pounding in my ears. But my body... I could not move an inch. A thick, hard something pressed down on every side of me, enveloping my body, preventing even the smallest twitch. Sucks, too. I really needed to scratch my nose...
I tried taking a breath. Stupid, really. Whatever it was that covered me did a fine job of plugging my nostrils. There was no air. I couldn't breathe!
So why am I not dead?
After some time, I don't know how long, my heart ceased its constant hammering, going back to a more sedate pace. The thought was more than a bit disconcerting. Last I checked, people needed air to live.
Right?
Maybe I could break out of here...
Where was here anyway? Though I couldn't move them, my eyes remained open and in front of me was a sea of aquamarine. Veins of red, green and pink could be seen throughout. A rock of some type? No, or else I'd be seeing nothing but dark. A crystal prison, perhaps?
The hell is going on?!
Think, damn it. Think. What happened before all this?
Last thing I remember was... the bus. Yes, the bus. It hit me, didn't it? It's starting to come back to me, yes.
I... I remember being in my apartment. Not a specially eventful day. It was my day off work and I'd been taking it easy, lounging and spending time as I saw fit and then... the convention! Yes, I bought a ticket. I was in the computer, amusing myself by photoshopping a picture of a shaolin monk headbutting a small child when I received a call from Alex.
Yes, it's getting clearer. She called to make sure I remembered to pick her up. Honestly, she can be such a mother hen sometimes. I left the computer and picked out my costume, an ostentatious(read; expensive) set I ordered online. A plastic(obviously) armor, plated and in mute, dark colors of blue, black and gold trimmings, a dark crimson cape that touched the ground. Hell, I'd even swung by the local military surplus store a few days earlier to pick up a little tub of black camo paint.
I picked out the costume, the essentials and placed them in my car, going the well-traveled route to pick up Alex. We made it early and we both went to the respective dressing rooms to put on our costumes.
Alex looked, for lack of a better word, divine. An elegant, flowing dress that complimented her slender figure. White skirt and gloves of an almost silken material that reached past her elbows. Her auburn hair flowed like a river, combed to perfection and a tiara of gold(at least something that resembled gold) completing the outfit. She looked like a queen.
Or rather, a princess. Princess Zelda. Yes, she chose that costume.
For months she pestered me to participate. I didn't particularly like the idea of going up on a stage for the masses to judge, but she wore me down to the point that I accepted.
Our number was called, and we got a fairly positive cheer from the masses. Alex grinned, supporting herself against my armored figure in the classic, uh... damsel in distress pose, I think. The crowd ate it up and me? Well, I just scowled, arms stiff against my sides. No one seemed to mind.
The convention ended, and we made for the car. I didn't want to pay twenty bucks to park so I chose a spot a couple blocks away, despite Alex's protests. She had removed her princess shoes(I don’t quite remember Zelda wearing heels. Oh, well.) going barefoot while I held her bags' worth of merchandise. Because I'm the guy and all.
She stalked a few paces ahead of me, enjoying the cool night breeze, reminiscing of a 'successful con'—we won second place, by the way—while I contented myself by agreeing to every point she brought up, not paying much attention.
Then the damn bus came. We crossed the street while the asshole driver stopped too late. Well, I think we might have jaywalked, so there's that. Alex was still gushing over how she commanded the guys' attention in her costume—couldn't blame her, really—that she didn't see the multi-ton death machine barreling toward her.
Well, I did. I lunged forward, tackling her out of the way. So much so that she kind of flew a bit, landing hard on her hands. I wasn't so lucky. The headlights drew nearer, the near deafening sound of the horn, yet the last thing I remember was her scream. Alex's voice wracked with panic and desperation as she called out my name.
'Alex.' Almost involuntarily, I said her name. Well, more like a guttural sound emerged from my throat. Was my voice always so deep, so guttural?
Questions, questions, questions. All these questions, yet no answer. Anger welled within me. Anger at being trapped in this prison, anger at not knowing where I was, anger at these questions without an answer, anger at not knowing if Alex was safe.
My heart pounded again, racing. The anger... it strengthened me. Like a good friend, long since lost, meeting again for the first time. My right hand pulsed with warmth, power. A power I'd never felt before, yet felt right, as familiar as the blood coursing through my veins.
My muscles tensed. I felt invincible. Powerful. I allowed this power to fill me like a drug and used this newfound strength to break out my prison. Cracks formed in front of me. Not good enough. I needed more strength, more power, and as if tuned to my thoughts, that small source of power from my right hand answered, gifting me with even more strength.
