> The Hacker > by Warden of All > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Hacking, challenges, rewards, and mistakes > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- My name is Carl, and this is how I ended up in Equestria with powers I never dreamed of. The day had started out pretty normally for me, I woke up, ate breakfast, and got on my computer. I didn't actually have a job, but I had other ways to get money. You see, I was a hacker, and frequently would hack into small banks and take small amounts of money from them. I had even hacked a few large banks and stolen a very large amount of money from each. When I was bored, I would play a multiplayer game, and try to win. If someone ticked me off though, I would use hacks to make their game a living hell. Whether those hacks made me overpowered so I could kill them, or they would be made weaker so me or my teammates could kill them. I would also frequently join a multiplayer Minecraft server and have immense fun using hacks to troll the other players. Whether it be turning a players house into TNT, or using OP swords and bows to one-shot enemies before they even realize I was there. If an admin banned me, I would blackmail them with some information I gained through hacking, or bribe them with a considerable amount of money to get them to unban me. Today, I was going to hack another small bank, then I noticed something in my recommendations. It was titled "Try to hack me". I was of course, curious, so I clicked on it. I was not worried about other hackers or viruses, because I had the best anti-virus software I could get my hands on, plus my skill as a hacker could help me as well. The website gave me a series of codes and locks that I needed to hack into the games files and code to get the combinations for. I easily got through the first few, then I actually had to focus a little to get through the firewalls and other defenses. As the difficulty increased more and more. I had an idea. Hackers aren't supposed to play by the rules, so instead of hacking into the files and codes to get to the next level, I hacked into the system that moved me to the next level, and after getting through the toughest defenses and firewalls I had ever encountered, I made it through, but it was only a small window, that was rapidly closing. I had needed to use several of my best viruses I had ever made, w=ones I had made to infiltrate huge banks in order to do this, but I managed it. In hindsight, I shouldn't have done this, because the site could have been watched by someone who could track me down. But I was overconfident in my programs and VPN's that made me appear three times over in every country in the world. This may sound unrealistic to you, but with good enough hacking skills, you can make VPN's act how you want, and with the stolen money, and fake ID's, I was able to get ahold of a bunch of them. I quickly used my window, and skipped every level ahead of me to the very end. I was rewarded with a black screen, then slowly, I heard clapping that seemed to come from all around me. "Amazing job. You are the first one who has ever been able to figure out how to beat my game. Most hackers don't think outside the box like that. I like you, as well as a certain other person in another universe you don't know, but are closely connected to. So I will give you powers the likes of which can make you almost unbeatable. Do with them what you want." A voice from my computer said. Before I could respond, my computer began to glow, and after a bright flash, I lost consciousness. I woke up and blearily opened my eyes. My entire body ached, and I tried to stand, only to stop as my vision swam and blurred, and I felt like I was about to puke. I felt like I had been drinking hard last night, but this worse than any hangover I had ever experienced. Then I noticed that I was laying on grass, not my bed. I wasn't that surprised, considering how much I must have drank last night. After a few minutes, my vision had returned to normal, and I no longer felt like I was about to puke my guts out. Looking around, I noticed that the colors seemed...off. They were to bright, to...cartoony. I tried to remember what happened, then it hit me like a truck. The game. The voice. The bright flash. It all came back to me. I began to panic, then I took a deep breath and thought about my situation. I realized that this sounded suspiciously like a Displaced story. Yes, I read My Little Pony fanfictions, so what? The show itself was ok in my opinion, but it was the villains and the fanfictions that I truly enjoyed about the franchise. Examining my surroundings more, I noticed that I was in a clearing surrounded by trees, and I wondered where I was. "I'm probably in the Everfree forest, since more than half of the Displaced start up here. So I need to figure out my powers before I get mauled by Timberwolves." I said to myself. Suddenly, a book appeared in front of me. It was titled How to hack, Displaced edition. I chuckled at the joke, before realization hit me. How to hack? Were my abilities hacking? I began to grin, thinking of the possibilities of such an ability. I opened the book, and began to read. I was surprised by how easy the book said it was. All I had to do was imagine the Minecraft text box appearing in front of me, then "type" in the commands. Apparently, I could give myself any item or ability from anything, from video games, science fiction, movies, and otherwise. I immediately did so, and the text box appeared. I debated what to do first, and eventually settled on flight. Then I gave myself the ability to transfer any damage I take into a health bar. Looking at said bar, I saw I only had about 150 health. I decided to fix that, by giving myself 10,000 health. Then I gave myself a daedric sword from Skyirm. I had always wanted to have one of these, mostly because it was badass looking. Thinking about what I was going to do, I decided to go troll the princess's that is when I realized something. Where was I in the timeline? Was I somewhere during the events of the show? Or was I sometime before or after? I decided to find out, so I flew towards The Castle of the Two Sisters at speeds that would make Rainbow Dash jealous. After a few seconds, I realized that I didn't know which way to go. So I used my cheats to teleport there, but I got an error message. I was confused, so I tried again, but the same error popped up again. Then I realized that it must not exist yet, which put me at least during Discord's rule, before Celestia and Luna defeated him. This was even better, because messing with Discord is even better than Celestia and Luna, and I can mess with them later on anyway. I teleported to Ponyville, and found Discord napping on his throne. (Ponyville looks like it did when Discord escaped in the show) I decided to give him the biggest wake up call in the world. I quickly turned his throne and the ground around it into TNT, which I then lit with a flint and steel and backed away very quickly. After a few seconds, a large explosion engulfed Discord. The smoke cleared to reveal a very startled looking Discord floating in the middle of a cater, before falling to the bottom. He stood and dusted himself off. He looked at me with narrowed eyes. "How rude. I was taking a nap you know. And if you wanted to see me, you could have knocked." He lectured. "Knock on what?" I asked, how could I not. A door that looked to be made of solid diamond appeared in front of me. I walked around it, and grinned evilly, thinking of what else I could do. I made sure that