Bubbles…
A mountain…
A creature… somehow familiar…
"Who am I?…"
I tried to remember, but my mind was clouded. Images flashed past me, ones I didn't understand.
"Where am I?…"
My mind was freed but I was contained, contained within some sealed tank. What was there outside?
"What am I?…"
"I am ready… to be, to be, to be…"
I opened my eyes, I had eyes. Forms moved around me. Ponies? How did I know? More fragmented memories flashed through my mind. "Where… am I? This… this is not the same! Was everything before just a dream?" My mind cried out for answers but received none. One question never failed to leave me even as I drifted back into that unnatural sleep. "Why?…"
I do not know how long it was before I awoke again. Voices echoed through my mind. "Those voices… they are outside… where I must be!" Something surged within me, the power I would soon become all too familiar with. One moment I desired to leave this glass prison, the next I had. Liquid dripped from my body and pooled around me. I raised my eyes and beheld the Ponies clearly for the first time. They were all speaking at once, I could not understand through the chaos of voices. Finally one, clearly the leader, quieted them with a word.
"Let us see if it can use it's Draconian powers," he said in a voice full of some warped anticipation.
The words were unfamiliar to me. "Draconian… powers?"
The Stallion continued, an odd smile on his lips as the others stared at me like they would a freak of nature. "For years I have struggled to successfully clone a Dragon that would prove our theories, but your the first specimen to survive!"
First to have survived? That meant that others, many others, had not survived. Why did this feel wrong? What was wrong, what was right? The confusion ever built within me.
The Pony indicated to what appeared to be an ancient carving on a wall. "That is Murea, the rarest of all the Draconian race. From her DNA we created you Malkor."
"Malkor…" I repeated the name, taking in its meaning. "Then am I only a copy? Nothing but Murea's shadow?"
"You are far greater than Murea," the Stallion said with enthusiasm, "improved through the power of science. We used the most advanced techniques to develop your awesome Draconian powers."
"Then I am merely the end result of your experiment," I realized. "What becomes of me now that your experiment is over?"
The Pony's smile grew. "Oh, our experiment isn't over yet its just beginning! Now the serious testing begins!"
The Ponies chatter began again. Amidst it I heard one proclaim that they could start on "Stage Three", another spoke of putting me in a cage, yet another exclaimed that "The Boss" whoever that was, would be most pleased with them. "These Ponies… they care nothing for me." I looked at my talons, I pressed them together as my mind became ever more stressed. "Is that my purpose? Am I just an experiment? A laboratory specimen? This cannot be MY destiny!"
Guided solely by my rage I began to destroy the Pony's laboratory, sending them scattering. The Pony machinery, for all its sophistication, was fragile and easily torn apart. Mechanical arms attempted to subdue me, I shattered them. Soon the lab lay in ruins. I parted the flames before me as I floated amidst the wreckage. The lead Pony lay in a corner. He said something; I did not hear or care what. My power grew and grew till it engulfed the entire lab. Every life was snuffed out in that one moment.
I stood in the wreckage, the flames surrounding me. "Behold my powers. I am the strongest Draconian in the Equestria." This was my identity, my power. I was Malkor. I looked down at the carving of my original. "Stronger even than Murea." I was tired but my senses immediately detected something descending from the sky near me. A Pegasus stepped out from the smoke and approached me without fear. I did not know how to react.
The Pegasus spoke with power and certainty. "Those foolish Ponies thought you were a science experiment, but I, I see you as a valuable partner."
"Partner?" I repeated, unsure of its meaning.
The Pegasus smiled slightly and nodded. "With your powers and my resources together we can control the Equestria."
My eyes darted to the rubble. If everyone in Equestria was this weak then controlling them would be easy. "I do not need your help for that little Pony."
The Pony seemed to have anticipated my words. "A wildfire destroys everything in its path. It will be the same with your powers unless you learn to control them. I can help you do that."
I looked about at the flaming wreckage. The Pony was right. If I did not learn how to control this power then I would destroy everything around me including myself. "How?"
The Pony's reply was immediate. "Trust me… and I will show you a way to focus your powers that will make you invincible.
