> King Sombra's Slaves > by Mocha Jon > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > King Sombra's Slaves- Part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Equestria has changed in the past few moons. To the surprise of Ponyville and the Crystal Empire, Celestia and Luna had been overthrone! Nopony knew how, not even the Elements of Harmony, they were just as shocked as everypony else when they heard the news. They tried to fight him and tried to get the crystal heart back but it was to no avail, they had been defeated too. Nopony has even heard from them ever since Sombra had taken the throne and nopony knows what he did with them. Ever since his return too the throne, Sombra has taken lots of ponies to his castle and they have never been heard from again. In addition to the Elements of Harmony, a large amounts of stallions had also mysteriously disappeared. Nopony ever dared question what happened to then though, they sure as hell didn't want to anger King Sombra, so despite the heartbreak of loosing their loved ones, many families simply accepted that the ponies were gone forever. Now one pony named Mocha Jon had recently been called to King Sombra's castle as well and was requested to appear at once. Jon never was a large target for Sombra before, as he was a simple barista he was not considered much of a threat or an asset; consequently, Jon himself never had much of a personal hatred or fear of him. Jon definitely was aware of how evil and powerful he was but he just never considered himself a worthy target for him. When Jon was ordered to the Crystal Empire to visit King Sombra he was a bit concerned, normally the best he ever gets is being booked to serve coffee at Pinkie Pie's parties. So while he knew that whatever King Sombra wanted from him would be horrible, he actually felt a little bit flattered and honored. Jon eventually arrived at the castle that used to be owned by Celestia and Luna. He was delivered there in a chariot driven by pure dark magic. He knew damn well not to try and run off and escape, not only were there massive guard dogs and even a few coyotes who were barking loudly and angrily, but common sense told him that Sombra would find him no matter what and it would be smarter to just get it over with. Jon was not alone, he brought his pet badger Toby with him, not wanting to leave him alone in the new world order... strangely pets have been vanishing too. When Jon entered the castle, he was very disturbed by the recoloring of the crystals from pink to black with blood red carpet. He looked forward and noticed two guards wearing face-covering helmets that just looked him down as he walked forward. "We'll take this..." One of the guards said as he used his horn to lift Toby off Jon's back to their fear, "King Sombra does not allow pets, we will keep him in a designated area until after King Sombra is done with you." He said as the other guard guided him to the throne room with the first taking the terrified badger to an unknown location. When Jon entered the throne room, it was dimly lit but managed to have enough light to see. Jon looked across to see King Sombra sitting on his throne looking him down with a disturbing grin on his face... "Alright you got me here, are you gonna pay me for the time I'm taking off work?" Mocha Jon sarcastically said as he walked closer to Sombra. Sombra didn't seem to mind the sarcasm and just kept his disturbing grin, " Mocha Jon, I've heard so much about you, it's a pleasure to have you in my palace." Jon rolled his eyes, "Yeah, not gonna lie I always imagined meeting royalty in this room, though I assumed it would be a Princess of Sunshine instead of an evil king of shadows." Jon didn't seem worried about the King for some reason, and he was always one who spoke his mind without a filter. Sombra stood from the throne and walked over to the unicorn and seemed to be casual but still threatening, "Oh I've heard that before, but everypony who tells me that always comes around and warms up to me..." Then he put his hoof in his mouth and did a whistle call. At that moment a series of stallions walked out of the shadows in a single file line; Shining Armor, Caramel, Big Macintosh, Soarin, Dr Whooves, Carrot Cake, and Bulk Biceps in that order. "Recognize anypony?" Jon looked around at them, looking shocked but still keeping his snarky tone, he didn't want to show weakness to him, "Let's see, there's my friend, my friend who likes to tease me, my friend who never says anything but two words, some pony I've only read about, some pony I've never met in person but have read about, one pony who sells me red velvet cake but that's it, one pony I've never heard of, and one very large pony I'm glad I've never heard of." Jon said, describing the stallions in the order they walked out. What was strange about these stallions was they were all wearing these glowing red collars around their necks and what look like (and smell like) Sombra's old metal boots. The strangest thing about them all was their eyes were all filled with green/purple spirals that were just looking blankly and not focusing on anything but Sombra. "Okay normally I'd be like 'Okay what the hell happened to these guys!?' but judging by the swirls in their eyes, the glowing collars, and the fact they're all calmly wearing boots that I can smell from over here means you put them in a state of hypnosis to be your servants, am I right?" Sombra just grinned, "You're a smart boy Jon, Big Mac, Shining Armor, and Caramel over there all said that and I figured I'd have a little fun with that and put you to a test..." Sombra said as he started shadowing him around in a creepy manner. Jon was a little shocked at seeing some of his friends all under mind control of this literally evil mastermind. He was even more shocked that they recommended him for something, what did Sombra want from him? He also wondered why all the slaves were men, "Hey Shadows, how come there aren't any gals in here? Only enslaved boys?" He asked, still trying to seem strong and unafraid. Sombra just appeared in front of Jon then like a jump scare, "Oh I have girls here... some of the best girls around..." Sombra said as he made a strange orb appear in front of Jon... Suddenly on the orb a projection of the Elements of Harmony appeared on it... They were all wearing the same mind control collars and had the same swirls in their eyes as the stallions. Twilight was seen being forced to file thousands among thousands of paperwork for managing the politics of Equestria, Pinkie Pie was seen removing all the colorful decorations the former Princesses had around and replacing them with boring black ones, Rarity was seen making more uniforms for the guards, Applejack was seen preparing meals, Rainbow Dash was seen as a guard, and Fluttershy was seen managing the angry and vicious guard dogs. "See, that should answer your question and your suspicions about the Elements of Harmony, or should I say Disharmony now that they serve me..." He creepily chuckled to himself, "But I use them for the hard work, but stallions are good for things that we don't need to discuss now." Jon honestly wasn't surprised that they were under his control anyway, he actually was a bit relieved, he assumed Sombra could have killed and eaten them. "Great job jackass! You just showed me that my former heroines are now... I don't want to know what else they do... So can you just cut to the chase and tell me what you want from me already?" Jon snarked, this time Sombra seemed a bit unimpressed. "You've got a sharp tongue, you also have a lot of nerve to be so disrespectful to the King of Hatred and Fear... Why must you be so stubborn? I mean I know having my slaves always worship and obey and be spineless can get a little disappointing but..." Sombra tried to interject until Jon actually cut him off. "Oh yeah being able to get anypony worship the ground you walk on, oh boo hoo I feel so sorry for you..." He said even more sarcastically... "And I'm gonna be snarky cause you clearly want me alive for something, if you were gonna kill or hypnotize me you would have already done it by now so I'm gonna savor being myself and being snarky to the man who is damn evil!" Jon yelled to Sombra, actually