The throne room is such a massive expanse of crystalline marble and crystal windows that at times during the day it would be almost blinding to those that are unprepared for it, but at night it looked amazing, especially when a certain lunar princess was in the mood and allowed a constellation or two to show on the floor with the power of her magic and the crystal windows amplifying the images of the night.
There was three thrones in this chamber in two, two of them belonged to the sun and the moon princesses but the third one belonged to the head chairmen of the Council. I helped form that position after the question- I mean interrogation from Princesses Celestia and Luna with Councilor Sombra at their side.
Those two were grilling me for hours on end and I only told them the bare minimum of things but when Luna finally got impatient however...
The three of us entered the throne room, Councilor Sombra was busy talking to a guard wearing bronze armor, my guess trying to get the feel about something but when the guard shook his head and took a step back, I can guess that he was asking said guard about something else.
As soon as the three of us crossed the threshold into the throne room, Princess Celestia's horn glowed a golden hue and with it I heard the twin giant doors creak themselves shut and once they were closed the two princesses trotted over to the only pairs of chairs in the room and sat themselves down. Sombra saw that now was the time for our little talk and place himself between the two monarchs, really easy to figure out they were in charge (it was the crowns that did it), but anyways once they sat down they began their questioning.
They asked me who I am, what I am, where did I come from, did I come in peace or was I a scout for war (it was funny as hell for me cause Sombra said 'If you came in peace you surrender, but if your came for war then we surrender', Luna hit him in the back of the head for that one) what my plans are, how many more of me are there, etc. etc.
My responses were all snarky, I just couldn't help myself.
But what I could do was not make my case even harder on myself by being stupid.
Luna's response to my stupidity was to beat it out of me...cladded hooves hurt like hell.
"Abusing your prisoners is a surefire way of it coming back to bite you in the ass little princess." I growled as she said that it was noted before hitting me again.
"Just maybe the beatings will stop when thee answers My Sister's questions with respect!" Luna shouted loudly, and if I was still human then it would have probably blown out my eardrums.
"Luna, please, harming him does not suit our desire for peace."
"Yeah, listen to her for a change. You two preach that you are peaceful and yet you easily practice barbaric means of extracting information from those that are in your custody." I said but as I let those words loose I saw Luna back down from her hostile stance and shifted into one that was a lot more menacing then the old one.
Trotting around me, her eyes looking me over I realize that I might have just tipped her onto an edge that I knew that she was willing to jump off of to get what she wanted.
"Fine then peasant, if the beatings will not make you talk then I will take what I want!" I watched as her horn glowed a dark purplish-blue color before coming into contact with my head, and like that I was out like a light.
But it didn't end there, oh no sir it did not.
As soon as I was rendered unconscious, I felt something probe its way into my mind and as soon as it started to reach for things it shouldn't be, I decided to unleash a probe of my own.
(One thing that unicorns and apparently alicorns have failed to understand that those with a strong mind and sense of will, they can attempt to breach the minds of those they are connected with via the horn of those that are coming into contact with, but it can only be initiated when the one with the horn starts the probing process. It is a dangerous process and if one should fail in the reverse probing, then they run the risk of being mentally scarred and even more so brain damaged by having your brain almost fried. The few that have managed to do such a thing is myself, Discord, and Tirek.)
I felt the pushing and prodding of Luna's mind against my own, I could feel everything that she was doing inside my head, trying to find the truth to everything she is looking for, but I won't make it easy for her.
When she tried to grasp my true name, I showed her the names of countless others that were not my own.
When she tried to take my knowledge, I instead gave her the knowledge of failure. (fuck math)
When she attempted to steal my memories, I showed her hell. (I got a very vivid imagination, especially when it comes to horror games)
While she was occupied with my vivid imagination of my many deaths in Dead Space, I was busy probing her mind, something that she was not prepared for nor even bother to counter my intrusion.
Her mind was like an open book, each memory was laid bare, her thoughts, her fears, her hopes and dreams, everything.
And I made her regret it all by forcing her out of my head by trying to steal her darkest secrets.