I had immunity to Discord's chaos magic, so he couldn't mess with me right back. I then increased gravity to 1,000 Equis's normal gravity right where Discord was standing. He immediately collapsed, flattening like a pancake. Then I reversed that gravity so he got pulled up instead of down. As he struggled to escape, I negated his chaos powers completely, and waited until he was in space before making the gravity act normally again, causing him to plummet to the ground like a meteor. The impact probably would have done significant damage to town, had I not placed a barrier around the impact zone, negating any damage that would have been caused. He struggled to regain his bearings, but I gave him no chance. I turned his wings into ice cream, and his legs into gel-o. I then stood over him triumphantly. "Sorry buddy, but there is a new god in town, and there is only room for one. Don't worry, I won't hurt any pony, maybe." I chuckled. "Is that so? Well we can't let you do that." A familiar female voice spoke behind me. "Oh shit." I thought. I turned to see none other than Celestia and Luna standing there, and with the Elements of Harmony! I tried to calm down, I didn't have to worry, the villains in the show never tried to dodge the rainbow cannon, so it should be as simple as dodging. But I should at least try to talk my way out of this first. "Now hold on you two, I was only kidding! i would never hurt any pony! I was just trying to make myself look cool. The only time some pony would actually get hurt is when they made me angry, but I wouldn't kill them or anything." I tried to explain. They ignored me and the Elements began to glow. I prepared to dodge at the last second, but then someone grabbed me from behind. I saw a lion's paw and an eagle claw on my chest, and I realized that Discord was trying to look for some last moment revenge. I lost focus long enough for the rainbow laser to strike me, and in my panicked state, I didn't use any commands or cheats to reverse the process. In seconds, both me and Discord were encased in stone. > imprisonment, freedom, and bar fights > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's lonely in stone. I know what your thinking, But Carl, you had Discord there with you. In reality, Celestia and Luna had separated us into separate statues, and we couldn't communicate. It seemed that even though we were turned into stone together, the moment we were stoned, Discord had let go of me enough to make us separate. And the worse part was I was only half conscious, unable to form many coherent thoughts, but was still aware enough to watch the passage of time from my prison. At first, I was willing to forgive Celestia and Luna. I mean, I did sort of threaten their ponies, even though it was a joke. Even Discord hadn't really done that. After a 100, my forgiveness would be hard to earn, but still possible. After 200, I began to plot my revenge, I eventually decided on humiliating them again and again, and possibly beating them down a bit. After 300, those humiliations became much worse, going from an embarrassing event or mistake pointed out in front of a large crowd, to false conspiracies and scandals and that beat down became leaving them permanently scarred. After 500, I was very tempted to kill them very painfully. After 600, I was planning on torturing them for years, but never letting them die. After 700 however, I became desperate, wondering if I would ever get out. By that point, I had forgotten a lot of my old life, including what I knew about this universe that I learned from the show, and what happened between my old life and now. That meant that I didn't even remember I had powers that could free me. When you are trapped in stone for so long, your mind just loses focus on anything other than breaking out, even things that could help you break out. I hadn't really been thinking about my old life that much when I first arrived, mostly because I hardly had any friends, unless you count people he played h]games with frequently and liked. As for family, my parents died in a car accident a few years previously. I never really knew any other family, and the ones I did know I only saw once or twice in my entire life, and only one time that had been in person. After that, I began to try to desperately get out, not making any progress. I remained hopeful though, because every villain The Elements of Harmony had imprisoned had escaped about one thousand years after being trapped. I figured the same would happen to me. When 1,000 years had finally passed, I hoped I would break out with Discord, since we were imprisoned at the same time. But no such luck, I had to watch with envy as Discord broke out of his stone prison, and approached me. "You know, you are a very strange creature, you are even more powerful than me, so I won't let you out. It's because of you that I was trapped in stone, so you won't be getting out as long as I have something to do about it." He told me. I watched as he snapped his fingers, and I somehow felt the stone trapping me harden and reinforce. If I could actually give looks and if they could kill, Discord would be so mangled that even demons from Tartarus would be revolted at the sight of his corpse. He chuckled and teleported away with a ballon figure standing where he was, before it popped. Only an hour or two later, he was carted back into the garden, once again a statue. Even in my semi conscious state, the site filled me with glee and smugness. At least the chaos god wouldn't be roaming free anytime soon. Another few years passed, and I became depressed and hopeless, thinking that I would never get out. It didn't help that I had been forced to watch with rage and envy when Celestia retrieved Discord's statue, talking about reforming him. About a year and a half after that though, I felt my prison weaken considerably. I could feel Discord's magic leave the stone, leaving it weaker than ever. I of course tried to break out, but was again unsuccessful. But then, about two years later, Something else happened. I felt the magic that had imprisoned me, the Elements, leave the stone and left it no stronger than normal stone, and old, slightly cracked stone at that. I began furiously struggling to break out, using all of my energy, but still failing to do anything to my prison. After another few days, I tried again with renewed effort. The same result. Twice more I did this, then, about 3 weeks after the magic had left the stone, I felt a shift, a weak point on the stone over my left arm. I began to furiously wiggle and pushing against the stone binding me. After a minute of this, I could hear a small crack on my arm's stone appear, then become large as I redoubled my efforts. After a few seconds, the stone encasing my arm broke into pieces. I grabbed on in my hand and smashed it into my other arm with all mo strength, breaking the piece, but leaving a large crack on the stone over my arm. The crack spread until had fully circled around my arm at my elbow and broke, disconnecting the stone over the lower part of my arm from the rest. Next I smashed my still stone covered arm against my chest, braking the stone on my arm and over my chest. Then I began clawing at and smacking the stone over my head, chipping away at it quickly. A minute later, I managed to grab another piece of loos stone and smash it into the stone on my head, breaking it at last. I gasped for air, and coughed as I breathed in the dust from the destroyed stone. I tried yo moves, only to remember that my legs and back were still stuck. I grabbed a piece 