shocking the slaves... Sombra was surprised at how smart he was, Sombra was hoping Jon would be terrified and groveling for mercy and not snapping at him the way he was. But then Sombra had an epiphany... "You're right Jon... I can't hurt you..." He said as he grinned creepily and just walked over towards Shining Armor, "But I can hurt my slaves!" At that moment, Sombra just took hi hooves up to Shining's horn and effortlessly just snapped it off... "AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Shining yelled out in agonizing pain. "Shining Armor!?" Jon yelled out concerned and tried to rush over to Shining, but was held where he was by Sombra's magic. "See, I can keep you alive but if you disrespect your King then I will punish my slaves, your friends instead!" Sombra eerily said as Shining was still yelling and crying in pain. Jon was shocked. Shining Armor did nothing to anger Sombra, he didn't deserve that at all! Jon knew he had to reduce his attitude now. He felt horribly guilty for what happened to Shining, he looked down at his removed horn then looked back over at Shining, feeling the worst guilt he has ever felt. "I... I'm sorry my King... I shouldn't disrespect you..." Jon reluctantly said almost in tears. Sombra grinned then, "There we go! Now don't worry anymore, that was just to teach you a lesson, you can still be funy but you better not insult me! Don't worry, maybe I'll give him a new horn later, only if I feel like it... Now why don't we just relax, Cadence should be bringing lunch in now." Sombra was right, Cadence just walked in, also wearing the mind control collar everypony else was wearing. She was pushing a cart that was full of pet bowls filled with assorted meats, dropped them off and then ust walked off without saying anything. Jon wasn't surprised by the pet bowls, he assumed Sombra would degrade them that much, but he was very disturbed by the fact that they had meat in them. They were ponies and ponies were vegetarian and never eat meat. Jon didn't want to risk anything this time so he just made a comment, "Wait Cadence isn't an Element of Harmony, did she just come free when you got Shining?" "Pretty much, yeah." Sombra responded, getting a strange grin as he tried to push a specific bowl towards Jon, with him seeming a little uncomfortable. "Um... no thanks... I don't really eat meat so..." Jon tried to back out of it, but not risk anything else. "Oh but it was made just for you... I wouldn't want my guest to disrespect his King after all... And Big Mac tends to be extra hungry during lunch time, maybe he could eat his own foot off...!" He said insinuating another torture. Jon was at a loss, he didn't want to eat meat at all but he didn't want them to suffer, and Big Mac probably wouldn't want to eat that farm dirt stuck in his hooves... So he gave in and decided to eat it. He leaned down and smelt it a little. It was still warm, as if it was recently cooked. The smell was unusual, even though most ponies he knew were vegetarian but he knew some ponies who ate it. This meat was different though, it didn't smell like anything he knew before. But he eventually gave in and started eating from the bowl like a dog to prevent Sombra from torturing them anymore. However it actually didn't taste that bad. It was juicy and salty and sense he never ate meat before it felt like a forbidden pleasure. He definitely didn't want to eat meat after today though, it was still against his moral code. It was also against his moral code for his friend to eat his own foothoof so he suffered through it, though he did admit it was kind of good for a one time thing. "How's it taste Jon...?" Sombra asked suspiciously. Jon briefly looked up before he almost finished it all, "Actually it's not that bad, I mean I'm sure as hell not gonna eat it again, but I'll remember this as a guilty pleasure though!" He said as he leaned back down to finish. When he got to the bottom of the bowl he noticed something very strange. It looked like an orange piece of the cloth. "Wait, what the...?" Jon asked as he picked up the cloth and unraveled it revealing it to be a small neck bandana... just like the one his pet badger wore... "Wait... wait... d-did I just...!?" Jon tried to ask as he started to tear up. "Yes you did...!" Sombra said with a sadistically smug look on his face, chuckling at Jon's depression. I... I ate Toby!?" Jon yelled in panic as Sombra just nodded happily. Then Jon just instantly started to burst into tears without holding back on his sadness... {TO BE CONTINUED} > Part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mocha Jon was emotionally stunned and almost completely psychologically shocked from what he had just done. It was bad enough that he had eaten meat but he had actually eaten his own pet! He was trying too hard to hold in all of his tears and anger. King Sombra was enjoying his torment though, he took too much pleasure in the fact that Jon was holding in his anger, "What's the matter now...? Earlier you couldn't keep your mouth shut, I make you eat your own pet and you have nothing to say!" He got a more sinister grin on his face, "Honestly your insults were kind of fun to hear, if you're holding out on me I can punish my slaves anyway..." He said as he looked right over at Big Macintosh who instantly put his hoof in his mouth and looked like he was about to bite it off. Jon knew Sombra was leading him into a trap, he knew that Sombra was going to make him do that anyway or not so he instantly let go of all his inhibitions and instantly began yelling at the King, "You bastard! You damn bastard! What the hell is wrong with you!?" He felt a lot lighter at that moment, yelling at Sombra was helping him forget about Toby, "You ruin my home, kidnap and hypnotize all of my friends and kill my badger! I want to see you suffer, I want to take a knife and slice your neck and...!" At that moment Mocha Jon used his horn to lift a knife from the food tray and was sending it towards Sombra slowly, he truly wanted to cut him, it wasn't a joke or an expression of extreme sarcasm like it normally is wit him, he literally wanted to murder King Sombra right there. The King noticed this and quickly took action, he looked over at Big Mac and just gave him a confirming nod and Jon just dropped the knife in shock at what he saw... "Yes Master..." Suddenly Big Mac bit down on his foot and bit right through the bone and managed to rip it off at ease with no remorse or fear. He had literally bit his own foot off and started chewing the hoof with ease despite the fact that is was very hard and almost cutting his mouth open. Once he swallowed it he instantly began screaming in dire agony from the pain that was coming from his ankle. Blood was coming out of it at an alarming degree, it was lucky his fur matched the blood color because blood splattered all over him and also on the other slaves, and even on Sombra himself, who just enjoyed the show as Big Mac screamed in the most traumatic tone anypony had ever heard. Jon didn't know what do do or what to say but he was too overcome by fear and emotional distress to think straight, "What do you want from me!?" He cried out, on the verge of running out of the room even at the risk of execution but he didn't. "What did I do to you? I never even knew you existed until you rose from the dead or whatever you did and you just called me up? Why are you doing this to me? If you want me to be your slave you really hurt your chances by making me do all this because I would never want to submit to you even if I'm brainwashed, you're a horrible pony and...!" Jon continued to yell at Sombra but Sombra cut him off. "SILENCE!!!" The King screamed louder than them all, even Big Mac and Shining Armor silenced despite the pain. King Sombra was done playing, or at least wanted to emphasize how this isn't a game, "Listen to me you fool, if I wanted you as a slave I could do it with ease!" He said as his horn glowed and instantly one of his mind control collars formed on Jon's neck and his eyes instantly matched the others' spinning eyes and he started to bow down right at the King's hooves. But right then Sombra instantly made the collar disappear from his neck and he snapped out of his trance