I jerked my limbs in any direction I could. The cracks grew larger. More power, near limitless, flowed from that small source at my hand and this time, the crystal prison shattered.
Shards exploded every which way, crashing against hard surfaces, mirrors and metal. And yet, I could have sworn I heard multiple voices cry out in surprise.
I gasped, drawing in mass amounts of precious air and it filled my starving lungs like the sweetest ambrosia. My eyes followed. They adjusted to their new state, similarly drinking in the refreshing feel of air. Nothing but the dull grey of concrete beneath me.
"W-what in Celestia's plot..."
A voice. Weak, trembling. My gaze lifted, only to land on a... horse? With armor...
I blinked stupidly and realized I was not alone. More of these small horses, garbed in armor. And they all came in baffling ranges of color.
Wut?
They all goggled at me with unnaturally massive eyes and for several seconds, I did the same.
I studied them and realized the horses... well, more like ponies, I think, wore two different sets of armor. One darker than the other, in black. They stood on opposite sides of me, their armor scuffed and damaged. Some of them had weapons strapped to their sides and almost all scraped, short of breath or bleeding from minor cuts.
Opposite parties. Recently fighting. A war of some type?
What the hell is going on?!
Steadily, I rose from my kneeled position. Was I always this tall? Last I checked, I stood a respectable six feet, but damn, I think I gained at least a foot and a half. That or the little ponies came in extra miniature. I didn't have anything to compare them to, so it could be either way.
Several sets of eyes followed my every movement, wide with either awe or fear. I took in my surroundings. A chamber made of stone. It certainly had seen better days. Furniture lay smashed, in rubble, windows broken, banners and tapestries ripped apart or scorched and two massive chandeliers hung from the ceiling.
Sweeping over the room, my attention was commanded by a mirror, just a bit taller than me. Pieces of it lay missing, as evident by the many shards of my crystal prison that shattered it. I stepped toward it. My body felt more robust, full of power and muscles more massive than I was accustomed to and I swear, the ground trembled lightly with my every step.
I did not recognize the visage before me. Or... I did. I just wasn't used to seeing it where my face should be. My skin a dull, grayish blue, red hair and a broad, massive face that radiated malice. I knew it well and the name escaped my lips, a whisper.
"Ganondorf."
Many thoughts ran through my mind, most of them focusing on how absurd a situation I found myself in. Ganondorf. I looked like actual, fucking Ganondorf from Twilight Princess. In vain, I tried rubbing my face with a massive hand, hoping the camo paint would peel back, revealing my tanned skin. No such luck.
Shit.
In a desperate attempt for answers, I turned my frame to the only other living things in the room.
"Where the hell am I?"
The soldier ponies looked at each other, and upon closer inspection, I noticed for the first time some spotted little wings while a fair few possessed a horn atop their heads.
"Your honored. If I may?"
For the first time did I notice a third party in the room. From around a corner that led to another room stepped out yet another horned pony... unicorn, I guess. But unlike the rest of the ponies, this one wore a lab coat atop a fairly professional looking shirt, tie and sweater vest. His coat white, mane black with flecks of gray and a pair of square-rimmed spectacles on his face.
Flanking him were six other ponies in lab attire, younger than him, most likely his subordinates and unlike this guy, fear, anxiety and wariness marked their features. The lead lab pony continued on.
"You are standing in the Palindrome , a research outpost built on the outskirts of Vanhoover. These barbarians, " he spat out the word, pointing at the ponies clad in black armor. "Broke in and tried to slaughter everypony, trying to take our research and use it for their master's fiendish purpose." My eyes flicked to said ponies. "For years, a fell king named Sombra took up arms against the princess. He wrested control of the Crystal Empire and started a campaign to depose Celestia and claim fair Equestria as his own."
I didn’t much understand what this all meant, but it basically boiled down to 'we're the good guys, them ponies in black are bad and they should feel bad'. This professor pony continued on, listing any number of crimes and atrocities that Sombra and his cronies performed during the war, and overall did his best to paint the attackers in the worst possible light.
"Here at the Palindrome , our purpose was to research the finding of new magics and technology... anything that would help our nation beat back the threat of Sombra."
"P-professor!" A brave pony, a unicorn mare, spoke up. Clearly a subordinate to this guy. The lab coat covered the lavender color of her fur while her purple mane—with what looked like a straight pink highlight running through it—was tied in a neat, tight bun. She whispered cautionary words, too low for me to hear, eyeing me warily.
