I took a quick glance out my window. Only an old lady taking her dog for an early evening walk. I looked again at the calendar. Nothing changed. I pinched myself. Nope, not a dream. The time was right.
Giddiness overcame me as I threw open the door to my closet and brought out my costume. It was an almost perfect copy of Altair's robes. The primary difference was that these robes were colored gray along with a couple other adjustments and bits that were either missing or there. I didn't really mind that much. It took forever and a half to get it in the first place.
I looked at the clock. It was about 7 P.M. The party was at eight. I had an entire half hour to prepare. “Perfect.”
The robes were comfortable, and I felt extremely awesome in them. The only bummer was that I lacked the hidden blade and the throwing knives. I did, however, own a sword. A friend gave it to me after he won the lottery. Quite a shame he’s dead now.
Should I bring it with me? It is a real weapon after all. Meh, I should be fine as long as I don't act like an idiot.
I took the sword from its sheathe and swung it around a little bit. All I knew about swords was that the pointy end goes in the other guy. Other than that, I knew pretty much nil about swordsmanship. After a few cautious swipes, I sheathed it and attached it to my costume.
I was pretty much set to go. The clock read 7:05 P.M. The party was only two streets away.
Driving or sneaking? … Yeah, I think I know the answer to that question. Life is boring without a risk or two.
I threw on my hood and went outside. I closed my door as silently as I could, then I ran into my backyard and jumped my fence. I wandered in the direction of the party as stealthily as I could. The crunch of the grass beneath my feet made me feel wary. I nearly got spotted by two other costumed people when I came to a gap between the fences. One was cosplaying as Dante from the Devil May Cry series. The other was cosplaying a pony. I backtracked onto my butt when I saw them. Thankfully, they didn't notice me. It would be difficult to explain to my neighbors why I was sneaking on their lawns with a bladed weapon.
“So why exactly are you cosplaying as a character from a little girl’s show?” ‘Dante’ asked to his companion.
“For one, because I can. It’s also something new, damn it. I’m tired of wearing my Grim Reaper costume every time,” the brony, who I recognized was cosplaying Blueblood, responded.
Now I wasn’t a brony myself. It’s just that I took a look at what’s popular on the Internet and found that stuff there. I watched the show whenever I was bored. And now I’ve just recently finished season three. No, that does not make me a brony. I just watched it because I was bored. Right? Right.
I waited until they turned the next corner and got up to start sneaking again. That is, if I hadn’t spotted something lying beside my hand in the grass. The kleptomaniac inside me that I let out whenever I played video games urged me to take it. A closer look revealed that it was partially embedded into the ground. A little bit of effort and it was in my hand.
It was a silver ring. It shined in the moonlight. I felt a strange compulsion to wear it.
What the hell is jewelry doing on Old Abe's lawn? The old coot moved out two weeks ago.
I turned it over, revealing a tiny patch of rust on the outer part. Aside from the rust, it looked rather new.
Nah. He wouldn't have forgotten something like this. He always was attached to his stuff.
Well, it looked like nobody was looking for it. Might as well keep it. I moved to put it in a pocket, but I hesitated as the compulsion struck me again.
No! It’s rusty. You can get tetanus if you get yourself cut with it. But then again, there aren’t really any sharp parts. Ah screw it.
I put it on my right hand’s ring finger. Immediately after it slid into place, a black liquid seemed to excrete from it. Immediately, I tried to wrench it off, but I couldn't move. I could only watch as the liquid crept over my body.
This is gonna suck.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I woke up to a throbbing headache. I groaned and held my head. Fortunately, the surface I was lying on was soft.
Wait, soft?
I managed to pull myself into crouching position. Then I opened my eyes, and immediately regretted it. I was momentarily blinded by the amount of light entering my eyes, which did nothing for my headache if I may add. Then I opened my eyes again.
The colors were the first thing to hit me. It was extremely bright and vivid. Then I noticed my surroundings. I was crouching near the foot of a somehow-familiar looking tree in a forest. I stood up and noticed I still had my costume on.
Considering my environment, I was actually pretty glad I had it. This sword wasn’t for show. As soon as the thought made its way through my head, I pulled the sword from its sheath.