in panic. "How.. How did you do that?" Jon was becoming less angry and more fearful now, knowing that Sombra can finish him whenever he wants. "I'm sorry I was being hostile, if you want I'll be good and just finish whatever task you wanted me to do so I can go home, please." Sombra began to brag more about his success despite Jon's begging, clearly just trying to shock him more, "I'm really not that bad of a guy, my slaves all enjoy spending time together the way they do now, and I almost never have to punish them the way I'm doing now. I've shown them some fun games that they seem to enjoy and give them 'pleasure' if you know what I mean..." Jon winced an eye at that comment, "Aside from being pets to me they like to act like pets for 'excitement'... A personal favorite of mine is seeing Big Macintosh act like a skunk and lift his tail to Shining Armor who'll then sniff and..." He continued until he was cut off. "You will... NOT...! FINISH...! THAT..! SENTENCE!!!" Jon yelled out again wanting to know what the hell the King wanted to do with him in the first place, "Stop with all this gross and mentally scaring crap and just cut to the damn chase with why you want me here!!!" Sombra returned to his more sinister smiling at that moment. His horn glowed and a cloud of smoke appeared around all the ponies and when it faded away, Sombra, Jon, Big Mac, Shining Armor, and Caramel were all standing outside the castle and beside some hedge labyrinth. Jon looked around and just went from scared to confused, wondering why the Kind had sent them all outside like that. He could tell by Sombra's change in expression that he was his more 'wanting to hear taunts as ammo' phases so Jon began to return to his snarky attitude, but not forgetting all that has happened. "Hey what gives? I thought we were in a horror movie but now we're in reality TV show challenge?" Sombra enjoyed his snark returning, it means Sombra can still torture him like he plans, "Listen, I have a plan for you, ever sense I replaced that old maze the Princesses had with this new deadlier labyrinth instead I figured a good test should come out of it. You are going to enter it and try to escape it, if you can escape it before sundown than I will bring your smelly badger vermin brought back to life and allow you to keep him again. And to prove that I am not heartless I will allow your closest stallion friends to assist you, right my pets..." "Yes Master." They all said in unison. Jon noticed that Shining Armor's horn had returned and Big Macintosh's foot had also returned and the two looked like there was no more pain from either of them. "Hey what up with those two, last time I checked horns and hooves don't usually use smoke for ointment." Jon noticed seeing their recovery. Sombra just chuckled again, "Simple really..." He said as he walked over and broke Shining Armor's horn off again and he began screaming in pain once more, "Once they loose the body parts they loose the ability to feel the pain anymore once the wound heals up. This way I can use them to prove my points all I want..." At that moment he used his magic to reattach Shining Armor's horn and his pain instantly went away. "You will begin your test as soon as I vanish, I will be waiting for you on the other side..." Suddenly Sombra turned into a cloud of dark smoke and he simply faded away without a trace. "Come on, let's go if you want to get your little buddy back!" Shining Armor said as he started to walk in the labyrinth. "Eeyup." Big Mac said as he started to follow up. Suddenly Mocha Jon had an idea though, "Wait up, I wanna try something..." At that moment he walked right up to Caramel and looked right at his collar with interest, "If this is what gives King Sombra control over you than what if I just..." Jon suddenly reached for Caramel's collar and tried to remove it from his friend... This was not the best idea... "JON DON'T!!!" Big Mac and Shining Armor yelled out in warning but not before Jon had touched Caramel's collar... Suddenly the green and purple swirls in Caramel's eyes that signaled the hypnosis were replaced with bright glowing of blood red and Caramel instantly punched Jon right in the face as hard as he could... "DO NOT TOUCH THE COLLAR!!!" He yelled out as he continued to forcefully punch the pony in the face with no remorse, "ONLY...! MASTER...! TOUCHES...! THE COLLAR...! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!?!?" Jon had bruises and blood and black eyes all over his face, whatever those collars are doing to their minds, King Sombra definitely wanted them to stay on his pets, "Yes! I understand! I'm sorry I won't touch your Master's property again!!!" He was crying out in pain, he didn't know Caramel could hit so hard. Once Caramel heard him apologize, the glowing redness in his returned to the green and purple spirals he had before, indicating that he was done attacking him, he also looked incredibly remorseful, "Oh my gosh Jon I'm so sorry! I didn't want to do that I swear it's just something Master put on us to make sure nopony tries to steal his property, I am so sorry!" Caramel seemed genuinely sorry about what happened but Jon just shrugged it off, he just wanted to get this day over with as soon as he could. "As soon as I get Toby back, I'm going home and adding 'injury by mind control pet collars' to both my health insurance and my pet insurance policies... Let's just go already..." Jon was still trying to be his snarky self to try to avoid having a mental breakdown, but the three slaves could tell that Jon was going through hell, which made them both a little bit sad but also a little bit eager, but no matter what, they still wanted to help their friend, hypnotized or not hypnotized. > Part 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The three entered the labyrinth after Caramel assaulted Mocha Jon, they all tried to ignore the beating but Caramel was insistent that he was sorry for hitting him like he did and refused to drop the subject. Jon himself was not sure how to feel, part of him wanted to feel angry and betrayed that his friend did that but another part of him understood that his friend didn't want to do that and it was all the hypnosis but the rest of him felt like he had received a form of karma for the pain he caused Shining Armor and Big Macintosh. He felt that if he didn't temp king Sombra's wrath with his sarcasm or angry reactions than he wouldn't have been as hurt physically or emotionally. "Look guys... I'm sorry..." He said as they took the first turn. "What do you have to be sorry for? I'm the one who hurt you for thinking you were rescuing me and saving my life. I'm the one who's sorry" Caramel tried to say to comfort his friend. Jon himself did feel a bit more comfortable knowing Caramel still cared for him despite the brainwashing. "I know what you meant. We aren't mad at you and we understand why you were so scared, we made the same mistakes before too." Shining added with Big Mac agreeing, understanding Jon's guilt. "Eeyup, and Master would make us do that stuff anyway and we're happy to take a little pain as long as it makes him happy." Jon turned once more and wasn't sure how to feel, "Well it's like firing someone from a job even though you knew he's gonna get fired from another manager, you still don't feel good for doing it." He looked over at them all and noticed that despite the fact that they're talking completely normal and not zombie-like, they were walking in a specific straight line like it was rehearsed and implanted in them to take the path like this. "Don't worry about Toby, Master may be evil and sadistic but he sure isn't a liar, nope, he will bring him back and we're gonna make sure it happens, eeyup." Big Macintosh tried to comfort him, sounding a little slow, almost like he had the statement memorized because he had too, which made Jon wince an eye a bit but he was too sore to care. "Seriously, if I were you I would be thinking of some clever jokes about what happened like you normally do," Shining added, sounding normal. "Yeah, honestly this is the best time you ever could make an We don't need no stinkin' badgers! quip." Caramel said. He looked over and noticed that that joke actually was hitting hard at Jon because