Hello there everyone! Now I got a new story idea for you! Well, it's not that new primarily because of its origins. Now, back when I was a wee lad of nineteen – my God I feel old - I used to browse FimFiction for stories as I was going through a phase at the time, a phase that many of us know as an obsession that we grow out of. Now to those of you who have no flippin' idea what I'm talking about, FimFiction is a site solely for MLP: FiM fanfics, and I saw a great idea on there that I remembered while on my Black Hills trip; trust me, when you're driving for multiple hours going from one location in the hills to the next, you tend to have a lot of time to think to yourself. This idea? Well, there was a guy that posted a story which is now known as a "displacement fic", basically throwing an OC, mainly the writer, into the FiM-verse as the character they were cosplaying at some convention after meeting a mysterious stranger selling wares that belong to the character that the person is cosplaying as which somehow through "plot magic" brings them to the realm they end up in, usually playing the part of a villain or misunderstood antihero that becomes the villain.

So, you may be wondering "Philly, why you bringing up what is essentially a 'dead' show and writing a pilot for it?" Good question, it really is. There is sort of 2 reasons that come to mind. The first being that apparently there's a CGI sequel coming for this series that I don't really care for anymore and it just looks bad. The second is to fuck with a certain delusional fanboy who starts with "C" and ends with "chan" as they're a super-fan of this series, and I dare not speak their name unless I want them to appear here (though given his track record it wouldn't shock me if he found this anyway considering he found a shitpost involving him and someone who redrew his characters). If you want to know who it is, I'll tell you in a DM. Also, this idea has been banging around in my head for years and I really wanted to get it out there to my repository to finally put it to rest.

So where am I going with this story idea? So, I thought "why not place Valkorion from The Old Republic in Equestria as a villain in appearance and power?" And this was the result of that. The character that will call himself 'Valkorion', remember, is an author self-insert essentially. While there will be some self-insertness, it won't fully be me, but the character would react as I would normally just with a differently fabricated history.

Disclaimer: I only own my laptop and MS Word copy. Star Wars: The Old Republic, created by Bioware, is still technically owned by Disney. MLP: FiM is owned by the Hub network and whoever is their parent company. See the foreword for the full disclaimer.

XxXxXxX

Inside a large, spherical room a scene was set like a scene of a film that was set into super slow motion as the figures moved at fractions of the speeds that they would have if they would be normally. This room's walls were completely transparent revealing a blackened above and a spherical horizon of a planet below. Inside this room were four metal catwalk platforms set at each cardinal point that converged into one large platform on which a golden throne sat on top of steps that caused anyone to enter it to look up at the one seated in it even if they stood tall.

Inside this room were three men. The first of which was an older man who looked to be just entering his Golden Years looking out into space. He was dressed in white, reflective armor that could be seen as 'regal'. The two others in the room wore robe-like clothing. One was dressed in white, the other in black. The one dressed in black looked like any other human while the one in white had a missing arm which had been replaced with a cybernetic prosthesis and had a mask over his face. The two were identical to each other, though you'd have to remove the white-clad man's mask to see that. After all, they were brothers. The man in black had his hand outstretched several yards behind, reaching towards his brother. The man in white? He was midair, leaping towards the elderly man with a sword made of plasma, it hummed with a deep throbbing sound.

"A man can have anything… if he's willing to sacrifice."

The older man closed his eyes right as the blade came close to his neck. If this were a film, the screen would have cut to black.

XxXxXxX

Once upon a time, I was a normal man living a normal life. But that all changed when I went to a convention with friends dressed as one of my favorite characters from the Old Republic video game: Valkorion.

Everything was going well. I met up with these friends and hung out for all three days. But something interesting happened on the first day that wouldn't come to fruition until the closure of the convention. There was a man dressed in a black cloak selling things in the vendor hall. This cloaked man looked like someone akin to a Resident Evil 4 merchant cosplayer. The object he was selling? A painstaking recreation of Valkorion's lightsaber. Now that time's passed since then, my memory has become foggy, I don't think I ever recalled him ever wielding a lightsaber in the game. The odd thing was that he only charged me a hundred dollars, an absolute steal for something of this quality. At the closure of the last day of the convention, I went back to my hotel across the street from the convention center to pack things away, but I would never make it that far. Instead of using the overpass to the hotel, I decided to take the street normally and the last thing I heard was a car horn and the sound of meatsuit hitting glass and steel.