Rusted. That was the word that described it. The sword had patches of rust on it. I stared at it for a few seconds before shaking my head. I wasn’t even going to try to explain that.
Speaking of rust…
I looked at my right hand and my suspicions were confirmed. I still had the damn thing on my finger. I felt a mixture of shame, anger, and fear entering my mind. I quickly got a hold of the ring and tried to yank it off. Keyword: tried.
Somehow, it wouldn’t budge an inch. Believe me; I almost tore my finger off trying to. Frustrated, I sulked in the shadow of the tree. Then I heard it.
Who dares disturb my rest? An evil and dark voice came from everywhere.
My brain jumped into overdrive. I jumped up and waved my sword around. I cut through air like an idiot.
… What the hell was that? I mean really? That was pathetic as shit. OH! Uhm I mean, WAS THAT THE BEST-
Too late. I managed to figure out where he was.
What the hell are you and what are you doing in my mind?
Shit. Ah well. To answer your question, I am the Ring of Corruption. And I am here because you are an idiot who picks up random objects without thinking about the consequences.
What.
Hey, here’s a tip. Look up.
I followed the ring’s advice and looked up. Above me were two very familiar alicorns. And they didn’t exactly look friendly. They were both wearing armor as if they were going to battle. And as my luck would have it, they were looking in my general area.
I didn’t want to take my chances, so I stood rooted to my spot. The two alicorns descended and landed on the bright side of the tree. It was at that point that I silently pressed myself against the tree, trying to avoid a panic attack.
There’s no way.
Keep saying that. It’ll most definitely help us out.
Fuck off Mr. Sarcasm. I don’t need your shit right now.
I leaned around to see the smaller alicorn say something, “Art thou sure that the source of the darkness We felt was here, sister?”
The larger alicorn, which by now I was pretty sure was Celestia, replied, “There was no mistake sister. We know that the cad was here. It is likely that the wretch fled.”
Luna stomped her hoof on the ground, leaving a horseshoe imprint on the ground, “Then We must not waste time! We will leave for Everfree at once! Captain Blunt Hoof must be notified about this incident.”
Celestia frowned, “Did thou forget about the Court Mages? The Arch Mage should be able to track him down with his Eyes.”
Luna rolled her eyes, “Again with the Mages? We have had enough of their insolence.” She flared out her wings, “If thou needs Us, We will be forming a few search parties.” She took off at the last word.
Celestia sighed, “We have not even combed through the area. Methinks that Our sister is growing a little spoiled. And she was the one who could see through shadows too.” She shook her head and took off after Luna.
Whelp, we’re fucked.
I felt an idea worm its way to the front of my mind.
I highly doubt that asking them to purge me from you is a good idea.
It retreated a bit.
While they were busy chit-chatting, I took the liberty of binding myself to your soul.
It backed up considerably.
So purging me would kill you.
It crammed itself in the back of my mind along with the rest of my darkest thoughts.
I started pacing around, having detached myself from what I was pretty sure was the Golden Oaks Library when the alicorns left, “Who the hell would make something like you?!” I growled out. There were actually several beings, fictional and non-fictional, that I knew would want something like that. But who cares? I’m wandering around in a land of order carrying around an artifact with corruption in its name. The fact that I narrowly evaded discovery through the sheer dumb luck of having been in the shade of the tree while Luna, who could apparently see through shadows, was preoccupied with talking to her sister and did not search the area for some reason was not helping my mood.
… ‘Ring of Corruption’ isn't my name. It was the title given to me. And you know that I can hear both your conscious and subconscious thoughts.
Alright, alright. Now would you kindly explain your unholy existence?
It was starting to rain, but I didn’t care. I needed information. Now.
I’ll give you a quick run-down then. My creator was called ‘The Spirit of Corruption’, ‘Corruption’ or ‘The Corrupter’ because his name was nigh unpronounceable. You should’ve seen his face when one of the other guys tried to say it. So he stopped saying his name and just gave his title-
I know this is very interesting for you, but can you hurry up with it?
Sheesh. Fine.
The rain started coming down in bucket’s worth. I looked around for some shelter. Answers are good and all, but not having pneumonia is better.