As soon as she felt my probe slip into her mind and find the one thing she tried to hide, she immediately disengaged the spell, cutting the connection and giving the both of us a mental feedback shock, in essence a painful headache, but the damage was already done.
Once the connection was broken, the lunar princess felt back onto her haunches and started to rub at her forehead while I fell to a knee and had what was essentially a headache that is akin to a hangover. Both suck but this time I don't get the shitty bonus of puking on myself.
"Sister, what did I tell you about trying to mind read those that are under our wings."
"But Sister! He is hiding so much from us! His secrets-"
"Are his to have. We all have secrets of our own sister, it is not our place to take those and expose them."
"This shit hurts..." I groaned as I fell over and decided to use the floor to rest on until my brain stopped feeling like it was on fire.
Trotting over to me I watched as Celestia kneeled (can horses kneel with four legs?) and looked at me sadly before speaking.
"Is there anything within my power that I can do to ease your pain?"
There is so many vulgar things I could have said at that moment, just so many things, but I liked my blood and guts on the inside of my body and I am absolutely positive that Luna would have made sure to rip them from me if I said any of them so I said something else instead.
"Yeah...a bigger bed would be nice."
And a bigger bed I got, now only my feet and hands hang over the sides now. I still didn't get the bigger doors for my room though...
And sitting on his corrupted crystal throne, with Celestia's and Luna's throne knocked aside and broken, was a pony who was once my friend, Sombra, and he looked pleased with himself.
Looking down at me from the safe distance between us, I watched my former friend laugh to himself as I allowed my gaze to settle on the pillars of black crystals that dot the room. The dark crystals had a strange shine to them, a dull glowing aura surrounded all of them and with just a bit of focus I saw that each one contained a hopefully still living body of a pony.
"Well it really isn't a dungeon when there are no prisoners to fill it and no guards to patrol it." I said as I started to walk past the pony-filled crystal columns, making sure not to come into contact with any of them as I know all to well of what will happen if I do touch one.
"I see, but don't worry, when I am done with you and send you back down there it will be filled with those that do not agree with me. You won't be alone for long but you won't be alive for long either." Sombra said as he looked at one of his iron-cladded hooves before his horn ignited in a hellish red/black, making me take a step back just before a thin crystal spire rose from the ground and nearly impaled my left foot in the process.
If I hadn't taken that step backwards when his horn started to glow I would be in a sour mood right now.
Looking down at the black spike and then to Sombra I saw that trademark grin of his before his horn started to glow again and the same as before I took a step back again but this time it was a trio of spikes. I am so glad that I took that step back because if I hadn't, it wouldn't have just stabbed me in the leg, it would also be a crotch shot as well which would never sell well for me. I value my man parts above everything else and if those were to ever get damaged or destroyed, no amount of force on Earth will save him from my terrible vengeance.
Bobbing and weaving between the crystalline ponies and the shards of deadly black spires, this is exactly what happened before the massive stasis spell that both Celestia and Luna (alongside with every single unicorn they could get their hooves on at the moment that wasn't encased in black crystals) placed on the capital of the Crystal Empire, but this time those two aren't here to interfere with my own little rebellion against the two little failures.
Before I could think back further before our little incident and how it matches this one, I felt a flat object impact my right shin from two sides, effectively forcing my right leg to buckle under the pain and the weight of my body.
"Fuck! Why is it always my shins! It doesn't matter where I am anymore! It always ends with someone hitting my fucking shins!" I shouted as my two smaller hands rubbed at the injured spot while my two larger ones were lifted up and covering the exposed part of my helmet as I felt a spire shatter across my forearms, sending shards everywhere.
It has been a month since my arrival to this place, and not much has changed. My room may have been altered to better suit my...stature... but for the moment I am still under lock and key and the ever vigilant gaze of the crystal ponies that live here.
Ponies, that is not something that I would thought that would be a dominant race on a planet. A bunch of herbivores who skitter and flee at the sight of blood and death, a sight I first witnessed when a beast from the wild managed to enter the lower districts. I believe that what the beast was a manticore, if my memory of D&D is correct, and when I saw it I realized that I was mostly right.