"Be silent, Twilight!" The professor pony hissed, conking the little mare upside the head and harshly reprimanded her. She retreated meekly, head hung low and didn't speak again.
Despite all this, my mind still remained oddly blank, my state only interrupted by a slight flicker of annoyance. Hell, I was still trying to process the bloody fact I was now Ganondorf! While the older pony unleashed a hushed tongue lashing against this Twilight, I lightly rapped my armor with my knuckles. Genuine metal, not plastic.
But then, if I really am Ganondorf...
I brought my right hand up for inspection and in its back, a triangle, glowing in a yellow hue. The Triforce of Power.
"So it is real," I whispered.
"Hey, freak!"
My head snapped up. A pony, a pegasus, one that according to the professor served this Sombra dick. He hovered in the air, the flapping of his wings keeping him steady even as he aimed a loaded crossbow at me, tipped with a very deadly looking steelhead bolt.
"I don't know what you are, but if you don't hug the floor in three seconds, I'll put a bolt through your head."
I always considered myself a pretty laid back person. It took a lot to get a rise out of me. Except my parents. They had an uncanny ability to get under my skin, bless them. Still, I'm pretty sure that even in a situation such as this, I'd be a very compliant little hostage. And yet, in spite of the very lethal weapon trained on me, my lip curled into a half sneer, not impressed in the least, annoyed and slightly amused that the little pony would even dare to try and threaten me.
Three seconds passed.
"Move!"
"Silence, worm! Know your betters," the words left my mouth before I could stop them.
The pony fired. Some of the lab mares gasped, the prof guy hissed and through it all, my composure remained.
"What? " My pony assailant barked in incredulity, for in my grip, inches from my face, was the bolt. A squeeze from my part turned into a number of harmless splinters.
"Is that all you got?" I taunted.
The pony snarled. Commandeering a weapon—a mace—from one of his comrades, he launched himself at me. I suppose he intended the impact would take me down. Rather, he crashed into my armor, bouncing off like a tennis ball. I didn't move an inch.
The egghead ponies looked on, intrigued.
"Stay your hoof, peon. My quarrel is not with you." I didn't usually engage in flowery, articulate speech, but seeing how I now occupied the body of freaking Ganondorf, I don’t think a 'Hey, dude. Chill.' Would cut it.
He recovered, scowling, and hefted the mace in his mouth. Must have some strong neck muscles...
He came again and this time I felt... something. A whisper from the darkest corner of my mind. It told me to destroy, to kill this insolent creature for rebuffing my mercy so callously. Memories not my own flashed before me. A desert, an isolated tribe of people. Me, under the tutelage of witches. Many nights - years - under their care, the hot desert wind chafing my skin, rituals undergone under the light of the full moon, numerous trials and lessons spent mastering the art of magic, a skill further enhanced by the blessing of the Triforce of Power. Centuries of life, knowledge and experience were recalled in an instant.
As if guided my instinct, my palm met the pony's incoming charge. Magic flowed within me, a movement as practiced and natural as breathing at this point.
"What the...? Let me down. Let me down, you freak!" The pony struggled, thrashing, wings flapping furiously as he fought to squirm from my magical grasp.
His struggles seemed to rouse both armed parties. Finally overcoming the sheer surprise and bafflement of my entrance all armored ponies rallied. Whether to pounce on me or beat the hell out of each other, I did not know. Nevertheless, I acted in response.
The Triforce of Power granted Ganondorf with near limitless mystical power and I used this to my advantage. Stone rubble lay everywhere. At my command, the pieces took on a life of their own. They converged around the startled ponies, encasing them and with yet another practiced motion, the shattered stones melded together trapping the unsuspecting equines in a stone prison.
My eyes then found the lab ponies. They seemed harmless but even so, there was much I did not know and I wasn't about to take chances. With a grasping motion of my hand they found themselves rudely jerked from their semi-hidden position. Yelps and screams of surprise and fear resonated as they flew through the air, roughly dropped before me.
Good.
With Ganondorf's mastery of magic at my whim, the stone floor beneath the ponies rippled and they panicked as the hard surface they stood on took on the consistency of quicksand. Luckily for them, their deaths were not what I sought and so I returned the floor to normalcy after their legs were properly sunk, trapping them in place.
The armored ponies had not been idle. The sound of metal against stone returned my attention to them. The unicorn ponies' horns emitted auras of different colors and this very same aura enveloped weapons which futilely struck the stone in hopes of freeing them.
Magic. The little ponies could cast magic or at least, only the unicorns seemed to be able to. Not acceptable.