while Caramel believes the badger will come back, Jon doesn't know. "Hey, that's too far, believe it or not I really do need that stinkin' badger..." Jon just sighed because that comment actually hurt just as much as Caramel's punches. Jon wanted to just get this weird challenge over with anyway and just followed the path of the labyrinth more quickly. Caramel suddenly started to shed a tear a bit and looked down at his hooves in guilt, he doesn't want to hurt Jon anymore. "I... I'm sorry. I know you're still hurting..." Jon looked over and noticed Caramel crying and felt a little bit of guilt himself. After about seven hours passed, the four managed to reach about half way across the labyrinth and also looked a little exhausted from the long walk. There was still plenty of sunlight so they were not concerned about approaching the deadline just yet. The group kept quiet for the majority of the time and left them all to their own thoughts. In an attempt to keep his mind of his dead pet, Jon started to think about why he was chosen to do this test and why the test was what it was. "Ya know I'm surprised we haven't gotten lost yet, we haven't his any dead ends yet!" Big Mac said in pride, Shining and Caramel happily nodding in agreement, but Jon gained a form of paranoia at that comment... "But that wasn't part of the test..." Jon added to the shock of all three, "He didn't expect us to get lost in here, he said he replaced the Maze with a Labyrinth. Labyrinths don't have dead ends, they're just one long continuous hallways from one end to the other." The three all looked a bit shocked that he knew that, like they were hoping he wouldn't. "Seriously? That's the difference between a maze and a labyrinth?" Shining asked in a seemingly ignorant manner. "Come on your sister's Twilight you should know that!" Jon snarked, "Sombra didn't expect me top get lost in here, he knows I'm gonna make it out so he has some other plans for me and..." Suddenly a large cloud of smoke formed around the four stallions and suddenly King Sombra appeared right in front of Jon much to his fear... "You're a smart boy..." Jon's heart started to beat more and more, his exhausted state was making him feel like he could fall asleep and sink into a worse nightmare than this day... "This challenge is too easy for you... Let me spice it up..." At that moment all of the smoke faded away but not only did Sombra vanish, so did the other stallions. "What the hell?" Jon looked around for his friends, "Big Mac? Shining Armor? Caramel? Where'd you go?" Jon knew that this was some trick by King Sombra just to make him freak out, but Jon didn't want to give Sombra the satisfaction. "So I'm alone in a long hallway now huh? Sombra sent me back to grade school I guess..." He sarcastically said as he continued along the path, but still wondering where the guys went. After another hour or so Jon just walked alone in the hot passage making sarcastic comments about how the gypsy woman he pays 20 bits every month to tell his fortune conveniently forgot to talk about this day... After turning right at a corner Jon could see some strange things in the distance. When he got closer up he noticed the largest object was Shining Armor, eating what looked like the same meat out of a dog bowl from the initial meeting in the castle again. This peaked Jon's interest because it looked like such a random appearance, Sombra could have had Shining Armor do anything right now like start a fire or something, why this? Getting closer Jon noticed there seemed to be old stuffed animals and rubber toys around the area and the such. Shining looked up, sniffed the air and then instantly rushed over to Jon and was extremely ecstatic to see him. "Mocha Jon there you! I was waiting for you for so long it felt like forever! Can we play together!?" Shining asked excitedly, panting a little and seemingly holding his tongue out periodically. Jon was getting creeped out but this specific part of his day was the least of his worries, it was more annoying than anything, "Okay first of all you know I can't stop now cause I'm on a timed schedule, and two, what's with the toys and the super pushy attitude, I swear all you gotta do is pull someone's socks off with your mouth and you'll be a dog..." Jon initially said out of sarcasm but he looked over by the corner and noticed Shining actually did steal someone's socks... "Okay why the hell did he make you a dog-pony?" Jon asked out of annoyance. Shining looked up at Jon with begging eyes to try to get him to not be so critical, Shining was thinking Jon could be a great owner after all and would settle for a pet on the head. What Jon noticed about his eyes however is that the colors changed. The swirls that were normally green and purple had become light blue and orange and lacked any hint of sadness or fear, "Come on I know you're looking for a new pet and I would be a great fit! I'm very loyal and obedient and am well trained!" Shining tried to beg, his begging reminded Jon of how Shining was as a pony solider, his training and loyalty and obedience made him a great royal guard after all; he seemed to legitimately want Jon to take him. Jon knew something was up, but he didn't have time for this, he decided to simply humor Shining Armor a little bit and take him with him to get out of the labyrinth and deal with him later. "Oh okay... If you want to be my dog you can come with me. You can even bring your favorite toy with you to keep you busy while we get out of here." Jon looked over at all those stuffed animals, kind of hoping he would pick the badger toy... however Shining just came back with the old socks in his mouth... Jon was not gonna let that go with no sarcastic comment, "I had to eat my own pet and that's not the grossest thing anypony has put in his mouth today... I really don't get dogs..." They then just walked off. Jon was wondering why King Sombra would make Shining Armor want to be his dog? While that is weird and definitely disturbing, Shining was acting legitimately happy seeing Jon and was eager to make him just as happy. Kind of an odd choice for the King of Fear and Hatred. Jon continued walking even though he could tell Shining was sniffing him all over, while that was very disturbing and uncomfortable, Jon expected any dog to do that. "You know you smell really good!" Shining said happily, making Jon roll his eyes. "I'm covered in sweat and some of my blood, but I guess dogs have a taste for the disturbing area..." Jon responded as Shining started sniffing more slowly and deeply. "No... I mean you really smell good..." He added, sounding a little more slowly and emphasized... Jon didn't look over and ignored the comment, "I'll get the cologne to replicate it tomorrow," he sarcastically said until he felt a sharp pain on his back... "OUCH!" Jon yelled as he felt what seemed like a bite and looked back over at Shining and noticed the blue and orange swirls in his eyes were replaced by pure blood red glows... Shining started to faintly growl a little bit as he sniffed Jon once more... "It looks like the hunting animal found its dinner..." After that Shining started to look up at the sky and he let out a huge howl like a coyote... "Auh AUH AAAUUUHHH!!!" Needless to say Jon knew exactly what was about to happen next and he didn't hesitate in leaving as soon as he could! "Shining what are you doing!?!?!?" He yelled as he ran for his life, Shining being able to catch up fairly well, though his stamina took a toll by sitting around as Sombra's slave for so long. This kept him from catching up to Jon. "A coyote's gotta hunt doesn't he?" Shining taunted, "Keep running, all that sweat just makes you smell even more delicious!" While Jon wanted to get out of this hedge mess from the beginning, he needed to get out more than ever before one of his best friends ends up eating him like Jon did to Toby... > Part 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mocha Jon was running for his life from one of his best friends who kept barking and howling at the moon. He didn't know what to do now, he could barely keep up his speed and was running out of breath. Shining Armor on the other hand appeared to remain in full power and was not wasting any energy. Jon