An immortal who called herself ‘Truth’, taunted him for not having an artifact of his own . So he threw a tantrum and refused to speak with Truth for a decade. When he got over it, he tried making an artifact. I was the product.
While I was ‘talking’ with him, I managed to find a road. Roads meant civilization. Then I remembered that civilization was most likely talking equines. I needed to have a plan of action before first contact. So I turned right around and tried to get the hell away.
“Hey you!”
Keyword: tried. Damn that’s getting old.
I turned my head to look at the caller. It was what I feared most at the moment. A pony. And he was trotting towards me.
Don’t act suspicious.
No shit Sherlock.
“It’s raining hard here. And you have that look on your, well, eyes that tells me you’re a bit lost. How about you stay with my family tonight?”
Dafuq.
Don’t you remember the show? These beings are rather naïve and friendly.
Oh yeah.
I nodded.
“Follow me,” the pony said. Seeing that I had no other choice, I followed him. The dirt under my feet felt as real as the dirt from my world, even if it was a bit brighter.
It didn’t take long. During the trek, I noticed that he had a hammer and sword crossed into an X as a cutie mark.
Blacksmith maybe? Might be military.
Why are you thinking in fragments?
Shut up. You don’t even belong here. Don’t judge me.
This coming from the self-proclaimed kleptomaniac.
Touché, ‘Ring of Corruption’.
How about we stop talking now?
Because of me not paying attention to where I was going, I bumped into my host, “We’re here.”
From what I could make out, his house was rather large. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted another building, “Are you coming in or what?”
I looked forward to see that the pony was inside the doorway looking back at me, “I’m coming in, just taking a look around first.”
I followed him inside, ducking under the doorway as I entered. The host held out his hoof, “Name’s Tempered Steel.” I shook his hoof, “So what’s yours?”
I haven’t thought this through.
Maybe you should use your real name?
No. There is no way in hell am I going to use that when I can make a better one. Hold up, I have an idea.
I know. Same mind, remember?
“My name is Altaïr.”
Steel started walking down the hall, “I’ve heard stranger. Let’s go eat.” I followed him, a neutral expression on my face.
The inside of the house was rather spacious. The ceiling was a full meter over my head so it didn’t sink in quite as much that I was no longer among my species. We passed by a few rooms as we walked to wherever the food was. One of them was just a hall connecting to what I suspected was the shed I saw outside.
We rounded a corner and entered the room directly after it. Inside were three other ponies, all of them scrambling to fix the table in the middle of the room. Tempered Steel stomped his hoof on the wooden boards. Everybody stopped what they were doing and went up to greet him.
After he nuzzled each of them affectionately, he gestured towards me with his hoof, “Everypony, I’d like you to meet our guest here for tonight.” The youngest one waved at me, “Hi!” she said, “My name is Sunshine!” I nearly recoiled when she came up next to me and poked at my leg. “What are you anyways?”
A yellow earth pony with a happy face cutie mark is called Sunshine. Sounds generic to me.
Steel sighed, “Can you please stop poking our guest, Sunshine?” While he was saying that, a brown earth pony pulled his sister back. “Let me go! I can walk by myself,” Sunshine said in an annoyed tone.
As his sister sulked at the corner of the room, the brown earth pony looked at me apologetically, “Sorry, she does that all the time,” he apologized, “Anyways, my name is Dusty-“ he patted the gray pegasus beside him, “-and this is Sharp Steel.”
Sharp Steel eyed my sheath, “You’re a soldier?” he asked.
I was quick to respond, “No.”
“Mercenary?”
“No.”
“Bandit?”
“No.”
“Do you even know how to use that thing?”
“…No.”
Tempered looked at me incredulously, “How did you survive the trek here then? There are all sorts of monsters in the Everfree forest, not to mention the raiding parties from the Canine Khanate.”
Canine Khanate?
Don’t ask. It’ll make you look weird.
And why are you giving me advice?
Later, when we’re alone.
“Hello? Is anypony home?” I snapped out of the mental conversation to see Sunshine prodding my leg again. Dusty gave her a stern look. She sighed and backed away.
Tempered looked at me expectantly, “So how did you?”
There was only one explanation, “Luck, and a bit of stealth.” It was technically true, if you counted hiding behind a tree as stealth.