Instead of the human-like head it instead had a lion's in its place, its tail is not lined with deadly sharp barbs but is instead a scorpion tail which means it lost its ranged projectile for quite possibly dead poison, its body is much more lion-like instead that of a horrible beast from hell and it still had the dragon wings but from what I saw it can't really fly, only glide. It may not look like the manticores that I know of, but it still dies like them, only problem is that ponies seem to hate the fact that I killed something in front of them.
How are they to win a battle if war were to ever come onto their doorstep if they can't stand the sight of death and destruction?
But anyways, when a month has passed the three tried to once more talk to me but this time they gave me an offer that I couldn't refuse.
I will be allowed to roam freely throughout their kingdom, but on the condition that I work for them by scouting their lands for any wild beasts and I am to study them, learn their habits, find their weaknesses, and need be if they start to become restless and start to wander near any towns or villages, I am to strike them down.
When they told me about this deal, I at first thought it was a means of getting me killed and to have my corpse studied to further their own advancements, but when I took the deal and saw first hand what I will be facing, I realized that this wouldn't be so bad doing this for a living. I mean sure I almost got stabbed a few times, was mauled but my shields took the brunt of the damage and I now got a new throw rug for my room.
Soon enough this new job of mine started to become fun, I mean sure I could be using the guns that I came here with (a shrapnel launcher and two shock pistols) but where is the fun in that? These things can't hurt me and I have two swords at my disposal (and they shock things too!), but that is besides the point, I get paid to do this and I only have to deal with wearing an enchanted tracking collar so they can monitor my movements and I only get paid when the job is done and I bring back proof of the deceased mark.
Anyways it was on my third job that I encountered something, or should I say someone when I was out hunting. I was in the forests that surrounded the Crystal Kingdom in its early years before the great industrial and population boom of 0125 BD (that's Before Discord for you scholars and turbo nerds) when I heard a twig snap directly behind me, and went to duck and roll through a bush to surprise my ambusher, I instead scared the shit out of a young mare wearing a fancy looking toga-like dress.
This pony had a peachy coat of fur, a golden colored mane and emerald-green eyes, and although I could not see her cutie-mark through her dress I can only fathom a guess that it has to be something for the nobility or something on the scholarly side of things.
This mare stood there, just looking at me with the most inquisitive stare I have ever seen, even more than the time the two princesses were looking at me when we first met. Staring at her I saw that it was just her and no one else and it then made me wonder why was there a young noblemare all the way right here without a shackle of guards to protect her but instead she was alone, well not alone anymore seeing how she is now here with me.
"You! What are you doing all the way out here? This is an unsafe area and you must return back to the capital for your own safety." I said in a calm manner as I did not want to disturb any of the local wildlife and also alert any wild beasts that have yet to detect us and hunt us down. I can protect myself just find but I don't want to also try to keep her safe and sound because she decided to talk loudly and get us into trouble.
"I am here to assist you in your quest against the beasts of the wilds-"
"No." I said flatly, honestly, why would she try to help me?
"But why!" The mare shouted and I immediately lunged at her and covered her mouth, grabbed her by the back of the neck and held her front legs tightly before pressing my face to hers.
"You fool! Are you trying to alert every single beast to our location with your shrill voice!" I hissed in her face as I quickly looked around to see if anything was coming at us but when I saw nor heard anything approach us I released the mare from my grip.
She quickly took several steps back but she stood her ground as she straightened herself out.
"Well excuse me for wanting to help your ugly hide! I thought you would appreciate my thoughtful assistance but instead you refuse it!"
"Because I do not want dead weight bringing me down and I don't want to worry about some mare that will get in the way and die." I said quietly as to keep anything that might be nearby from hearing but that only served to anger the mare more.
"I am not useless!" She shouted at me again but this time she galloped up to me, turned around and mule-kicked me right in the shin.
I bit my lip and let out a muffled cry of pain as she scooted back and looked at me with smug grin, but that quickly faded away when I stood back up and when she tried to run away I grabbed her by the tail and hissed right in her ear.