instantly knew what Sombra's new part of the plan was, humiliate them and use them to try and kill their friend at the same time, and he was also worried about running across Big Macintosh and Caramel. Unfortunately Jon tripped over a twig and fell over on the floor and was too tired to get up. Shining Armor noticed the opportunity and instantly ran right up to the hyperventilating unicorn and didn't waste his opportunity... "Looks like the hunt's over now..." And at that moment Shining literally shoved his muzzle onto Jon's back leg and started to bite through it. The bone was cracking and some blood was coming out that Shining started to lap up as Jon began to scream at the top of his lungs from the pain. It was the worst feeling in the world, even worse than when Caramel beat him up earlier that morning. Jon wanted to die, he was partially hoping Shining Armor would just eat him and finish him off, but he didn't. Jon looked over, still sobbing from the pain, and noticed Shining was licking other parts of his body now, but happily and eagerly. He also noticed that the redness in his eyes returned to being blue and orange swirls. "Uh... ow... Shining, what are you...?" He tried to ask in vain, to which Shining rushed up to his face and looked upset. "I noticed you were bleeding and that you were in pain so I started to lick your wound to help it stop bleeding like a good boy, did it help?" He asked pleadingly with sad eyes, depressed that Jon was hurt. Jon just pot one hoof on his broken leg and the other one on his forehead, "Ugh I... I... I just can't deal with this right now..." He whispered, while also breathing in deeply to help the pain, "Look you want to show me you're a good boy right...?" Shining started wagging his tail quickly, "Oh yes please give me a chance! I'll do anything, anything!" Jon sighed, "Than wait here, just stay, I'll yell for you when I need you but for now just stay, understood?" Jon asked out of desperation, figuring that would at least buy him some time in case Shining went from dog-minded to coyote-minded again. "Okay! Anything you say!" Shining just sat down patiently and happily, wagging his tail and refusing to move until he is told too. Jon just sighed again, "Good boy..." He said hesitantly, due to his pain, and the extreme displeasure of seeing his friend degrade himself like such. After another ten minutes of walking with extreme discomfort, he noticed a strange red blur in the distance, he was struggling to think straight due to exhaustion and injury but had a pretty good guess that it was Big Macintosh, and it was. As he got closer he noticed he was making some strange noises that he couldn't recognize initially. As he got closer he noticed that he kept shoving his face to the ground and bent his arms up to his chest, "I'm not even gonna ask how he'c balancing himself like that..." He said in exasperation. When he got close enough to him he could tell instantly that the noises he was making were chicken clucks. "The farmer is acting like a chicken... I should have guessed..." Big Mac looked over to him with his eyes "Bawk bawk... Well howdy there stranger, what brings y'all 'round to Sweet Apple Acres? Bawk bawk." Jon didn't want to deal with this, he wanted to just walk right past him and get this damn test over with, but due to Big Mac's size, he was blocking the entire path. Jon figured he could lie his way through this, plus he didn't want to risk Shining Armor turning back into the coyote that bit him. "I came to borrow a lawn mower from the barn, Applejack said it was okay." He lied as he tried to get past him. "Bawk bawk, Nope." Big Mac responded as he looked like he was trying to block the path. Jon sighed and tried to hold in a scream, from both the pain and the annoyance... "Why not... I'm kind of in a hurry..." He said as he noticed the sun was almost behind the hedge, meaning it was almost sundown... "Nope, nopony is allowed in the barn without one of the farmers, one of the biggest rules here, bring Applejack by then we'll talk, bawk." Jon sighed, he couldn't think of a way to get him out of the way anymore. He then took the red neck chief he was wearing to wipe the sweat of his face and probably tie it around his leg. Big Mac looked over at him using the red chief and suddenly his eyes turned into redness and his clucking turned into a loud moo... "Wait now you're a cow... what the hell is going on... now..." Jon tried to ask until he noticed Big Mac looked very angry... "I hate the color red...!" He said looking at the neck chief... Breathing deeply through his nose... "Oh crap..." Jon instantly knew what was about to happen next... Big Mac started charging towards the stallion and was not holding back... Jon tried to run away but he just couldn't make it out in time... Big Mac just charged right at him and knocked them both right to the ground. Big Mac fell more and landed behind Jon but Jon felt all the impact... the worst part was his horn was broken off from his head and he screamed out in dire agony like Shining Armor did... "OOOUUUCCCHHH...! Wait I thought bulls were color blind...?" He interjected when he thought of that, but the pain kicked right back in, "OUCH!" Jon instantly started crying in pain now, sobbing to himself. Big Mac just got up as if nothing happened, "Eeyup, but why ya talkin' 'bout that? Bawk bawk bawk..." He said as he got up and started pecking the ground again with his eyes returning to blue and orange, picking up Jon's horn. "What's this? Some kind of worm?" He asked, making Jon sigh... "It's my horn... Or at least it was..." "Ya sure? It's pretty small. Bawk bawk." Big Mac responded. Jon just sighed more as he kept crying. He decided to cut his losses and leave... "You know what I'll get the lawn mower from my parents, good bye..." He said as he tried to walk off, but suddenly he heard a large howl... "Oh damn..." Shining Armor started prowling towards the two and seemed angry, "Thought you could get away from me huh? I could smell your fear from a mile away..." He started heading towards Jon but then he started sniffing the air and noticed something, "There's a chicken here..." He said as he looked over at Big Mac, who was still clucking... "I haven't had chicken for a long time...!" He said as he started to run towards Big Mac and took a bite out of his back, not biting trough his flesh yet but blood did start to come, causing Big Mac to cry out like Jon... "Run along pony, I'll hunt you later..." Jon couldn't believe his eyes, His friend was trying to kill his other friend and he himself was hurting so bad that he could barely stand up, Jon tried to help Big Mac, but he was just begging Jon to run for his own life, saying it was too late for him... Jon decided he had no choice, and that he should honor Big Mac's sacrifice and he left... in tears... After Jon turned at the corner, Shining's eyes turned back into blue and orange swirls and he looked concerned, "Oh gosh someone tried attacking one of the chickens! Are you okay? Should I be a good boy and go get the farmer to help!?" He asked nervously. "Eeyup..." Big Mac responded as Shining ran in the opposite direction Jon headed. After Jon turned, he looked up and yelled, "WHY!? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!? If you want me to serve you as a King you have hurt your chances so much! I don't know what you want but I will finish!" He looked ahead and noticed another corner turn. Once he turned, he noticed two things at the end of the passage. He noticed the exit was there, and he noticed Caramel was standing right at the end by the exit... > Part 5 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jon thought to himself about what was going to happen now. Before he even bothered to make it out, he had to stop to consider what would happen. Shining Armor acting like a loyal dog made sense considering his military history and with Bic Macintosh being a farmer the livestock made sense, but what could Caramel do? More specifically, what was he doing? Jon looked closer and noticed he was digging holes in the dirt. "What the hell?" Jon figured it was now or never as he only had a few minutes to get out and decided to just get this over with, figuring that he couldn't hurt anymore than he already does. Caramel started digging deeper and deeper, almost like he was making a tunnel. When Jon looked in his eyes he unsurprisingly noticed the blue and orange eyes, "Alright what are you, a gopher or a squirrel looking for a nut or something? Whatever it is please let me go..." He said with depression, not really caring what Caramel thinks he is at this point. Caramel looked up and noticed the injured unicorn and started to reply thinking he was just joking like he normally does, "Mocha Jon come on, you don't recognize your badger buddy? If that's a new joke, I like it." He responded, taking notice of his injuries, "Oh gosh, what happened? Did King Sombra do this to you?" "You could say that..." He responded, it took him a moment to realize Caramel said 'badger buddy', as he just wanted to leave, but when it came to him he knew this would be important, "Hold up, badger buddy... Do you think you're Toby?" "Well I'm pretty sure that's my name, after all you named me after you got em from Fluttershy, what are you doing out here anyway?" Caramel responded, as he continued digging. Jon just sighed, he didn't have time for this, "Look you're not a badger, you may smell as bad as one, but you're not one, you're a pony named Caramel who sometimes has a country accent and sometimes doesn't. Please just move so I can get outta here, the exit's like 30 feet away." He stopped trying to humor them, knowing that every time he tries they turn against him, "If you want to come you need to dig your way out, I'm assuming you'll think that's fun despite being a pony..." He said as he tried to walk past him, though it was slowly because his leg was still broken and bleeding. Jon looked back and noticed Caramel was following him anyway with red eyes... "Son of a bitch! what now?" He yelled in frustration, still just trying to get out. Caramel wasn't charging however, he didn't even look angry, he looked saddened. "I know what you did, after King Sombra brought me back to life, he told me what you did..." He then started to cry, "How could you? I never want to see you again!" All of Jon's instinct told him to ignore this because it was false, but it was tugging on his heart too much, despite seeing a pony he legitimately felt as if his pet felt betrayed, "I didn't know!" He started to cry as well, "He tricked me and I've put myself through so much to get you back! I haven't smiled once sense he told me what I did, please just let me go so he can truly bring you back!" Jon was begging on his (working) knees, he knew this was all an act, but he couldn't get himself to stop seeing Toby. He was worried that if Sombra honored his word then Toby would actually resent him. He actually contemplated not finishing the quest when he saw Caramel run away from him. However he soon heard a loud howl and knew what was about to happen... "Caramel!!! STOP!!!" He tried to yell. It was too late however... He could see Shining Armor rush over and he instantly accosted the pony and started biting him... Shining looked over... "You're next... I'm not finished with you!" He tried to yell, he was tired of chasing him. Jon knew what was about to happen. He knew there was only one thing he could do. He had to walk away and finish the task. He remembered that Sombra healed their injuries earlier and it would be worth a shot to risk that. Jon started sobbing more as he walked away, even though he was hearing Caramel yell for Jon to help him. After two painful minutes of walking, he finally reached the end of the labyrinth and could see the sun was still in the sky. "King Sombra, I made it. Please help me." He quietly pleaded. He knew that he was not going to feel better even though he finished the task without the King's help. Smoke appeared all around Jon and he returned back into the palace throne room, all his injuries were healed, the bruises on his face cleared, his leg returned to it's original state of functionality, his blood wounds from being bitten were gone, and his horn has returned, it was actually even a few inches longer. Jon looked around and noticed all the ponies he saw earlier, the one he barely knew and the Elements of Harmony and Cadence included. He turned around and noticed Sombra sitting on his throne with a grin on his face. He also notice Shining Armor, Big Macintosh, and Caramel walk in through the back door all unscaved with their eyes returned to the green and purple swirls. "You have passed. How do you feel now...?" He asked with interest and curiosity, expecting a certain answer. Jon took a deep breath and noticed everypony was back to normal, including himself, and he knew that Sombra was the one who healed them all. "I- I want to thank you for saving us." Jon responded with hesitation but honesty. "Really? Is that so?" He asked as he stood from his throne and walked towards Jon with a smug but professional tone. "Yes my King, I know your magic is what took my injuries away and I'm grateful that you did." Jon wasn't sure why he answered like that, he knew Sombra was the reason they all had to suffer so much in the first place. He remembered all Sombra made him suffer through and how much he wanted to murder him earlier. But there was something inside him that told him that the King was not somepony to be messed with. As if he knew that to please him was to keep him safe. He was psychologically scared from the event. Sombra grinned and walked right towards the stallion and noticed he was broken. "You're ready now. Big Mac, bring me the collar!" He practically demanded as if he would attack if he didn't comply. Big Mac obeyed and brought a new mind control collar towards the two. Jon seemed confused but not resistant, "But I thought you didn't want me as a slave? You even made me wear that for like ten seconds then took it off?" Sombra rolled his eyes, getting tired of explaining this, "I'm surprised nopony knows how hypnosis works. See it can't make anypony do anything they don't want to do if its against their moral code. I like to break my slaves mentally before I enslave them completely. Now that you had to suffer to see that I must be obeyed your brain understands that I must be served. That collar earlier was only on for that short time because you were still shocked from eating your pet but it couldn't last because your anger would have snapped you out of it. Now tell me, do you want this collar...?" Jon knew that it would be a bad idea, he understood that he would be abused and mistreated if he said yes. He was afraid of losing his free will forever and the thought of being stuck in one place for the rest of his life would make him break down, but he complied. "Yes my King..." He was afraid that he would be killed if he said no, he thought about refusing but he knew his fate would be worse if he displeased him. "I will be your slave..." He said as he started to bow down, accepting his fate. "But before I do... What about Toby?" Sombra used his horn and the badger appeared right on his back right then and there, "I brought him back to life right after you entered the maze, I knew you would make it out." He turned over and revealed Toby wearing a mind control collar as well, "I will admit, this smelly little rodent has grown on me, I was originally going to simply send him back out in the woods but I decided to have him serve me as well." Jon started sobbing and due to his mental scaring, that horrible action felt like the best gift ever, "Thank you so much my King! I'm sorry I was so resistant, I will be forever grateful!" Sombra chuckled and simply placed the collar on the unicorn in his groveling state. Once the collar was placed on his neck Jon stopped crying instantly and looked up at Sombra, his eyes instantly transformed into the same swirls every other pony had and all his fears and bad memories faded away. All he could think about was serving his King, no, his Master. "Now slave, I want you to know that you are mine, you are to serve me and you are for me to use and abuse as I see fit!" Sombra commanded as he just snapped off Jon's new horn with no concern for his well being. "Yes Master," was all Jon could say until his horn was removed and he screamed in pain again, remembering how that felt the first time. He held no anger