When I next woke up, I was in a cave that was filled with a soft glow. Looking around I found that the armor didn't feel like the plastic and aluminum that it had been constructed with, but that it actually had weight to it. A weight that you could feel when moved around in but felt like it didn't weigh anything. The glow? It was coming from the armor. I recalled that the armor had glowing blue lights that served as highlights for it. Something felt different about me too. Mentally, that is. I felt something ahead. I stood up, my head barely missing the ceiling of the cave. Walking into a large antechamber with a cored-out tunnel above leading to the night's sky. In the center of the room was the same man as before sitting on a log in front of a campfire.

"So, you're finally awake," he said as he poked the fire with a stick. Sparks and embers danced up into the night sky.

"Who are you and why did you bring me here?" I ask and then immediately pause. My voice was not my own. It was deep and booming. Precisely like the voice performance of Darrin De Paul for Valkorion. It was both eerie and disturbing. "What did you do to me?!" I accuse him, grabbing his cloak where a broach normally would be.

"Do?" he asked, almost disappointed that I didn't realize what he did. "I made you infinitely stronger."

"To what end? What do YOU get out of this?" After all, nothing was free.

I could only see his mouth; his eyes were completely hidden. "Endless entertainment."

"Entertainment?" I could only ask flatly.

"Why, yes!" This attitude of his was endlessly annoying me. I dropped him and he sat right back on his seat without breaking stride. "You see, this world is not the one you once lived in. You could consider this an… alternate universe to your own."

"Alternate universe?"

"Yes!" he said excitedly. "As I said, this world is not like the one you left behind."

"What do you mean 'left behind'?" I asked with air quotes.

"You took the artifact of your own volition. You were marked as a chosen one of destiny for this world." I was about to throttle this little fuck. "Now, now. Beating the snot out of me will get you nowhere."

"It sure as hell would make me feel better. I consider that somewhere," I reply with as much menacing malice I can.

"Oh? But don't you want to learn about this world?"

"I want you to send me back."

"I can't do that. I'm afraid your body perished back in your original world, all you have is this body that I have lovingly created for you."

"That's just plain creepy."

"Is it now?" he harumphed. "Perhaps I won't tell you after all."

"You better damn well tell me!"

He glanced in my direction, attempting to play coy. I saw what he was doing, it was all a game for him. "Fine, I'll tell you all about this world. You see, in this world, humans aren't at the top of the food chain. In fact, they're a servant race under another race of bipedal beings."

This was certainly a shock. "You mean… humans are slaves?"

"Got it in one!" he said as if I had won a prize.

"And YOU brought me here." He nodded. "Why the HELL did you do that? If I'm dead back in my original life, why the fuck didn't you just let me pass into whatever afterlife there is?!" I asked with righteous indignation, and rightfully so.

"You see, this world has a certain… status quo. A status quo that I wish to upset."

"And what do you gain from all of this?"

"You see, the rulers of this land and I have a… history, you could say. Everything they do is calculated to an absurd degree where they plan societies hundreds of years in advance and get them to a state that is acceptable to them, manipulating their masses to do so. And as for humans? A meek and lowly workforce for them that is easy to breed and train to do mundane tasks they don't wish to do."

"So, you wish for me to break this… cycle. To throw a wrench in their plans?"

"I know you will, especially seeing what they'll do to your fellow humans. I don't even need to prod you nor tell you what to do. Every action you take falls into my grander plan."

"Who the hell are you?" I ask, ready for a fight.

"No one, just a lowly merchant selling his wares." And with that, he disappeared.

"The fuck?" I walk out of the cave, a piece of material hit me on the hip. Looking down it was the lightsaber I purchased or the 'artifact' as the mystic weirdo called it. I thumbed on the device with muscle memory I didn't recall before. It turned on and hummed with a golden-yellow blade. This had to be fake. I swiped at a rock at the entrance of the cave and it cleaved right through it like a knife through butter, leaving molten rock behind. "This… is real," I said in shock. "Wait, if he turned me into Valkorion…" I thought aloud while looking towards a tree where apples grew upon it. I reached out into my hand, imagining the ripe fruit landing on it. It flew from the branch to land in my palm. And it did it with just the slightest thought.

I was broken out of my line of thought by a scream. Turning my head towards the source I saw what looked like a town that was on fire. Something was… calling me there. I moved with quick and cautionary strides towards this town. Entering it, it was ablaze with some buildings already collapsed. Calling it a 'town' was giving it too much credit, if anything it was a village with mud huts that used timber as support. I heard the sounds of more screams and continued to follow them. What I saw both confused and enraged me.