0f stone in both hands and smashed them over my legs, quickly freeing them, and the stone over my back fell off and smashed into the ground below. I stumbled, my legs not yet used to carrying my weight after a thousand something years in stone and fell of the pedestal I had stood on, falling directly on my face on the grass below. I groaned in pain, and curled into a ball, and just lay there shivering in the cold wind. After a few minutes, I attempted to stand, and collapsed. I tried a few more times before I managed to unsteadily rise to my feet. I looked around, squinting my eyes at the bright sunlight all around me. Once my eyes had adjusted, I could finally look around the place in greater detail. You see, I was able to see what happened in front of me when I was trapped, but nothing else. I was in a garden with all sorts of statues around me. I briefly wondered if they were other prisoners, until looking closer I realized that they were all obviously not real, details that actual people would have were missing for starters. I sighed and wondered how I got in this situation. Suddenly, there was a flash, and I saw a rainbow shooting towards me. Just as fast as it appeared, it disappeared. Another flash, and I saw two horses, one white and the other dark blue, floating in the air and six multicolored lights floating around them standing before me. Another flash, and I saw a lion's paw and an eagle claw wrap around my chest, and I was hit with a rainbow colored energy beam. When that happened, I suddenly remembered everything that had happened. I collapsed to my knees, and shuddered in rage as I remembered what those two had done to me. And the worse part was that I had gotten myself into this mess in the first place. There was only one thing to do. What was that? Why, go to a bar and drink until I blacked out, or the bar ran out of liquor, whichever happened first. If there ever was a time for getting blackout drunk, it was now. I quickly opened my text box and used my powers to clean myself, then give myself several thousand bits to spend. I then teleported myself to the nearest bar. The patrons were surprised by my sudden appearance, as well as how I looked. I mean, I am probably the only bipedal creature outside of certain monsters or minotaurs they have seen or heard about. I approached the bar and sat on a stool. "Give me the strongest stuff you got. As much as this can buy." I told the bartender, tossing him a sack with several hundred bits in it. He looked inside and blinked. He began to pour me a drink of what looked and smelled like cider. I was uncertain that this was going to be all that good, but I was impressed by how good it tasted. Not to mention, it was surprisingly strong. Not the strongest thing I had ever had, but still pretty close. As the hours passed, I went through countless glasses, yet kept asking for more. Eventually though, the bartender looked at me firmly after what had to have been my 30th glass at least. "I'm sorry buddy, but you need to stop now. No pony can consume this much cider and go away unscathed. By this point you are already drunk enough to barely make it home." He said sternly. I glared daggers at him, but he seemed unfazed by that, so I switched tactics. I may have been drunk as hell, but I still could think relatively clearly. "I have no home for your information. I also have no family, no friends, and to be honest, I just was freed from being trapped for over a thousand years, so I don't give shit if I black out. In fact, I am trying to do so. Anything to forget what has happened to me. So either you give me more cider, or things could get ugly." I snarled. He backed away, eyes wide and a shocked look on his face. "Wait, what do you mean trapped for a thousand years?" He asked nervously. "Celestia and Luna turned me into stone because they thought I was a threat to their little ponies. I wasn't a threat before, now though, I think a little vengeance is in order." I said angrily. He looked me in the eye, trying to see if I was just rambling, or telling the truth. Everyone was looking at me, waiting for the bartenders verdict. "He's telling the truth. I have worked here for 10 years now, and I can tell the difference from drunken rambling and actual truth." He said fearfully. I knew why he was scared. Celestia and Luna only imprisoned beings with immense power and were dangerous. If I had been imprisoned by them, then I am probably very powerful myself. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the patrons sneak out the front door, probably looking for the guards. The bartender nervously continued to pour me drinks, until about 10 minutes later, when two royal guards entered the establishment, a unicorn and a pegasus, being led by the pony who had left. He pointed to me and they approached. I used my powers to immediately give myself good skill with a sword, and prepared to summon a ebony sword from Skyrim. "Sir, is what this pony say true about you claiming to be another being imprisoned by the princess's?" The unicorn asked cautiously. "Yes it is. You can even check the statue garden, my statue was near where Discord's was, you will only find rubble there now." I said dismissively. He nodded to his companion, who exited, and a minute later, came back in. "He's telling the truth, one of the statues has been destroyed. And if my memory is correct, he looks a lot like it did." He confirmed. "Sir, you will need to come with us for questioning." The unicorn told me. "And why would I do that? You incompetent fools won't be able to lay a hoof on me if we were to fight. You could bring an entire regiment, but I would kill them all. You royal guards are all so stupid, thinking you can actually make a difference in a battle between the ones with actual power. The most you would do is get in the way and be used as cannon fodder. So if you want to take me in, then good luck." I retorted. He bristled with indignation at my threat, and everyone else tensed, knowing what has coming next. "You come now or we will take you by for-" He didn't get a chance to finish s I summoned the sword and sliced his front right leg off. Be collapsed, screaming in pain. Before his companion could react, I swung at him with my sword, but he ducked. Realizing he was outmatched, he ran out the door and spread his wings, flying away as fast as he could towards the palace. I replaced my sword with a daedric bow from Skyrim, and gave myself expert archer abilities. I quickly nocked a daedric arrow and fired at the retreating guard, striking him on his wing. he cried out in pain and fell to the ground below, landing with a large thud. I put away the bow, and reentered the bar. The patrons were trying to help the guard inside, who was still bleeding profusely from his severed limb. They all froze when they saw me, but I ignored them and sat back in my stool, grabbing my glass and downing it. I know, I just horribly wounded two others, and just went back to drinking like nothing happened. Well, I was pretty drunk, not to mention after spending so long in stone, I just didn't care anymore. Plus, I will admit that I was drunk on my freedom, and it was satisfying to do that to those guards. The bartender was to afraid to refuse me more drinks, so he kept giving me them. After another 20 minutes, several more guards charged through the doors, swords at the ready. I sighed and stood up as they surrounded me. "Surrender monster, and pay for your crimes." One of them, a captain judging from his armor, demanded. I simply summoned my sword, as well as a daedric sword. Several