I considered her offer. I may have appeared powerful and sure of myself but in truth I was frightened and more confused then ever. I knew nothing of this world or what horrors awaited me if I went out on my own. Still I would not show weakness. I chose my reply carefully, calculated my words with as much skill as this intriguing Pony did. "Show me."
The Pony chuckled.
And so I left with the Pegasus I came to know as Black Canvas. She immersed me in her dark world where the only thing that truly mattered was power. Perhaps I should have realized the truth then but I did not. Perhaps… I didn't want to. This Mare knew so much about the world, she was my… teacher and companion.
Soon I was fitted with the armor that would hide my true appearance. But the armor's effects confused me. "You say this armor protects my body yet it suppresses my power."
"Your powers are not being suppressed, they are being focused," she replied with emphasis. "Learn to use them to accomplish your purpose."
Purpose… how the world plagued my mind. "What is that?"
Black Canvas smiled. "Patience my friend… your purpose will soon become clear."
And so I was patient. Black Canvas showed me how her organization worked. The strong fed upon the weak and everyone's place was determined by the power they held. The highest level was Black Canvas herself followed by Elite members and finally mere Grunts who performed menial tasks. Then my training began.
It was my first true battle. The gate opened and I beheld a creature known as a Hydra a massive 4 headed snake that towered over most other creatures. I did as I had been instructed and focused my powers, willing them to incapacitate the Hydra with a hard throw. My aura surrounded the creature and threw the massive serpent into the wall, knocking it unconscious. "So… this is my power…"
Over the next few weeks I faced many opponents. None could equal my strength. None even seemed to come close. I handled many opponents as easily as one and with mere gestures helped teams of Grunts capture entire Buffalo herds.
"I am in control now."
An Ursa Major was one of the few opponents worth mentioning. Its powerful mind struggled against my own for several moments but in the end it fell just as the rest. In my final fight I defeated a Chimera and Manticore then knocked them all unconscious as I had my other opponents, leaving Black Canva to exit the room without saying a word..
"But why am I here?" The question still plagued me.
Days later I stood alone in Black Canvas' headquarters. In this solitude I again contemplated my existence. "Now I fully perceive my power, but… what is my purpose?"
For the first time my question received an answer as I found myself no longer alone. Black Canvas stood on a balcony overlooking me and looked down upon me. "To serve your Master," she spoke with cruel clarity. "You were created to fight for me. That is your purpose."
I was speechless as the truth revealed itself to me. This Pony, the one being in Equestria I had ever trusted, considered me nothing more then a tool. I didn't want to believe it. "That cannot be!" I cried out begging for this to not be real, "you said we were partners, we stood as equals!"
Her reply was cold and quick. "You were created by Ponies to obey Ponies," she spat out as fact, her voice full of malice and scorn toward me. Her final words deepened the wounds that she had torn in my soul. "You could never be our equal."
There was an odd moisture building in my eyes and streaming down my face. Tears? The word was foreign to me and I soon brushed it aside. A raging storm of conflicting emotions surged within me but soon one began to dominate the others, rage. "Ponies may have created me… but they will never enslave me! This cannot be my destiny!" I struggled against the suite's restraints, tearing through a thick wire.
"Stop this now!" Her order was completely disregarded I had nothing but hate for this Pony now.
The remaining wires disintegrated around me as my aura grew. "I was not born a Draconian I was created. And my creators have used and betrayed me. So I stand alone!"
My power exploded once again and completely leveled my former Master's grand building. My last sight of her revealed her to be fleeing, in fear of my power. I shot out of the rubble, my armor disintegrating as I flew away ever faster. Lost and alone, I fled into the endless blue of the sky.
And so I returned, to the one other home I had ever known. I removed the helmet, all that remained of my suit, and dropped it on the ground, discarding it for the garbage it was. "Who am I?" I asked again, my mind flashing to those strange memories, to that mountain. "What is my true reason for being?"
The time for asking questions was over. My path was clear; the outside world offered me no true purpose. The Ponies had used me, treated me as some inanimate tool, and the Draconians? They had done nothing for me. "I will find my own purpose… and purge this Land of all who oppose me—Pony and Draconian alike." My power grew again I would show them all my true worth, I would dominate this Land that had rejected me. "Equestria will heed my warning! The reign of Malkor will soon begin!"