"You want to be useful, then I have just the thing for you." I angrily glared at her before lifting her up off the forest ground and started to go back to my hunt but with my new partner in tow.
"What are you going to do to me?"
"Oh, you'll see."
I used her as bait to draw them out.
"I recalled a time that you told me this weakness of yours, maybe in the future you shouldn't tell anyone what can take you down without putting too much effort." Sombra said as I heard the clip-clop of hooves on crystalline marble as he slowly made his way towards me, firing off crystal shard after crystal shard at me, or more importantly, my head.
"And I also recall a time when you used to be into stallions." I shouted at the dark unicorn as I fell to my injured leg and rolled to the side before standing back up, using the momentum to dive and weave through the frozen ponies, the ice shards bouncing off and doing no damage to those stuck in time.
My comment on his sexuality struck a chord within him as he immediately pulled out all stops and concentrated on me for the briefest of moments before teleporting right in front of me and blasting me in the chest with a high powered explosive blast of magic.
The result was me being launched backwards and directly out of the throne room, smoke trails leaving the damage site on my chest while also leaving a nice one inch dent in my chest. That shit hurts.
"I thought I told you to never bring that back up!" the mad king shouted before teleporting up to me again but while I was on my knees getting back up, he was standing in front of me again but this time his throne being held in his magic aura.
Oh this is going to suck.
I shut my eyes and just in time to, getting hit by a crystal throne hurts like hell, especially that it exploded upon hitting me and sent me down the stairs and onto the third floor landing.
Groaning in pain from being smacked with a big ol' chair, I pulled myself up and off the floor only to catch the sight of Sombra standing at the top of the staircase, glaring angrily at me with billowing black smoke coming out of his eyes and a hoof scrapping the damaged crystal marble tiles.
"You're paying for that Skolas." I heard Sombra speak but I was too busy hearing something else, the sounds of a mechanical march of hooves, so many hooves marching in unison and in a slow tempo. Almost mechanical in nature but far from the truth it was something far more sinister, something that I helped create and later realize my second greatest mistake.
Oh no...
The sound of marching hooves only grew louder as they got closer and it wasn't long before I saw the remaining brainwashed and corrupted crystal guards that have yet to be liberated from Sombra's grasp.
"Oh bollocks..." I muttered as Sombra's horn flared to life and with it the guards lifted their heads in unison, their eyes emitting the same glow as his own eyes with the exception that their eyes look dead and hollow.
Marching in front of Sombra and partially down the stairs to keep us separated was the mind-dominated crystal guards, and all of them are heavily armed and armored.
"Skolas, meet my greatest creations!" And with that declaration of what they are, all forty ponies turned their heads toward me and I saw the hollowness that was their eyes, blank and empty, and none of them were going to show me any mercy as they pulled out saw blades, sharpened halberds and pointy spears and axes.
Oh hell...
Now normally this wouldn't be so bad for me, but ever since I told Sombra that the only way for me to get injured here, seeing how they don't have access to explosive weaponry, thousands of bullets, or even Vex-grade technology, his only chance came when he infused the darkness into a small arsenal of weapons that are now right before me. I once thought that the darkness couldn't hurt me, I was proven wrong on the day the entire kingdom fell into a stasis field.
I still got the scar on my right hands to prove it.
Even though these were Sombra's creation and he hadn't divulged any information on their weaknesses or how they operate, I do know one thing that will clearly disable and cripple them to the point that they won't fight back. Sombra's magical connection to them all is what fuels the runes that adorn the inner confines of their helmets and if I could just break his horn off then those he has under his control will be released, but they will suffer a severe case of mental-feedback from the sudden disconnection.
That and they won't remember a thing of what they were doing, just as long as I don't say anything that they did while under Sombra's control (herded innocents into the dungeons to be tortured, set fire to my house, twice, instigated the griffons to attack us and started a war that brought in the three pony tribes of the southern lands, and because of that war nearly unleashed Discord from his prison.) but sadly as long as these guards keep me away from their master I can't free them.
"Crystal Centurions! Bring me his head!"
Oh fuck me to tears...