Imposing my own dark power on them, the aura on the ponies' horns was overcome by a dark miasma, effectively blocking the flow of magic from their horns. Weapons dropped unceremoniously. The lot of them eyed me with renewed wariness and astonishment. The prof guy's eyes shone in greed while the little lavender mare looked defeated as can be, seemingly accepting her fate.
I resisted the urge to run a hand through my face. Really didn't want to deal with this shit.
Alright, let's get this over with.
Putting extra weight under my armored feet, I stepped forward. The ponies ceased their struggles, all sets of eyes on me.
"Now, what do I do with you all?"
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.
Ignoring the lab ponies' hushed murmuring, I turned my attention to the rest of Sombra's lackeys. I repeated the same procedure on each of them, bending them to my will. They fought, they resisted, but the outcome proved inevitable. With each successful attempt, my understanding of the procedure grew, my actions becoming more efficient, faster with each new addition and by the end, before me stood nine ponies loyal to my will.
"Now," I said, hand clasped behind my back, pacing before my obedient ponies in formation next to each other. "Which of you is the leader?"
A unicorn stepped forward. She removed her helmet, revealing her to be the first of Sombra's minions I turned to my side. “Acting lieutenant Permafrost, sir,” she saluted, her posture rigid in a perfect example of military poise.
“Acting lieutenant? Where's your superior?”
“Deceased, sir. He fell shortly after our initial assault. As the next highest ranked pony, I assumed command of our platoon and continued to lead the attack on this facility.”
“You bastards!” A voice shrieked. All eyes diverted to its source, a unicorn mare, one of the eggheads with pink coat and her curly mane a lively shade of green. Her little face twisted in a hateful snarl, poised to lunge at the black armored ponies. “You killed our friends, our colleagues and for what? What did we ever do to you? Why did you attack us?”
I looked back to Permafrost, who remained unfazed by the smoldering gaze of the pony. “Answer the question,” I ordered and she did so immediately.
“Our assault on the facility was in lieu of an invasion of Vanhoover. Our scouts found it a few weeks back. Further surveillance indicated this to be a research outpost of some kind. Command have the order to infiltrate and secure this facility."
"For what purpose?"
"To secure or destroy anything that may be used against the Empire, and to eliminate those who would conspire against Sombra."
"So it's true?" A small voice asked. A fearful lab pony, a pegasus mare with lively orange coat and blonde mane. "Vanhoover is under siege?"
"The first stage of the invasion should be taking place by now," Permafrost said stoically, her voice devoid of warmth or sympathy. The lab ponies shared troubled looks.
"I'm sorry, Sunny Side," Twilight said. "I know you had family in Vanhoover."
The mare shook her head. "No, no. It... it's okay. They left for Dodge Junction a few days ago."
One of the armored ponies, the ones fighting against Sombra's invading forces, spoke up. “And what good does that do for us? Imp reinforcements could show up at any minute."
I looked to Permafrost for confirmation.
“No reinforcements are incoming, sir,” she said crisply. "Our mission was fairly low priority in regards to the invasion. Not many outside our platoon are aware of this facility's existence and none will pay it much mind. They have a city wide invasion to deal with."
I nodded in satisfaction. Last thing any of us needed were additional forces storming in and causing even more trouble. But the fact still remains that I needed a plan for the immediate future. As of the moment, Vanhoover was falling victim to an invasion. Going there would be an absolute no-no. I would need a means of escape from the Palindrome. Hopefully a vehicle of one sort, if these ponies have them. If not then… I dunno. I suppose I could have a few of them strapped to a cart of some sort and act as my personal draft beasts?
Seems a little demeaning…
But that can wait. I still had a set of ponies unaccounted for. Sombra’s lackeys now sweared fealty to me and they converged around the rest of the ponies. Now to sort them out. Unlike my new minions, these ponies were outside my control. They saw me, they were aware of my existence and knew to a degree what I was capable of. To simply let them loose and risk the very possible scenario of them mouthing off about me was unacceptable.
For the moment, I'd much rather remain anonymous, at least until such time I gained a better understanding of this world and letting these ponies go free would be detrimental to that. No, for the moment, I couldn't allow them to go.
I turned to my new lieutenant. "We need a way out of here. A way to remain unnoticed by both Sombra and Celestia's forces and put distance between us and this siege."
Permafrost eyed the armored ponies still trapped in their stone prisons. "The scouts reported an airship under these ponies' possessions, hidden beneath a cluster of trees nearby. If we can commandeer it, we should be able to hide in the clouds and remain unnoticed."