eyes widened at the swords that appeared out of thin air, but they maintained their composure. I got into a fighting stance, and they all watched me with anticipation. Looking around, all of the patrons had been evacuated with the injured guard, and there was about 15 guards, possibly with more outside. There was 6 unicorns including the captain and 9 earth ponies. The unicorns charged their horns, ready to launch incapacitating spells at me. I never gave them the chance, as I charged forward as action music began to play from out of nowhere. This caught them of guard, and I used that and sliced of the horns of two of the unicorns, then the legs off of three earth ponies. One large earth pony stallion with a sword swung at me, only for me to block it with strength I just gave myself. He looked shocked at the fact that I had blocked his attack. Then I grabbed his neck and tossed him into one of his comrades, throwing both of them through the wall. I ducked a swipe from the blade of another guard and hit him in the head with the flat of my blade, knocking him out. A unicorn shot a spell at me, which I dodged, causing it to hit a earth pony behind me, paralyzing him. I punched another earth pony, knocking him through the door. I grabbed the two unicorns whose horns I previously cut off, and smashed their heads together, knocking them out. The last earth pony tried to stab me from behind, but I rolled forward at the last moment, causing him to lose his balance. I then charged him and kicked him through the wall. The captain and his last three unicorn guards had erected a shield between them and me. The guards looked very afraid but the captain was calm and collected, examining the injuries I had inflicted, then me. Before they could do anything else, I charged at them with my swords, and they tensed. They fired spells at me, but I simply dodged and weaved between them using some agility I just gave myself. They tried to hit me again at closer range, but I just jumped over all of them and their shield, landing behind them. I quickly turned and cut off the horns of two of the guards, and the front legs of the last guard. The captain swung at me with s sword, which I blocked. I used my other sword to stab at him, but he grabbed another sword in his magic and blocked me. It seemed that I may actually get a fight out of this guy. One of the unicorns tried to tackle me, but I rolled to the side punched him through the wall. The other one ran out of the bar, presumably to get reinforcements. I turned my attention back to the captain, who was pressing his attack. I blocked his swords with my own and began to push him back. Suddenly and agonizing pain erupted in my back, and I stumbled. I looked behind me to see a third sword being held in the telekinetic grip of the captain. Well, if he was going to play like that, then so would I. I gave myself telekinetic abilities and levitated half a dozen swords and a mace in the air around me. My adversaries eyes widened when I did this, but he steeled himself, knowing full well what was going to happen and accepting his fate. I had to admit, this was the bravest guy I had ever met or even heard of, or the stupidest. He charged first, and I ran at him at full speed as well. We clashed, with his swords blocking half of mine from decapitating him while he used shields to block the rest of them. I struck at his shields again, but they refused to even crack from my hits. I hit them a third time, but again they didn't even crack. I levitated a barstool into the air a few feet behind him, and swung it into the back of his head hard enough to break it into splinters. This threw him off balance, and I took advantage of that and cut off his horn. He looked at his horn on the ground in defeat, and bowed his head, prepared to die. Instead, I walked past him and out the door. I wasn't out to kill anyone, but if they happened to die from their injuries from foolishly fighting me, then oh well. But he was a good fighter and while I didn't really have any honor, I had to appreciate a true warrior, someone who had worked and trained to get to their skill level, and didn't just use cheats and shortcuts to get there. Sure I still wouldn't have one without some skill myself, but I could have easily just gave myself an ability that would have won that fight in seconds. As I left the bar though, I saw that there was several dozen guards marching towards me. I sighed, I was willing to give small groups and individual worthy fighters a chance, but I wasn't about to bother with that with a large group. I watched with my arms crossed as the guards readied their spears and magic, preparing to fight. > Chapter 3 (couldn't think of a name) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lieutenant Bright Dawn had been having a good day, until a unicorn guard had run into the barracks panting like he had just run across Canterlot and was looking quite panicked. Bright Dawn quickly approached him, wondering why he was so panicked. "What is wrong?" He asked his fellow guard. He took a moment to catch his breath before answering. "My squad and the captain had heard reports of a creature attack and injure two guards, it was at a bar, the one near the train station, and I stayed outside while the rest entered to confront the creature. I heard fighting, and several guards were thrown through the walls, looking badly injured. I looked through the hole they made and saw several guards were on the ground bleeding or unconscious. I immediately ran here as fast as I could. They may need help." He told his unicorn commander frantically. Several other guards had approached when the frantic unicorn had entered, and after hearing this, they immediately began demanding that they should save the captain. Bright Dawn held up a hoof to silence them, his blue eyes looking each of them in the eye. "Anyone who wishes to accompany me on this mission, raise your hoof." He said loudly. Almost every pony raised their hoof, which brought a smile to the commanders face at his soldiers bravery. Then he singled out one unicorn who hadn't raised his hoof, and beckoned him forward. The unicorn nervously approached his commander, wondering if he was going to be ridiculed or punished for not volunteering. "You are to report this what has happened to Princess Celestia, she needs to know a dangerous creature is in the city, and that we are moving to capture or kill it." He ordered the surprised, and grateful stallion. He immediately ran out the door and towards the palace, intent on making it there as fast as possible. Every pony else began to don their armor and grab their weapons. Then they marched out of the barracks in formation. After a few minutes, they arrived at the bar to see a strange bipedal creature exit. They could immediately tell that this was what they were looking for, because if the menacing swords weren't enough of an indication, the blood on it's clothes further confirmed their suspicions. The unicorns charged their horns, ready to launch a volley of spells at it at a moments notice and the rest prepared their spears. The pegasi took flight as well, flying above the formation with their weapons at the ready. Meanwhile Princess Celestia was sitting on her throne relaxed, relieved to have a short break from day court, and the nobles constantly trying to further their own agendas at the cost of others. But her break was short lived, as a guard rushed into the room, and she immediately noticed the urgent look in his eyes. He approached the throne and was about to bow, but she held up a