Sunshine perked up when I said stealth, “What did you hide from?”
Tempered sighed, “Sunshine, it’s time for bed.”
Sunshine’s ears drooped down and she grudgingly trudged out of the room. Tempered looked back at me, “You can take the guest room. It’s two rooms to the left.”
I offered him my thanks and walked towards my temporary room. Once I was sure that we were alone, I sat down on the bed, not bothering to remove my apparel.
Already thinking ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ are we? You adapt fast.
Just continue your story.
Fine. So Corruption made me. Since he wasn’t really an artificer, the best he could do was a simple ring. Of course, his ego couldn’t allow that. So he poured quite a lot of his energy into the finished product. To accomplish that, he put part of his soul into the ring. That was his first mistake. The soul fragment became independent of him, and he noticed it. But he didn’t destroy it. That was his second mistake. The independent soul fragment started showing signs of intelligence. Corruption hastily ‘programmed’ me to corrupt.
Programmed?
I was like an animal at first. And Corruption was not really subtle when he corrupts. So he forced his way into my primitive mind and made corrupting others the only thought in my head. After doing that, he withdrew from my mind and boasted to Truth that he made an artifact that was much better than any of her own.
He sounds really petty.
Saying that Corruption is petty is like saying an ocean is a puddle.
While we were conversing, I unhooked the sword’s sheathe from my belt and put it against the corner. The room wasn’t all that bad actually. The walls were painted, the floor was neat. The fact that the bed was just my size, considering that I was in Equestria, was rather surprising.
After a few centuries, my intelligence evolved from ‘primal’ to ‘sapient’. Unlike my owner, I grew to like corrupting through harsh truth and risky gambits. My owner preferred the opposite. He relished in deception, which was probably why he and Truth didn’t really get along.
What do you mean ‘was’?
Don’t interrupt me. Now, after a fierce argument on how we should corrupt other beings, Corruption decided that I was becoming dangerous. So he tried to destroy me. As you can clearly see, that didn’t work. He reached towards my mind again in an attempt to reclaim his soul. Unfortunately for him, he had a greedy soul. So instead of calling the fragment back, his soul left him in an attempt to merge with the fragment. His soul left behind his host body, which was some random bipedal, squid warlord. He always had a taste for the bizarre.
Before the transfer was complete, he realized what was happening. So he put a dimensional snare on me leading towards here, and cast me away to the nearest planet. I landed on Earth about three billion years ago. Really boring. Over the ages, people have worn me, but none had enough darkness in their soul to trigger the snare.
Are you calling me evil?
Well, you did kill three people in cold blood, one of them being a child. Of the hundreds who wore me, only half actually killed a person. And it was always because of revenge, self-defense, being a soldier, or being a vigilante. You were the first to actually kill for yourself.
So the cycle continued, with me getting lost, sold, or stolen from my owners. Then you found me and the snare activated. And then I bound myself to your soul. Now you are physically immortal. They can stab and shoot you, but you just won’t die. They can burn you to ashes or chop you to pieces, and the passive energy of my slumbering creator would eventually reform you in a matter of minutes.
Slumbering?
The Spirit of Corruption is still very much alive. But he’s effectively in a coma. Which brings us to the next topic at hand, using his power.
The sound of a sword being unsheathed broke me out of my mental conversation. I looked around to see Sharp Steel eyeing my rusty sword in disgust, “What is this crap? Blunt, rusty, did you just find this in the back of a cave?”
Sword’s enchanted. Don’t lose it.
“What are you doing in my room?”
Sharp put the sword back in its sheath, “I thought that you might be hungry,” he picked up an apple that I recently noticed was beside him and held it out. My stomach finally made itself known with a small gurgle, “Knew it.”
I sighed and took the apple, “Thanks.”
You can’t starve to death either.
I ignored it and tore off a small chunk. Sharp nodded and gave the sheath one last hard look before turning to leave. By the time I finished the surprisingly delicious apple, the house had gone dark, the last lantern blown out by Sharp as he exited.
So, should I finish what I was saying?
No, you just dumped a bunch of lore on me. The rest can be told tomorrow.
I can wait. You’re in for the long haul anyway.