"And make a swift retreat while we're at it," I murmured to myself. This would do for now.
At my command, the ponies under my spell removed their counterparts’ helmets. All stallions, eyeing me with either anger, fear or wariness.
I addressed what looked to be the eldest among them, a stallion with a slate grey coat, no horn or wings. A particularly impressive specimen. Despite his weathered age, his body was powerfully built and a steely resolve evident in his brown eyes.
“Your name, if you please,” I said, trying to go the courteous route this time.
“Anchor Weigh, captain of this company,” he growled, his voice gravelly, a permanent growl etched into it.
Captain? What a fortuitous set of circumstances.
"Anchor Weigh," I said imperiously. "Do you swear from this moment forward to follow me and obey my commands, be they good or ill, even if following such commands are detrimental to your life? Swear fealty to me, lay down your life at my honor and you will be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams."
His eyes bugged out, his teeth bared and he exploded in a string of unpleasant insults and remarks, some very much creative. I was somewhat impressed, but unsurprised.
"So be it."
His stone prison dissolved into grains no bigger than sand. I had no intention of allowing him to live, of course. It became clear almost immediately that I'd be unable to sway him to my cause and even if I could force him to obey me, he was a captain and so held some measure of influence or authority—both of which could be used against me.
His body hung ramrod stiff in midair, my magic paralyzing his muscles, allowing him only command of his eyes and lungs. The remaining ponies watched in morbid fascination or dread, knowing the captain would soon expire; but this would be no normal death. An example had to be made out of him.
I closed my eyes, bringing my palms together. The world surrounding me grew faint as I meditated, breathing deeply. The Triforce surged with power as I called forth dark magics alien to this realm of existence. The air grew cold, almost unbearably so and the amber glow emanating from the torchlights dimmed as an unnatural force permeated the room.
Opening my eyes, I saw them slowly take shape—a dark miasma that had not been there moments ago. Their forms coalesced, dark and ghostly, their faces cowled and slender arms that ended in wicked talons. Six wraiths altogether that hovered above their offering, leering down with eyeless masks, appraising the terrified pony.
An unearthly, earsplitting screech escaped one of the wraiths as it swooped down, its immaterial body phasing through the helpless pony. The rest followed suit. Not even my magic could hold back his screams now. His fur sloughed off, skin erupting in boils and blisters and tearing in seams as the wraiths devoured him. His muscles melted, his blood boiled, his bones caught on fire and his body steadily deformed amidst the feasting of the wraiths until all that remained was the stench of organic waste, a pile of ash and something that resembled snot.
Their job done, the wraiths vanished and I paused to inspect their handiwork. My attention then settled on the remaining ponies. Unadulterated fear and terror marked their features as they gawked at me. A couple of the weaker-stomached eggheads had lost their dinner.
"Now," I said as I stood in front of a certain pony. "Do you, Twilight Sparkle, swear your undying fealty to me and to follow my orders to the best of your ability, be they good or ill?"
Violent tremors wracked the little mare's body as she looked up at me in pure horror. Her mouth worked wordlessly and her eyes grew misty. Nevertheless, she pushed on through the fear and uttered the words that would prove her salvation.
"I do."
The remaining ponies quickly fell in line. I conscripted the rest of the guards into my service, their value and experience obvious. The rest of the eggheads, however, were a bit trickier to deal with.
"In today's world, you need a good mechanic and somepony who knows machine maintenance. I'm the best, graduated at the top of my class. I swear it boss, you won't regret taking me on," a perky mare said.
"Sunny Side, I can't believe you," an appalled Twilight Sparkle said. "This mad human killed Astral Drift and threatened us with death!"
Sunny Side puffed up in indignation. "Screw you, Sparkle. I got dreams and a life, and I don't plan to die on this pit."
I conscripted Sunny Side and with her example, the rest of the eggheads spoke up, offering ways to apply their skills. In the end I wound up with a complete horde of over twenty ponies, some more willing than others, but all bound to me and my will.
"May I ask what your plan is, sir?" Quantum Point asked, seemingly unbothered by the fact he now served as my vassal. "Obviously you don't intend to remain in this facility."
The professor was, admittedly, a bit of a curiosity for me. When I delved into his mind, I saw what drove him forward. It wasn't money, nor fame, no. Quantum Point's ambitions were far more lofty. Immortality. To be remembered for generations to come alongside such names as Clover the Clever, Starswirl the Bearded and Ipso Facto. He saw my magic in action, and unlike the rest of the ponies, saw it as an opportunity to further his own dreams. He entered into my service in the hopes of studying me and my magic. He schemed to replicate and put it into the hooves of the common rabble, for my own brand was unlike anything the spellcasters of Equestria possessed.