There were a bunch of humans being herded into cages by what looks like pastel rejects of toy horses made bipedal. Their proportions were all off. The eyes too big and uncanny, their heads bulbous in comparison to their bodies and their bodies themselves a bit more on the short and stout side but would still reach five feet without issue. As for how these members of the Ile of Rejected Toys took over? Well, some had spears and swords that were on the ground, others were hovering in the air with wings, and others had horns on their heads which glowed and there were other glowing auras on whatever they were attempting to use it on. Considering I was now in the body of Valkorion, I could feel the latter of the three strongly in the Force. Since these… creatures (barbarians really) all were horse analogs, the ones with extra appendages would have to be something like a Pegasus as they were wings and the ones with horns would have to be Unicorns. Majestic looking, they were not.

What these creatures were doing enraged me. I reached out with my right hand and aimed my rage towards one of the unicorns. Immediately its glow stopped and its stubby hands shot to its throat, grasping at invisible hands squeezing the life out of it. Its companions stared on watching as it choked on nothing. They babbled in an unknown language that sounded more like whinnies and neighs than actual words. But in the Force, I could fear their panic and fear. They immediately turned to the humans, barking some kind of order. I took that as my cue to step in.

I ignited the lightsaber and they all turned towards me. I snapped my wrist to the side and the neck of the unicorn snapped at the same time. I released it allowing it to fall to the ground dead. For all that I saw of equine nature, they fell to my blade.

XxXxXxX

The city of Canterlot was a lively one. After all, the nation of Equestria had just celebrated the first anniversary of their founding and establishment as well as the installment of their leaders, Princesses Celestia and Luna. It was a happy day on the outside of the castle, but it would be different on the inside.

"What do you mean a human defeated you!?" Luna accused. "We were told that your force was the greatest in the countryside."

"W-we are. T-this human was d-different," the earth pony stuttered. "H-he commanded colorless magic and a sword of flames. Armor and our weapons meant nothing to him!"

"A 'he', you say? A man?" Celestia asked, her tone much more reserved. After all, she also felt disappointed in the task that she had agreed on signing off on to a mercenary company.

"Yes, your majesty. A man, he seemed to be older but the light wouldn't allow us to see him properly."

"Anything else about this human?"

"Yes! He wore armor I've never seen before either. It appeared to have been crafted by the finest smiths."

"Interesting," Celestia hummed.

"And what do you suggest we do about this, sister?" Luna asked.

"This warrants seeing for ourselves, don't you think?"

"And the mercenary?" Luna asked regarding the cowering earth pony.

"I think that serving two decades in the royal mines should be punishment enough."

"Take him away!" Luna commanded. Guards appeared and removed the 'offending' subject and took him away to places unknown to most.

XxXxXxX

Thousands of years later…

A group of ponies filed through the royal statue garden as they were taken on a tour of effigies of those long passed. They observed as human slaves went at their work like automatons, never looking at them but staying out of their way.

"And what of this statue, class?" the motherly pony asked.

"That statue is of the human Valkorion," one of the class called out to answer.

"Good! Does anyone know what he did to warrant a statue here?"

"He apparently used dark magics to rebel against us superior ponies and the Princesses defeated him," another called out.

"Some say that he trained the ancient warlord Sombra in the dark arts as well," a unicorn girl added.

"Very good class!" the teacher called out, happy with their answers. "Now, let's go to the next statue." The class proceeded to walk to another statue in the gardens. Little did they know, the statue was completely aware of them.

A thousand years. A thousand years of sitting here, projecting my influence over others. Planning. Plotting. Every plot and movement I've put into motion will soon come to a climax.

XxXxXxX

"What do you mean the statue of Valkorion is gone!?" Celestia called out in a panic. 'No, this couldn't be happening.'

"We don't know, your highness. One moment it was being cleaned by a human, the next moment the figure was gone from its pedestal," a guard reported. The guard saw the barely hidden panic on her face. "Is there something wrong, your highness?"

"No, nothing. Nothing at all," she replied all too quickly. "Increase the guards' presence in the city. There is an art thief on the loose!" 'Art thief, my backside. He's escaped! But I must not let it show,' the princess thought to herself.

XxXxXxX

Many months later…

In the massive spire that made up my throne room, the guards showed in the three prisoners that had been acquired from the Crystal Empire. They were marched in, troopers in my personal guards' colors and armor behind them to make sure they did not stray. The prisoners? Two were unicorns, and powerful ones at that. Strong in their own arcane ways. The other was something I had only seen twice before: an alicorn. An entity considered by many of the ponies and other creatures below as gods or demigods, depending who you ask. One of these prisoners was quite familiar to me, after all once upon a time, he was my apprentice. My captain of the guard walked them forward and stopped, kneeling at the bottom of the throne's dais itself.

"His Glorious Majesty, Immortal Emperor, and Protector of Humanity. Emperor Valkorion," he announced.