hoof to stop him. She waited patiently as he took a deep breath before giving her his message. "Your highness, I have message from Lieutenant Bright Dawn. A guard ran into the barracks saying that a mysterious creature had attacked and injured several other guards, possibly including the captain, after they received reports of the same creature attacking and injuring two other guards. The lieutenant and several dozen guards are moving to investigate as we speak, but I have a bad feeling they are in trouble. Now I have full confidence in the abilities in them all, but if this creature can beat the captain and several other guards, they may not stand a chance." He informed her. Celestia considered this, and she realized that he was probably right. superior numbers or not, if this creature turned out to be the next big villain, they wouldn't stand a chance. She grabbed a scroll and quill in her magical grasp, and began to write a letter. Then she sent it away with burst of fire, watching the smoke go out the window. "Put the guard on full alert, and find Lieutenant Bright Dawn and the other guards, make sure they are alright." She ordered. The guard saluted, then ran out of the throne room. Celestia sighed wearily, thinking about everything that has happened in the last few years. More was happening now than had in the first few years of Equestria, when she and Luna had united the pony tribes as one. Not only had all of the villains from then returned, but several new ones had appeared as well, Discord was reformed, two new alicorns had been crowned, and so much more. After a thousand years of peace, it was all quite sudden. Though she had been expecting a lot of change when she took Twilight as her student. She could tell from the beginning that she was special, a unicorn whose caliber she had not seen since Starswirl. She knew from the very beginning that she would attract attention, both good and bad, and bring change. She just hadn't been expecting this much to happen all at once. Meanwhile I decided it was time to have some real fun with my god powers, and I always wanted to know what it was like to have certain magical artifacts from the show. I raised my hand as a black orb crackling with green energy formed on my hand, growing in size until exploding, the shockwave shoving the guards back a few inches, but they remained standing. They all looked at me and gasped in shock. Now floating in my hand was none other than the Alicorn Amulet itself. I levitated it in front of my eyes and examined it. I had to admit, it was very cool looking, and while yes I didn't need it to wipe the floor with these guards, I wanted to see how well I could fight with only Equestrian magic instead of my powers. This though also gave me an idea to visit a certain dimension and bring back a recently defeated trio of villains. The look on everyone's faces would be priceless when three formerly feared villains are returned at full power. But for now, I am going to wipe the floor with these idiots. I placed the amulet around my neck and clasped it shut. I'd say that it was like a commercial for a new product you'll notice the difference immediately! I felt powerful magic surge through my body as the amulet began to glow a blood red color. The guards knew what the amulet was, mostly because of Trixie using it. News of events like that travel far and wide at a fast pace. They remembered hearing about the things Trixie had done using the amulet, and really didn't want to be anywhere near it or it's wearer, but they had sworn an oath to protect, and leaving this monster in the city unchallenged could very well sign the death warrants of many. The unicorns fired a volley of spells at me, and I grinned evilly. I raised my hand and a wall of black crystals shot from the ground in front of me, blocking the spells. Then I shattered the wall into dozens of pieces and shot the shards at guards. The unicorns quickly summoned a shield in front of them and their comrades, blocking the volley of deadly projectiles. I charged forward with my swords dragging on the ground behind me, sending sparks into the air. The guards charged me as well, but I was not about to let them reach me unscathed. With a flick of my wrist, a wave of black magic shot out from my hand and enveloped about of them, causing them to freeze in place. Their eyes turned green and their pupils red, with purple smoke pouring out of them as my magic took control of their bodies and minds. With a mental command, they all lined up in formation in front of me. I grinned as I began to formulate a plan in my mind and with another order, I turned and walked towards the city gates while two thirds of my forces marched behind me while the others began to move towards the palace. As they did so, the former lieutenant Bright Dawn began to change. Shadows began to seep off of him as he marched in front of the group, which began to cover his entire body, until he was completely concealed. With a small explosion, he burst free completely different. His formerly blue eyes were now blood red slits that seemed to glow with a solid light. His white fur had turned to mostly black with spots of red that looked like fresh blood stains. His hooves were dark blue, and his mane and tail were now black with red stripes moving through them, and were blowing in an unseen breeze. His armor was now red with golden stripes along its edges, and it had a harsher, more serious look to it. It also had spikes along the edges and was at least 3 inches thicker than before. He had also grown noticeably, as he was now a few inches taller than Luna, but still not even close to Celestia. His sword he had wielded had also changed from a rather bland short sword to a larger dragon bone sword glowing blue with a magic draining enchantment. He also now wielded a spear with a point also made of dragon bone and a sheathed dragon bone dagger both with frost enchantments that would add a biting cold to any successful hit. (Note: the sword and dagger are from the game Skyrim, just look it up for images and the spear is just a normal spear but with a black shaft and the head is the same material as the other two weapons.) The same changes occurred to the armor of the others, but without the golden stripes. There fur also became black and or dark gray. Their weapons remained mostly the same, but received enchantments that made them sharper, more durable, and lighter. They also became inlaid with silver should they encounter any thestral guards. Of course, that may not do anything, but heck if I know what affects them. Oh? Your confused as to how I was just talking directly to you right there? Ever heard of fourth wall breaking? I have, and i've decided, why not give myself that power? Alright, the author wants me to give him control of his computer back, and I guess I owe him since he created me after all. On with the story! They happened to come across a group of guards that had been ordered to check on what had happened to the guards who had moved to engage the creature as they hadn't reported in. Those guards were understandably shocked at seeing the group of menacing looking soldiers in black armor in front of them. Before any of them could react though, the mind controlled unicorns shot a volley of spells at them, knocking them all unconscious. The formation continued to march towards the palace, leaving the injured guards laying on the ground. Meanwhile Celestia was sitting on her throne looking calm, but inside she was slightly anxious, worried for the safety of her little ponies. Then with a