My visit to Asinti has yielded results. He was as cryptic as ever, but he gave me a jar which he claims contains a “legion” of demons. I do wonder sometimes what goes on in the old zebra’s head. How can he conduct his research “for the greater good” of zebra freedom and yet exist alongside me, a deer who would see his fellow zebras enslaved? Perhaps this relationship will fall apart once my plans are further along, or perhaps he is old enough to accept a slave state with himself near the top ensuring some semblance of good can be done for his brothers and sisters.

I have just teleported in a few more unsuspecting ponies from around Elisay into my cells and experimentation can now begin. I will give the possessed ponies the same battery of tests I gave the previous subjects, but I do have an idea for a new test to see if the demon is capable of more than its host is.

Subject 1: Earth pony female

Upon opening the jar, one of the demons was quick to float out and in through the ear of the pony. Curious that it acts in such a physical manner rather than merely phasing through the nearest part of the pony’s body. Convulsions are beginning with the pony lying on the ground thrashing. The remaining subjects are being obnoxious as before, but a quick no-carrot-just-stick approach keeps them docile as I break one of their legs to demonstrate the weight of the stick. The carrot is not being subject to additional force. Subject 1 is beginning to stand.

Communication task: Introduce yourself

The demon replies with its name, which is a sound untranscribable on paper. I ask it for information on its host, and it is able to answer in a satisfactory amount of detail. The demon having access to the host’s memories is a positive.

Intelligence task: Generate 50 sets of 2-digit numbers and multiply them

The demon appeared confused at first, but I instructed it to use the skills of the host to complete the task before levitating it a pencil. Apparently, arithmetic is not a skill demons normally acquire. The demon was able to complete the task with 2 errors. Better than those under the influence of Cogeria-Fiducia, but not great. Upon observation of the paper it gave back to me, I noted that the mistakes were both near the beginning, suggesting it did figure out how to multiply by the 20% mark. This is interesting as it implies a learning curve as the demon figured out how to use the skills of its host, but not ideal as one would prefer the effect to be instant. Another thing I hope doesn’t become a problem is the fact it did not go back to correct its old mistakes after figuring it out. Was it simply not aware it made the mistakes in the beginning or just lazy? More data is required.

Endurance task: Don’t stop jumping

The demon expressed annoyance at the mundane nature of the task but began anyway. This jumping was far more vigorous than that of the Cogeria-Fiducia bunch. After 5 minutes or so, the demon informed me that it could use its own strength to augment the pony it was possessing and that it would be jumping for a while. I informed it back that I was aware and that I wanted to test its physical ability. It once again expressed annoyance but continued jumping, albeit with a body language I can only describe as “exasperated”. At the 30 minute mark, it stopped, stating that it was out of energy. My pocketwatch informs me that it stopped precisely at 30 minutes to the second, making this more likely an expression of tiredness than of the full potential of ability. It also means that the demons are perfectly able to count time and do so using the units of the material world rather than some arbitrary standard devised in the realm of the immaterial. When questioned about it, it merely smiled.

Self-harm task: Cut yourself

For this the demon was almost ecstatic, gleefully cutting its host with the provided knife. It kept going without my prompting until I told it to stop. The demon informed me that they hold no concept of self-preservation for their hosts as they existed beyond the realm of the physical. This could be a downside, as while I have great ponypower reserves to draw upon thanks to mind control, I can’t afford to simply throw bodies at my enemies. The demon also took this moment to inform me of their kind’s thirst for blood. I’m sure it thought it was being scary or creepy, but I found its display of playing with the blood of its host more juvenile than anything else.

Observation task: Where is the ball?

Before moving to a task of incapability, I wanted to test the demon’s magical senses. In theory, beyond the physical senses the demon should still be able to use its sensory abilities making it more than its host was before. I did a standard setup of the “cups and balls” trick sometimes referred to as the 3 shell game and asked it where the ball was after shuffling them. Of course I had teleported the ball away before completing the shuffle, and the demon was able to pick up on this, correctly identifying that no matter what it picked it would be wrong. Good.

Impossible task: Fly

When asked to fly, the demon looked at me like I was stupid and said it couldn’t be done. It launched into some tirade about how its host was an earth pony and how it was insulted at the request. No mention of a plane, but maybe it won’t even know what a plane is unless I make it search its host’s memories. This level of impertinence is not ideal for the final product. Maybe Asinti would have a better chance in wrangling these seemingly immature demons into doing what I want, but it appears that, in general, handling them will be basically just like handling any other free-willed creature. A test with an incapable task will not be necessary after seeing this response.

Paradoxical task: Assess the truth of the statement “This statement is not true”

The demon was able to reason the response and eventually stated that there was no correct answer. Perhaps all these demons have a penchant for trickery and have a good nose for it as this one was able to beat the 3 shell game as well as trying to trick me that it was fully exhausted after the jumping, but the only way to find out will be to test the other demons on my other subjects.

On the whole, I am disappointed. These otherworldly beings are just as lazy as those in this world. To top it all off, they know not of many of the advancements the world has gone through or just don’t care. Many subjects expressed annoyance at doing math or other repetitive tasks and were easily bored - not suitable for factory work. They proved relatively bright when it came to the 3 shell game, but mostly uncreative when faced with an impossible task. The increased endurance is nice, but the fact they will not go all the way and will lie to me to avoid working more is not acceptable. The one possessing the pony whose leg I broke whined the whole time during the jumping. I know they have no sense of self-preservation for their hosts, so it was clear the demon was just trying to avoid the monotony of jumping or navigating the task of moving the broken leg as it made no effort to fashion a splint or to do anything else to make jumping easier.

The dealbreaker, though, is their answer when asked why they obey my commands at all. They responded that they were interested in Asinti - merely curious. I cannot have slaves that are loyal to him and not to me, especially if they are not even particularly interested in our world in the first place. The key here is that these demons are also intelligent beings, well if not intelligent at least conscious. Motivating them to do tasks is the same as motivating the host without them, and without belief in my cause, laziness is inevitable.

This then forces me to reconsider my original hypothesis that Sombra uses umbrum to possess his soldiers. Perhaps, as king, there is an in-built cultural belief system that encourages the umbrum to serve him with more fervor. It could also be that he just uses a spell. Regardless of whether my speculation is true, it was only ever an intellectual exercise. The only important question is if I can gain inspiration as to how to tackle things here in Viirad. The answer is that this path, while it could have niche applications, is mostly a dead end.

I pulled the demons out of the ponies and returned them forcibly to the jar. The ponies returning to consciousness expressed varied forms of bewilderment, evidently not remembering anything. Some collapsed from exhaustion while others began to cry in pain of the wounds the demons inflicted on them. I teleported them back to their villages before it got annoying. Now there is nothing left to do but to ponder anew.

Author's Note

I always did wonder how Sombra's mind control worked, but we never see that much of it in the show, so a mystery it will remain.