or fear however, if his Master wanted him to suffer, he will suffer. Sombra turned around and returned Jon's new fully sized horn to his new slave, "Now for your first order, you are to find a room for you and this little vermin, find the smallest closet that gives you two the least amount of room to breath or move. You must work to earn any comfort, understood?" Before Jon would have taken great offense to all of that, he was claustrophobic and hated tight spaces, and he would have objected greatly to anypony calling his pet vermin, but his Master gave him an order that must be obeyed, "As you wish, my Master." Jon bowed one more time before taking Toby and leaving the throne room to obey his order. "Good boy." Was all Sombra would say, and it was all Mocha Jon needed. > Part 6 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next morning was a strange mystery for Mocha Jon. He found the tiniest closet in the entire castle fairly easy, the door had a bar window and even a sign labeled 'New Slaves' on it. Clearly Sombra starts everypony out this way. Jon and Toby stayed the night in the incredibly cramped room with Jon standong on two legs because there was not enough room to stand properly; he even toughed all three walls and the door toughed him with he went into the closet, making him incredibly cramped. Under any other cirsumstancers he would never bother to spend any time in a place as tight and dark as this due to his extreme claustrophobia but he was given an order and he wanted to make his first obeyed command a good one. Jon was awaken at the crack of down, not that he slept much in that position anyway. After he was sent by a guard into the throne room, he could tell that his Master had more plans for him, though this time he wasn't sure if he was to test Sombra's patience this time or not. Before he was enslaved he was willing to be snarky because he hated authority but Sombra used that as ammo to hurt his other slaves. Sombra liked hearing his insults but now Sombra has the right to actually hurt Jon. Jon would be willing to sacrifice his comfort for his master but none of his slaves would offer it unless it was requested by Sombra first. At the moment only Shining Armor, Big Mac, and Caramel were with Sombra but so was Fluttershy, much to Jon's confusion. Sombra looked like he did before Jon was enslaved, still trying to seem mysterious in his orders, "How was your sleep slave?" Jon yawned and then answered, "It was not easy sleeping Sir, if I had not exhausted myself during my test yesterday I would have been up all night." He answered honestly, knowing that lying to please Sombra is moot, a good slave must answer honestly and face the consequences for wrong answers, however Sombra expected this. "Get used to it, you will stay there until I take in my next slave!" Sombra yelled in a demanding tone, forcing Jon to panic, but not out of fear but out of guilt this time. "Now Fluttershy, you told me that badger of his is a pet to you both, go stand with them, this test requires you both..." Fluttershy looked upset but she complied, knowing what was to happen. Jon himself just looked forward expressionless as Fluttershy came by and picked Toby from his back, waiting for the order. He was not sure what was to happen but the fact that Sombra was willing to let Toby stay with them meant that the King must have cared about him on some small level. Sombra walked up to them with a no nonsense expression, not afraid to make either Jon or Fluttershy upset, "Do you know why I gave you the grace to allow this filthy unwashed creature to stay in my palace?" "No Sir." They said in unison. Sombra chuckled smugly, "During this coffee boy's challenge, I kept this thing close by as motivation. I may be heartless and evil, but I truly am a pony of my word." The two along with the other three all nodded in agreement, "He's not like the other pets I made everypony abandon though, having him by my side was an interesting experience. I never understood the point of pets aside from simply bending simple minded creatures to one's will." Fluttershy wanted to gasp at that comment but reluctantly agreed, "But this one has grown on me, the fact that you two have managed tame this vicious beast is admirable." Shining Armor, Big Mac, and Caramel all gasped loudly as they heard that comment, Sombra almost never gives a compliment like that to anypony and he usually saves it for those who have been so loyal that they put themselves at risk. Sombra just looked over and growled in response, "You do not interrupt your Master..." He said as he slowly walked towards them, "One more time and you will be punished so badly it might even scare me." He said quietly but assertively. "Yes Master!!!" They all said in panic and fear as Sombra returned to Fluttershy and Mocha Jon. "Anyway, I have decided to take the credit upon myself for taking this vermin, and I have decided that the vermin shall be mine and not yours. You two are to surrender him to me." Sombra demanded. Fluttershy and Jon did not want to do that, he badger is what brought the two of them together as friends and they both love him extensively. Jon only took this as a chance to prove his loyalty, but Fluttershy saw this as Sombra warming up to another living creature, even in a bad way. The two looked at each other reluctantly but complied, "Yes Master." They said as they tried handing over the badger, but Sombra felt this was too easy. "You two gave in faster than I assumed, perhaps I should up the anti." At that moment the King used his horn and removed the collar from the badger's neck, making him completely aware of his surroundings. Fluttershy and Jon were confused, though in differentt ways. "Hypnotizing him was easier because his simple animal mind is much easier to mold than ponies, I was able to completely write out his personality without needing to break his will like you two. Sense he can hear you two fully, I want you two to tell him why you're giving him up without using me as a reason. The two could not bear themselves to do this, but they had no choice, Fluttershy was holding in tears but she had to be honest, "I'm sorry but I don't want you anymore, you are too much to handle and you were too much of a hassle when you started staying with Mocha, it's just easier for me if you're gone, I don't want to see you ever again." Fluttershy was for the most part being honest, agreeing to let Toby stay with Mocha Jon made Toby enraged and he was reluctant to leave her, becoming clingy and too much pressure. She didn't want to loose him though, she wanted to do what she was told. Toby looked saddened from that and wanted to hug Jon for comfort but Jon held him away with his horn, "I'm sorry too but I don't want you anymore either, you're too gullible and you're too much work for something that just doesn't give anything back, plus every time I try to bathe you you always end up right where you began. From now on you only deserve to be kept by the King of fear and Darkness, somepony that evil is the only pony who can give you what you deserve. King Sombra, please take this badger as a gift..." Sombra grinned and took the panicking badger from the two with no remorse. Despite obeying the order, the two clearly did not like doing that to him and both want to apologize to him. Sombra chuckled more and returned the collar to the badger. "I can tell that was hard, too bad I don't care. Fluttershy, I want you to go and wake up the day time guard dogs and put the night guard dogs to bed." "Yes sir." She shivered a little bit but left the room to do as told. "In case you're wondering, the guard dogs don't like being put to bed or woken up, and they love to bite." Sombra added as soon as she left. Jon decided to see if Sombra was in the mood to want to fight, he figured it was time to risk his pain, "Really...? I had no idea..." He sarcastically said. Sombra just eyed the unicorn with a strange ambiguous squint, "I see..." He walked closer him and when they were face to face Sombra added, "You're lucky I'm in a good mood now, I like that you are willing to risk yourself like this. Just don't get cocky with being cocky. At any moment I might want to punish you, but for now I'll let it slide." The other