This... this I could work with. So with that in mind, I appointed the professor to oversee the matters of the rest of the eggheads; their leader as it were. A role he was already accustomed to.
"We will commandeer your guards' ship and make a swift retreat from the battle site."
"That might be a problem," Permafrost said, stepping in. "A token force was left to guard the vessel. I wouldn't be surprised if they expect periodic reports from the guards stationed here."
"So they might know something's wrong?" I asked.
"Not yet," Twilight Sparkle said, to my surprise. "The guards are required to check in every hour or so." When I stared questioningly, Twilight ducked her head, cheeks blushing and mumbled. "I... kinda watch them from time to time."
One of the nearby soldiers tittered. "Oh, she doesn't just watch them. I've seen her go out every other day, bringing them drinks and vittles. Mare's a sucker for a colt in uniform," she snickered, causing Twilight to withdraw even more into herself.
"And how long ago was the last check in?" I asked.
"There is still time," Permafrost said. "We too were aware of this and mounted our assault once the guards sounded the all-clear. I estimate at least ten minutes before they start to realize something's wrong."
"Then we must move immediately," I concluded. The invasion of Vanhoover would begin shortly, if it hadn't already. From what I gathered, Sombra's armies put on a bit of a show when pillaging cities. Artillery rounds would fire and devastate the city's infrastructure, pegasi squadrons would swoop in from the air and drop payloads of explosives, and the ground troops would swarm in from all sides, decimating the civilian population. Complete and utter chaos, which would provide a very serviceable cover for our escape. Of course, that would be the easy part. A destination was still needed and as I knew very little about this nation of Equestria and its geography, I would need my new minions to weigh in.
But first things first. I motioned for Twilight, Permafrost and a pegasus named Thunderlane to step froward.
"You three will be responsible for securing the ship." I addressed Twilight specifically. "As far as they are concerned, the guards outside have not realized anything is amiss. They know who you are and will lower their guard around you. These two will escort you outside and when the time is right, you will dispatch them both."
Permafrost nodded resolutely, her visage stony and not at all fazed at being ordered to commit cold blooded murder. Thunderlane's jaw clenched shut, his eyes blazing. He'd been one of the ponies stationed to protect the facility and the prospect of killing his own comrades clearly did not sit well with him.
"Whatever bonds you may have forged with these ponies are now irrelevant. You will carry out my will as I demand it or face the consequences." I promptly glanced at the remains of Anchor Weigh and all the ponies followed suit, making the point very clear. Thunderlane's resolve faltered, but as he glanced at the still weeping form of Astral Drift, his resistance crumbled. His face fell, ears drooped and the fight seemingly left him. Good. Now he understood what he must do.
Of course, I couldn't actually kill him at any point in time like I claimed, no. While a portion of my magic was indeed fused to their own core, I couldn't kill them yet. The ponies' bodies and their own magical cores would fight my attempted action, a completely involuntary act, but one carried out by the body's most primal instincts. My meager understanding of the curse allowed me to cause a great deal of pain, but that's as far as it went.
For this, I would rely on the image of fear I cultivated in my short time here. The more the ponies feared me and my magic, the more willingly they would serve and curb any foolish attempts at betrayal. Perhaps with time I would be able to modify and understand Sombra's curse so that I could actually carry out my threat, but as of now, fear was my best weapon.
"I can't do this," a small voice whispered. I turned my head to see Twilight, her eyes shining as she matched my gaze, mustering what little courage she had. "I'm not a killer. I can't hurt somepony, much less kill them. You're strong and we're no threat to you. Let us go, please. Wipe our memories or cut out our tongues, but... I beg of you. Don't make me do this."
Confound it. The little mare clearly did not have the stomach to carry out her orders. The fear of death would compel her to try and do my bidding, but she would be useless if she turns into a quivering wreck. I had to remind myself that she was not a soldier, but a peaceful little pony. She didn't have the stomach for this kind of thing, but I needed her nonetheless. In the end, I settled on a compromise.
Twilight would head out as she normally did, by herself. The guards outside recognized her and a familiar face would put them at ease, and distract them long enough for Thunderlane and Permafrost to dispatch them from behind. Twilight would play a role in their deaths, but she wouldn't be the one to do the deed.
I relegated the new terms to my minions. Permafrost would have no trouble dispatching the ponies, and she would keep Twilight and Thunderlane focused. I appointed the mare as the leader of this little excursion, but that alone did not satisfy me. She needed something that would establish her authority, not just over her two escorts, but over the rest of my minions.