flash, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and her friends appeared. "Princess Celestia! We came as fast as we could! What happened, is every pony okay!?" Twilight asked frantically. Celestia silenced her fellow princess with a raised hoof before she began to explain. "A guard reported that some sort of creature attacked and injured several guards, and that more of them moved to fight it, but they haven't reported back yet, and I fear that something has happened to them. I can barely keep this from reaching the nobility. If they find out that several dozen guards have been potentially overcome by yet another enemy, they can use it to expand their influence to my guard, one of the few things they have failed to gain control over. I need you all to go find out what happened to the guards and defeat this creature if necessary." She told the group. Don't worry princess. You can count on us." Applejack said confidently. "Yeah, we'll kick that things sorry butt!" Rainbow Dash declared. "But how can you do that if you can't even understand his powers? It's time for a reality check that you all really need." A deep voice spoke. The door to the throne room burst open, and in came the pony formerly known as Bright Dawn. He looked over at the gathered ponies, then he chuckled to himself. "Well? Are you just going to stand there or are you going to do something? If you can't even get up the courage to fight me, then things are even more hopeless for you than I thought." He taunted. Rainbow Dash, infuriated by this, took flight and charged at him. Just as she reached him, he grabbed her and spun her around at blinding speeds before launching her back at her friends, who weren't able to react in time to avoid her and she crashed into them all. They quickly recovered and stood back up as the stallion pulled out his sword. "I don't know who you are, but no one hurts my little ponies and gets away with it!" Celestia declared angrily, standing up and approaching him. "Why Celestia, I'm surprised you don't recognize one of your lieutenants." He responded smugly. She looked at him closer, and for a brief moment, his original face was there, before returning back to the evil and corrupted form. "Lieutenant Bright Dawn?" Celestia gasped in shock. "I am no longer that weakling, I am now Bloody Night, and I will destroy you all in the name of my master." He declared before charging towards her with his sword. She quickly dodged to the side and tried to blast him with magic, but he blocked it with a blood red shield. He then swung his sword at her, which she blocked with her own shield. She noticed that the drain on her magic was considerably more than it should be, but she didn't have any time to think about that as Bloody Night pulled out his dagger and tried to stab her, forcing her to summon another shield. He backed off to try again, then he noticed the the others were glowing as they began to charge their rainbow laser beam. He grinned as he came up with an idea. "Do you know what my sword and dagger blades are made of? Dragon bone. Harvested straight from the corpse of a killed dragon. Forged to create blades not only sharp, but strong and heavy as well." He stated in a casual tone, holding the weapons for every pony and dragon to see. Every one gasped in shock, with Fluttershy and Spike looking like they were going to be sick, while the others looked horrified. Even Celestia visibly blanched at this. Taking advantage of their shock, he charged at the biggest threat to him, Twilight Sparkle. He crossed the distance in a blink of an eye and raised his sword to strike her down, but suddenly completely froze. Everyone present tensed, prepared for a trick, but he didn't move an inch, he didn't even blink. "Now's our chance girls!" Twilight shouted as she and her friends began to levitate off the ground, glowing bright. Even now, Bloody Night didn't move. Then the friendship powered laser beam that had saved Equestria on many occasions was released, and it hit it's mark. There was a bright flash, and everyone had to shield their eyes from it. When everyone looked back, they were shocked to see Bloody Night still standing. His armor was in tatters, his weapons blasted across the room, and a black smoke rising from his skin. He was breathing heavily, and was struggling to stand. Then he chuckled darkly. "Nice shot. You know, I almost got you, but master doesn't wish for you to die. In fact he only wants Celestia and Luna dead for the most part, but if others die while trying to stop him, he won't care. It is by his will that you are still alive Twilight Sparkle, and it is by his will that I still stand before you. Fortunately, even though I will fall, master will win, for no one in this world can match his powers. One way or another, you will lose." He rasped, before collapsing, armor disintegrating and the black in his fur melting away, leaving lieutenant Bright Dawn laying unconscious on the ground. Suddenly, the dragon bone weapons began to glow red, and levitated off the ground. Everyone tensed up, prepared for them to attack or something. Instead, they flew out through one of the windows, quickly disappearing into the distance. What caught Twilight's attention was the direction they were headed. "Their heading to the Everfree forest! That must be where whoever is behind this is hiding!" She exclaimed. "Twilight, you and your friends must be careful, if he is capable of mind controlling others and corrupting them with dark magic, there is no telling what else he is capable of." Celestia warned. "Don't worry princess, we've fought powerful enemies before, and we have won every time, and we'll do it again." Rainbow Dash said. "I still wish to send guards to protect Ponyville should he attack." Celestia told them, and they agreed. And with that, they said goodbye and teleported back to Ponyville. It was getting late, so they all went home to rest up before they had to fight yet another villain. > Another world and new challenges > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I walked through the forest with my small army behind me. If it weren't for the fact that I was the most powerful being on this planet, I would be scared of the possibility of being attacked by a hydra, manticore, or something else. But with my powers, I kept the monsters away and afraid of me. But I had to admit, now that nothing was happening, I had time to think, and I had to admit I wanted to see humans again. Over 1,000 years of not seeing another human being, I felt kind of lonely. So I will head back to my world, if only temporarily. So after we were sufficiently deep into the forest, I snapped my fingers, and a huge swath of the forest became devoid of all trees and wildlife, any hills and mounds flattening out to make even ground. With another snap, a massive castle of black and red patterned stone appeared, easily towering over 3 hundred feet high, and was at least 1,000 feet wide in all directions. I also installed a huge underground system of tunnels, secret passages, traps, and emergency exits and secret entrances. I also added several armories filled with weapons from both this world and my world. Of course I made sure that the ones from my world couldn't be accessed by anyone without my permission. The rest were left unprotected. I then put a illusion spell over the whole castle and the surrounding area that would hide it from anyone far away, but it would be revealed once they got closer. Then I turned to my troops, and after a quick spell so that they wouldn't need to eat or drink to survive, I