three slaves in the room were shocked at how well the King was treating their new slave, they expected him to try and stab him with his horn. It's almost like Sombra sees something different in him. "The special hour is about to begin, enjoy it while you can..." Sombra then just walked out of the room while leaving the rest of them in the room. Jon wanted to ask what hour he was talking about, but he was not called too and he already took enough of a risk. "You will love this Jon, it shows how much we love our Master!" Caramel yelled in excitement. "Eeyup!" Suddenly without any warning a strange flash appeared around their necks, Jon put his arm over his eyes to shield his vision and when he looked over he noticed the collars were taken off the three. He also felt his neck and noticed his collar was gone too, and all their eyes lost the spirals in them. "Wait... What just happened?" Jon asked as he shook his head. The three walked over to him and helped him with his headache. "It's Free Will Hour, every morning Sombra gives us an hour where we lose our collars and get to think for ourselves." Caramel responded. Jon didn't know what to do, he was only hypnotized for one night but thinking for himself just feels, distant. He felt as confused as he did when his collar was placed on. He wasn't sure what to ask despite having so many questions in his head, "Really? Why?" "We're not sure, he's never said why." Shining answered. "Nope." Big Mac added. "Well... What do we do?" Jon asked, still confused. "Well Big Mac's gonna organize Sombra's uniforms, Caramel's gonna clean the throne room and I'm undecided between organizing his sock drawer and typing up this week's propaganda about Sombra to send out to everypony!" Shining said excitedly as all three of them looked eager to get to work. "Wow that all sounds great! Anypony need help?" Jon also eagerly asked also wanting to serve the King, "Wait, what the Hell did I just say!?" Jon wasn't sure why he or the rest of them would want to serve Sombra when they weren't hypnotized. > Part 7 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jon just slapped himself in the fact because he was so confused. Why on Equestria would King Sombra want to give his slaves any time of free will? Why would anypony want to serve him when they have free will? And why was Jon himself wanting to? He remembered that Sombra could and probably would kill him if he did anything disrespectful. "What the Hell is going on?" The other free stallions just started laughing hysterically at his confusion, they remember what it was like when they were in his horseshoes. Shining Armor guided Big Mac and Caramel out and offered Jon to help him, "Alright guys I'll help him out, you two just go on about your duties, he said if we finish before the hour we'll get to eat twice in one day." Jon was rubbing his head, confused and a little concerned, but he knew he had to help out Shining Armor, he wasn't sure if he wanted to out of fear or out of true desire but he was so tired he didn't bother resisting. "My parents would be so proud to know how my life has turned out." He sarcastically said as he followed a disturbingly happy Shining Armor. He was guided into Sombra's bedroom which was twice the size of the Princess's room, he had the wall between the room and office to make more room for his servants to grovel at his feet at night. Shining went over to the desk that was filled with three stacks of blank paper to the ceiling all waiting to be written on with the phrase 'Service for your King or Service for your memorial' and Shining gleefully went to work on them, "Sweet, having Twilight as a sister payed off again!" He eagerly started working. "Alright all you need to do is organize his dresser and make his bed, pretty simple really, just be sure to first not to mix up the boxers and briefs, don't leave any socks in the metal boots for the second drawer, and fold all the capes in the bottom drawer up." Jon rolled his eyes a bit as he started to internally struggle with whether or not he even should do this. He knew that he not who he used to be but he also remembered that he has the perfect chance to escape. Remembering what Sombra would do to him as a slave is terrifying but the fear of being hunted down is just as bad, he was literally at a loss. He looked over at Shining Armor who somehow already managed to finish one third of that stack of paper. Shining dropped his quill and bent over to pick it up. He accidentally bumped his horn on the desk and chuckled as he rubbed it lightly, "Hehe, clumsy me." Mocha Jon then started screaming hysterically. "AAAAHHHHHHH!!! This must be bad karma, I'll get to work immediately!!!" He then started organizing at a speed that would have normally exhausted himself instantly. Shining Armor just looked over there in confusion, "You alright bud? I thought this would be fun?" Jon was reminded of when Shining Armor had his horn ripped off by Sombra and the moment later when his own horn was broken off. He felt like it was another form of punishment for his resistance and he didn't want to risk anything. "I'm sorry Shining, please be careful I'll be sure to get this done I won't let him hurt your horn again!" He said as he finished doing the drawer exasperating himself as he went over to the bed, Shining just chuckled. "Oh man I remember being like that, fearful, panicky, paranoid, don't worry you'll get used to that man." He tried to say comfortingly as he miraculously finished all the papers in practically lightening speed, "I'll send these to Spike later for him to send out, anyway Mocha, as long as you fly straight Master will be safe with you, trust me you're well on the path he wanted you to be on." Jon already finished because most of the work was already done for him, Sombra himself despite his negative attitude is actually very organized, "Why are you so calm? You should be able to remember all those horrible things he did to all of us, I cracked because I was scared, but you seem happy to serve him." He looked around, making sure nopony was listening to him in case Sombra would be angry for him asking questions. Shining just chuckled a little more, "I'm used to it, he grows on you really quickly, don't worry, in a few weeks you'll be begging at his feet hypnotized or not." Shining looked over with a suspiciously large smile and strange look of determination of his words, almost as if he was in some form of denial, or mental scaring. "But what about all the torture he does? I mean wouldn't you get tired of it? I have only been his slave a day and I already wonder why he hasn't just killed me, how would anypony get used to that?" He asked as he looked closer at Shining, noticing that he had what looked like more facial hair, like it grew from stress. He could tell that Shining was no longer the stallion he was once pen palls with. "Like I said, it grows on you, honestly I'm tempted to do what Big Mac did yesterday and eat my own foothoof off just to make him happy, hey maybe he'll give you a treat if you do it!" Shining said gleefully. Instead of making a sarcastic comment on how that would never happen, Jon himself actually considered doing it. He knew that in order to gain any form of pleasure or reward was to suffer first, and he knew that Sombra would most likely make him do it anyway. Maybe if he volunteered to harm himself than Sombra would understand he is devoted to his will... "Well maybe I could just..." He actually was about to offer up an offer but before he had the chance too Sombra opened the door and demanded that they meet him back in the throne room. "Pets, I want you two to meet me in the throne room, it's time for you all to play..." Suddenly his horn glowed and the hypnotic collars were returned to Shining Armor and Mocha Jon, who instantly fell back into their trance. "Yes Master." The two said in unison as they all walked out obediently, Shining looking more excited but Jon only seeming ambivalent, but happy to be with his master again. Shining looked over to Jon and whispered, "Don't do the hoof thing yet, you'll want to feel fine for this, offer it afterwards." And Jon was actually contemplating eating his own hoof off it it meant his Master would be happy with him...