Perhaps a new set of armor? Possibly, but there was no time. Instead I settled on a weapon. Permafrost favored the use of deadly magic in battle and enhancing her strengths would be a good way to establish her new position.
I walked over to the cold corpse of a pony, a lab mare probably killed before I escaped my prison and retrieved a silver pendant, emblazoned with a hewn, octagonal sapphire. I motioned Permafrost over to a cabinet propped against the ruined wall, where I set the pendant. Grabbing her mane, I sliced off a tuft of her snow white hair and set it beside the pendant. Twilight looked on, intrigued and wary.
Then I made a shallow cut on the flat of my palm, dripping the blood into a concentrated spot. Permafrost followed as I took her foreleg and repeated the action. When the components were set, I called once again on my oddly intuitive form of dark magic, levitating the four components into the air, enchanting them with a single, overpowering directive.
A powerful weapon worthy of my follower.
The components spun round each other and small, crackling tendrils of dark magic sporadically jumped from my fingers. Permafrost's lock of hair would key her amulet to her and her only, so that no one else may be able to make use of it. Her blood sacrifice, though meager, would amplify her magical power and with my own added to the mix, Permafrost would be privy to the use of some of the darker magics within my grasp. The framework behind the enchantment was versatile, able to enhance most form of weaponry, whether mundane metal or arcane. So long as the raw components were present, the enchantment would hold.
With the enchantment done, the organic components vaporized into a puff of smoke, leaving behind a seemingly innocuous pendant. It looked almost exactly the same, though the silver gleam had darkened somewhat, and an undercurrent speck of purple lay at the center of the sapphire.
"Use it well," I said simply as a wide eyed Permafrost donned the pendant. "It is a powerful artifact that will enhance your magic to unprecedented levels. I infused a portion of my own power for you to use." I looked to Twilight and Thunderlane. "Remember everything that has happened here and sear it in your mind. I gave you an order and I fully expect you to comply. Should you plan to escape, betray me or try to warn others, you will suffer a fate worse than death. I can snap you from this mortal coil whether you are next to me or a continent away. Understood?"
Thunderlane's lips pursed in anger, but he knew better than to retort. Twilight looked miserable as can be. It truly was despicable in its own way, forcing them to betray and kill their comrades but it would be an excellent test of their obedience. Nevertheless, both ponies nodded morosely.
"Then your mission is set. Go now and carry out my will to the best of your ability." With that dismissal, Permafrost saluted while Twilight and Thunderlane gave stiff nods. The trio of ponies exited the small room, leaving me with a larger still gaggle of ponies. That was fine. There's still some things we'd need to sort out.
***
The three ponies walked on in complete silence and their hoofsteps echoed somberly in the deserted corridors. Ganondorf's command rang strong and oppressing in their minds, but for very different reasons. Thunderlane forged on ahead, his armored hooves clanging on the stone floor with more force than necessary. The stallion felt a cold pit of dread in his stomach. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that what he was about to do was wrong.
For the past year he had been part of the Iron Hoof squadron. They weren't part of the Equestrian army, but rather an independent private security force to be hired to the highest bidder. Such organizations had sprouted everywhere after the war with Sombra. The conflict had caught the Equestrians by complete surprise and so the nation reeled as it found itself in the first war in six hundred years
Its effects resonated and were felt everywhere across the once peaceful nation. Reports of Equestrian casualties, towns and cities razed to the ground, Sombra's cruel mind magics, and frightening war machines that decimated Royal Guard troops by the dozens.
Back in those peaceful days, when Thunderlane thought about war, images flashed to his mind. Images of battle, glory and conquest, but these were but a fraction of what war was truly like. He did not think about the shroud of terror that gripped the nation. As if Sombra's reemergence hadn't been enough, the foul king had devised a way to conscript prisoners of war to his service.
Whether they acted out of their own free will or some stranger machinations, Sombra retained complete control over his prisoners. In an act of insidious cunning that sickened Thunderlane to his stomach, Sombra had sent such ponies into the civilian populations of Equestria. Those under his thrall did not usually show outward signs of being under his control. At least not until they performed acts of terrorism, slaughtering innocents, murdering key individuals or setting ablaze critical government buildings.
One such fate befell Thunderlane's sister in Fillydelphia as three undercover agents broke into mayor Safflower's mansion, killing everyone inside, including Thunderlane's sister.