"Welcome," I greeted. I looked on these three from my throne, studying them. The unicorn who seemed to be keeping himself way too close to the alicorn looked at him in shock. After all, to many his name was synonymous with myth and legend on the scale of the entity called Discord as well as the phantom being Nightmare Moon.

"Valkorion," Sombra sneered. "I see that you are alive and well."

"As are you, my former apprentice. And I see you've finally regained physical form."

Sombra seethed in barely controlled rage. "No thanks to you and your teachings! You were to make me immortal!"

"I taught you many things, but patience was never one of them."

"What do you mean by 'apprentice'?" the pink alicorn asked.

"Did you really think a unicorn such as Sombra would have ever found the stone that would eventually become carved into the shape of your 'Crystal Heart' without guidance and instruction or how he mastered the dark arts despite having almost no knowledge of it nor any other practitioners?" There was no answer.

"I WOULD HAVE SURPASSED YOU!" Sombra yelled.

"Would you?" I ask in return as I stand up from my throne. My captain of the guard stepping aside. "I left many things out of your training after all, you were a means to an end. Besides, you know the depths of my power," I growl dangerously. I immediately let it up, "But you do not have to stand against me. Instead… you can kneel."

I wave my hand, two fingers extended, and the bindings that held his arms and the ring that restrained his horn fell away. It was a gesture of goodwill, but also a trap. "I will never again kneel to you!" he shouted.

"So, you would rather die than accept my superiority?"

"No, because it is I who is the superior one!" He immediately lashed out at the nearest guards. His magic ripping away one of the light staves from one of the guards and threw it like a javelin into the body of another. He used another burst of his magic to throw another guard to his death off of the balcony which led to the bottom of the sphere of the spire.

Seeing that he would continue to lash out, and an opportunity to demonstrate my power, I unleashed a torrent of lightning which painfully disintegrated Sombra from the impact site outwards until he was nothing more than dust in the wind. "That truly is unfortunate. Ambition but no focus for all that drive but to usurp me. Good apprentices are difficult to find these days," I say offhandedly. The only thing that was truly left of the unicorn once known as Sombra was his horn. I summoned it to my waiting hand. It would make a fine trophy.

"You are Valkorion, the rebellion leader," the only other unicorn accused.

"I am the same."

"But that was over a thousand years ago!"

"Yet you have princesses who you served under that as just as old as I am, if not older."

"No human can live that long."

"Yet I have. One might say I am unique, Shining Armor." He widened his eyes in shock. "Oh yes, I know who you are. Former captain of the guard of Canterlot and now husband of Cadence, the princess in charge of the former Crystal Empire. Also, the same who called my glorious facial hair ugly and unattractive." If his pupils could shrink even more, they somehow found a way to do so. "Oh yes, I heard all of the things you said and saw many of the things you did to the humans found under your 'gentle' care."

Finally, the alicorn decided to speak up. "How come we have never seen this place before?"

"Did you really think my defeat by Luna and Celestia wasn't planned? With it, I was able to remain close and influence the minds of those around me. After all, it takes time to create and establish an entire technologically superior civilization with a large enough population. A population dedicated to me. A population of all humans," I announce. "Your outdated views of 'pony superiority' are soon coming to a close. Soon will end the era of ponies and the opening of the rise of humanity." As I say that, screens appeared showing armies ready to move, ships ready at piers, and aircraft ready to deploy. Spaceships would be overkill. The two lovers looked on in horror. "Take them away."

To be continued? (No.)

XxXxXxX

Well, one mead fueled bender later and this one is done. I don't have much to say other than it was fueled by a late-night, lack of sleep, and alcohol. As this story was originally started back in 2016, I think we can all safely say that I won't be coming back to this one. Speaking of mead, I made my own and I think it turned out well. Just have to figure out how to get the yeast out now. I also got 2 bottles of some traditional mead too to test and see what I like and it better be good considering I spent $25 a bottle on these things.

In other random news, I've been playing through Yakuza 0 and plan to play through the entire game series since it is up on Steam except for Yakuza 6. I actually am planning a pilot involving Yakuza, I'll just have to see how the game pans out to see how I can write something up involving that series because there's a lot of enjoyably weird stuff in that series (like doing the Hustle when attempting to infiltrate a cult as a greeting instead of the one they want you to do). I'm still planning at least one other Cyberpunk 2077 pilot but I have no idea if that'll drop next. I've also thought about going back to The Legend of Zelda series again to work on a couple of pilot ideas I started a few months ago. I also have a Control/Persona idea that I've had mulling around too but I need to finish Control first, another mark on my things to-do list. As you may be able to tell, I've got a lot of ideas.

That's all I have for this time around. See you in whatever I decide to put out next.