began to speak. "Alright boys, I am going back to my world for some time, and I want 10 of you to come with me. The rest of you will stay here until we return, don't leave and capture anyone who comes here, but don't kill them." I told them. I picked a few of them to come with me, then I created a portal to my world. I was about to step through, but hesitated, it had been over 1,000 years since I saw another human, let alone interacted with one. How will the world have changed over the years? Would I even recognize it? I longed to see other humans again, but was also afraid to do so. I could just summon some, but it would be a cowards way out, and while I am a coward in many ways, I wasn't about to cheat like that. Then I had a brilliant idea. I would just head to the Equestria Girls world through Twilight's portal. It would allow me to interact with humans, but still not the ones I'm used to, so it can prepare me to go back to my world. I grinned at my cleverness, then quickly teleported me and my guards to the mirror portal, and stood in front of it. With one last look at this world, I stepped through with only a little hesitation. I bet you expect me to say that going through the portal felt at least a little weird, but it didn't in fact, one moment I am in one place, in the next I'm somewhere completely different. I am completely the same, and the Alicorn Amulet was still around my necklace, glowing with it's corrupted magic. I was now wearing a black leather jacket, a red t-shirt, and jeans. Looking around, I saw Canterlot Hight standing proudly in front of me. I checked behind me at the sound of footsteps, and I saw that my minions had successfully crossed over as well. They looked like they had back in equestria, except human, and there swords had actually remained, though their armor had been replaced by bulletproof armor that riot police wore. If I'm honest, I was half tempted to act out a scene like one from Rainbow Six Siege and have my "operators" rappel down the sides of the building, use breaching charges on the windows, and clear the rooms out. But that wouldn't benefit me in the slightest other than amuse me and get a good laugh. "Alright, stay here and remain out of sight from anyone who comes by, wait for my return." I ordered them. Though it seemed that no one else was here, curious, so I used my powers to see the date and time. As I expected, a small display popped up in front of me showing me that it is about noon, and that is a Saturday. So no one would be here for today or tomorrow except for any staff, but I figured I could easily sneak by them. I used my powers to make myself invisible, but when I did, I felt my energy drain, so much so that I felt like I had just sprinted for about 6 miles straight. I collapsed to the ground, and struggled to slow my breathing. The glow from the alicorn amulet had also dimmed significantly, as if it had been drained of energy as well. I tried to make sense of what was happening, until now I had been able to use my powers however I wanted without feeling even slightly drained, and this perplexed me. I noticed that my strength was slowly returning, as was the glow from the alicorn amulet. Now I think I know what is happening. My powers must be limited in this world, because it relies on Equestrian magic to power itself. In Equestria, there was ambient magic everywhere around me, so I could use my powers with no problem, but in this world, where there was only a few sources of Equestrian magic, my powers struggled to power itself, and since the alicorn amulet was more of an amplifier than an actual source of magic it was quickly drained of it's magic, causing my powers to draw on my own energy. So now I had to think of a way to use my power with more freedom, and that meant tracking down sources of Equestrian magic. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any shortage of equestrian artifacts that were just dumped here, not to mention the rogue magic leaking over from equestria. Then I had an amazing idea, one that made me grin evilly and I began to laugh maniacally. I quickly entered the school, using normal magic provided to me by the alicorn amulet to unlock the doors. I quickly saw a map of the school on the wall and using it located the band room and headed for it. Once there I found the Rainboom's music instruments. I picked Twilight's microphone with traces of her magic on it, and from there used that to track it to where she used to spend so much of her time, her room at Crystal Prep. From there I attempted to teleport any notes and diagrams that the she had left behind on how she made her little magic stealing device. To my delight, they appeared in a pile in front of me, though it did leave me even more drained and the Alicorn Amulet was dim again. Looking through them, I realized that I didn't understand most of it. Thinking about it, I had another idea. I would have to be careful about how to execute it, but I think it was possible. So I gathered up the notes and exited the school. My minions were still standing in front of the portal waiting for me. Knowing we would need a base of some sorts, I walked past them and gestured for them to follow. I began to think of what the requirements for this base would be. Slightly remote and isolated, or at least inconspicuous, large enough to fit a lab or workshop of sorts, as well as store any vehicles we get our hands on, plus space for sleeping. A factory or warehouse seemed to be the best bet then, as cliche as that is. Unless... A few hours later I was the proud owner of a small company that made small guns and ammo, mostly hand guns but also a few hunting rifles, as well as a brand new warehouse. How did I get the money for this you ask? Who ever said I used money? I could have just killed the heads of the company and blackmailed the rest into giving me the position, then used money I "borrowed" from their reserve to buy the warehouse. Or I could have just teleported a literal ton of money and dumped it on the their heads to buy the company and warehouse? Only I know, and I ain't telling any of you. ( And no, the author doesn't know either, as I made the decision completely independent of him and kept him from finding out. Oh don't give me that look! Your the one who gave me the ability to give myself any abilities I want! I'll be as meta as I want, and I'll smash the fourth wall so many times it will not even exist when I'm around if I want! Just hope that I don't team up with Pinkie Pie and Deadpool, or no wall will be safe.) Anyway, the warehouse was very large, and had two floors on top of that. I would set up living quarters upstairs and everything else would be downstairs. It also came with lights that you can adjust the brightness of, a lot of empty space, and only a few windows, and those were small. I quickly covered those windows with concrete to keep snipers from shooting through them or anyone from seeing inside. Then I began to set up the rest of the place so I would be prepared for the later stages of my plan. On Monday I never thought I would be glad to be at school so early, but it was necessary if I wanted my plan to work. I needed a way to get close to Sunset and the others if I wanted to get more power. I had also prepared a special device using what little magic I had access to help myself out in the long run. I was now wearing a suit and tie and my hair was combed and neat. I even had a golden watch and a briefcase. I looked quite professional and important. I also cast an illusion spell that gave a different face to hide my identity. I