After they mourned and buried her, and the threat of Sombra and the war looming over the horizon, Thunderlane's remaining family in Ponyville decided to pack up their belongings and move south where it was safer. The war had consumed the northern Equestrian territories but the south had been untouched thus far but even still, times were hard. The economic climate of Equestria underwent a shift as the demand for weapons of war increased exponentially.
Food shortages followed in sequestered areas before moving into the larger populations. Many ponies, desperate and afraid, looted and broke into stores, hoarding what they could before the near nonexistent guard force was able to pacify them.
That's the main reason why Thunderlane now found himself here, in service of this so called dark lord. The stallion took up arms with the Iron Hoof squadron; one of the many contractors for private security that had risen after the war. The majority of the Royal guard had been quickly rerouted to fight in the northern territories, leaving the civilian populations rather bereft of their presence.
Groups such as the one Thunderlane was now a part of would be hired by the cities and towns to keep order, guard specific places or individuals and of course, these such positions usually lay far from the fighting. That the pay was considerably better than the Royal Guard was icing on the cake.
His work details so far had been unremarkable. The Iron Hoof squadron steadily drifted north across the western border of Equestria. His first assignment had been guarding the casino of some hotshot high roller in Las Pegasus; good pay and save for the occasional forceful ejection of a rowdy patron, unremarkable. In Stalliongrad he'd spent a dull three months guarding the opulent mansion of a particularly paranoid media mogul and in Broncovitch he had his first taste of real combat as the Empire's forces decimated the city.
The populace had been caught completely by surprise and with the Royal Guard nowhere in sight, there was no one to oppose the invading forces. In the still, nippy air of dawn, those who were not already up were rudely awoken by a volley of artillery fire. The once peaceful streets, so neat and ordered now lay in rubble, multiple impact craters spread across the whole of Broncovitch and not too far lay the charred remains of the ponies unfortunate enough to be caught in the blast. Those were the lucky ones. Screams and cries of agony soon followed. Ponies lay crushed, slowly dying below the rubble. Others' skin had completely sloughed off from the intense heat, peeling away in strips and melting into an amorphous slag. And worse still were the ones who'd been completely blasted away, only to land on a hard surface, their legs completely blown off.
The Imperial army soon followed, killing without mercy. Stallions, mares, foals. All who resisted would be cut down where they stood.
Neither Thunderlane nor his company had been stationed there to fend off an invading force. Their directive had been to protect a pony with way too much time and money on his hooves and that's precisely what they did. They turned away and retreated as fast as they could leaving the civilians at the mercy of the Imperials. The news that followed shortly after still conjured a well of shame to rise within Thunderlane.
No survivors had been found. When the Royal Guard finally arrived after three days, the damage had been done. Some reports say the streets literally ran red with blood. Others said the victims had been defiled even in death, hung atop bridges and streetways; their heads severed and impaled at the edges of the city, or their bodies nailed across walls, trees and everywhere they could, like a painting or sculpture borne of the mind of a madpony.
Whatever the case, one aspect stood out, as it did had during the entirety of the war. No foals had been spared. The Imperial army's forces had increased at an alarming rate because Sombra forcefully conscripted those he captured, Royal Guard or not. But the mad king clearly had no use for foals. And he wasn't known for acts of mercy either.
And now, under the command of this so called human, Thunderlane couldn't help but wonder if he'd be forced to perform such vile acts in the future. Hay, he was doing so right now.
He glowered at Permafrost, who briskly trotted ahead of him. She'd been an Imperial, like those who killed his sister and committed so many atrocities. He hated their ilk with a passion, he found, and now he was expected to work alongside them? To take orders from these monsters?
I could run, he thought. Knock her upside the head, snap her neck and make a break for it. But that did not save him from the foul sorceries of Ganondorf. The massive creature had not been shy about flaunting his power, which Thunderlane couldn't deny, was terrifying. He felt Ganondorf's magic seep into him like a toxin and even now, as he plotted this possible escape, a sharp shooting pain made itself known inside his head.
Ganondorf claimed he could kill them all anytime and based on the dark magics Thunderlane had just been witness to, he was inclined to believe him. As much as he would have liked to escape, as much as he would love to slit the throat of the nag in front of him and save as many of his comrades as he could, the fear of death put a stop to such actions. He had to remind himself he still had his family to support and truth be told, he really didn't want to die either.
He glanced over at Twilight. She hung her head, crestfallen and followed like a prisoner facing the gallows. Thunderlane wanted to comfort her, say a few words to help her spirit, but he couldn't even know where to begin. One way or another, somepony would die soon.
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.