walked in through the doors and made my way towards the principals office. As I expected, I found Principal Celestia working on some paperwork. She looked up at me in surprise when I walked in and stood up. "Hello, I am Principal Celestia. How may I help you?" She asked politely, though with a hint of curiosity. "Nice to meet you Principal Celestia, my name is Lucas Turner. I have come on the behalf of the Manehattan Research Institute. It has come to our attention that certain...events have been occurring here. According to what we have been able to discern about this "magic" that has been running rampant, it seems to follow a certain group of students here. Wherever they go, something strange happens." I told her. She kept a neutral face and took a moment to answer. "I am afraid you are mistaken, sure strange things have happened here, but saying it is magic sounds strange don't you think?" She asked carefully. "Unless someone created a way to control weather and plants in impossible ways, and give others some sort of energy weapons and object manipulation devices, magic is the best explanation. If that is the case, then maybe I should call the FBI right now and have you, your sister, those girls and anyone associated with you all arrested and interrogated." I responded casually, causing her to visibly pale, even through her white skin. "A deadly and violent storm appears out of nowhere, then disappears. A strange egotistical demoness appears in a mall, a camp counselor gains power over plant life. Not to mention what has happened here during the Fall Formal and the Friendship Games. I am here to monitor these girls, not closely mind you, not watching them in their own homes, but observe them in the community. The CIA and FBI have taken an interest as well, but we managed to convince them to let us lead this effort, in order to keep this from becoming a full blown privacy invasion. Not to mention there is no telling what would happen should they decide to..."examine" the girls and their abilities more closely." I continued. I almost laughed at the amount of bullshit I was saying, but I managed to hide behind my illusion. "In order to easily keep them under observation I will act as a substitute teacher for the computer science class. I am aware that the normal teacher is sick, so I can just step in for the usual substitute. Now if you know what is good for you and those you care for, you will not tell anyone else about this, or else." I threatened. She nodded quickly, fear clearly etched on her face. Then I handed her a small phone. "Keep this on you at all times, it can detect any unknown magic signatures, so if it starts beeping, use it to track down whatever it is detecting, and if possible retrieve it and keep it safe for me. Call me using the phone and I will come and collect it. Make sure to search some of the more obscure parts of town just in case. Now if you will excuse me, I will now take my leave. Good day." I finished with a wave, before exiting her office. The rest of the day went without a hitch, I taught computer science since it was my favorite subject in school, and the one I did best at. I wasn't very experienced with teaching though and was amateurish at best, but I think this will just add to my disguise as just another substitute teacher, about as harmless as a fly. Good thing that this class was a required course, which allowed me to keep track of each of my targets. They even shared the same class together at the last period of the day. I discreetly kept an eye on them the whole time, and none of them were aware of my gaze except Sunset Shimmer, who seemed to get the feeling I was watching her, but every time she looked at me, I turned my attention to the laptop in front of me or one of the other students. Sunset meanwhile got the impression that something was up with their substitute teacher, but she couldn't figure out what. When the bell finally rang, I knew I needed to start looking for more sources of power, the Alicorn Amulet was a very limited source considering it is more of an amplifier than an actual source of power. But where to start? I thought about the device I had given principal Celestia, and knew it wouldn't be enough. Besides, there was no way that all of the artifacts from Equestria were in this city and surrounding area. I needed a larger device, one that could find every source of Equestrian magic in the world. But in order to create such a device, I would need more power, which meant I would need at least a few more artifacts before I made it. Thinking about what to do next I remembered what my original plan had been, before I discovered that I couldn't easily use my powers in this world. I used what power I did have to track a few certain gems, finding some of their pieces to be right where I expected them, but the rest were much further away, and it would be difficult to reach them. For now, I went to a certain music stage near the school and in a trash can behind the stage I found them, and used levitation to pull them out. Fortunately the trash can hadn't been used that much, so they didn't even smell that bad. Storing the fragments in a small bag before moving on. I decided my best bet would be to travel around town using my powers to send out short distance pulses to search for any Equestrian magic. I groaned, knowing that it would probably take a while, but knew it was necessary. Sadly, even after hours of searching, I couldn't find a single artifact, and was about to give up. I had just marked off another area on a map I had found, showing that even though I had searched almost a third of the city I had found nothing, before realizing something that made me facepalm at my own stupidity. I hadn't even thought to check the museum! Surely there would be something there. Sure enough, when I got in range and sent out another pulse, I found not one, but two sources of magic, and both seemed to have considerable power, one much more so than the other. Looking at the old building, I noticed that it was closed, but that wasn't about to stop me. If I had my full powers, I could just teleport myself into there, or the artifacts to me, but I couldn't make such teleportations safely, maybe I could teleport something clearly in front of me, but even that would be difficult, especially if I was teleporting it from somewhere I didn't see. But it wouldn't hurt to try. I concentrated on teleporting the items, only to find that their presence basically didn't exist to teleportation magic. Scanning them again, it seemed that they were immune to being moved with magic at all, not even telekinesis. Technically my powers weren't really magic, but I was using them to give myself the ability to use normal magic since I didn't have the strength to use my powers directly. Looks like a good old fashioned robbery was in order. I could just get in tomorrow and make off with them, but I want a bit more flare and action to it. I quickly made my way back to my warehouse and grabbed a revolver I had custom made for me, and with a large amount of concentration managed to teleport 15 M16 assault rifles, 8 packages of C4, 6 grenades, and even a heavy MG that could be mounted on a truck. Teleporting general items from anywhere close by was considerably easier than teleporting a specific item, for their was much more room for error since it would work with any items of the type I wanted. Now thoroughly exhausted, I collapsed on my bed for a good nights sleep. Despite this, I managed to grin as I thought about my plan, and how it was already coming together.