The opening scene began. Twilight and her friends were having a picnic by the lake. The rainbow one makes a comment about how things have change since she became a princess. Twilight just shrugs and insists that everything is fine. The orange one disagrees with her. Eventually, Twilight gets sad and flies off. The camera shows her flying into town as a dark figure in silver armor steps forward. A large chuckling can be heard as the camera fades to black.
As the intro begins to play, David and Rudy come in and sat next to me. They waste no time helping themselves to some delicious pizza.
Before Rudy can take a bite, he turns to look up at David.
“Will I still be able to eat pizza when I’m fully transformed?” he asks with worry.
David laughs slightly; I can tell he not looking forward to his full transformation. “I don’t see why. The ponies on the show ate all sorts of human food. Just nothing like a steak or burgers. If they can stomach donuts and cupcakes, I don’t see any reason for them not having pizza.”
I pause the episode just for a minute and turn around.
“Look, I need you guys to be quiet. I think there might be a clue in here. I don’t know this show very well, so it’s hard enough to follow as it is. I hate to be the killjoy but can you guys be quiet till I finish these next two episodes. We can talk during the final.”
David smirks. “So are you finally realising what you’ve been missing all these years?”
“Fu-” I stop myself when I remember Rudy is in the room, “Heck no.”
David laughs. “Whatever you say man.”
I try and hold my tongue as I begin to play the episode.
After the credits are done the scene cuts to Twilight talking to the dragon in the Library.
“They all seem so upset.” she says. “It’s been almost a year since my coronation and they still aren’t used to me being so different.”
The dragon is sweeping the floor of the tree with a broom. As he does so he turns his head to look up at Twilight. “Do you think maybe they're a little jealous? I mean, most ponies don’t become alicorn royalty. It wouldn’t surprise me that your presence might make other ponies a little envious.”
“But why?” she shouted as tears welled up in her eyes. “It’s not like I asked for this. I just followed my heart and used everything I learned about friendship through them. I never asked to become a princess. All I wanted was to make everyone proud.”
“I’m sure they don’t mean to be jealous, it’s just really hard not to be. Aren't alicorns supposed the be the pinnacle of perfection? You're not just a pony anymore. Your a super pony. Yet everypony else is just, well... a pony.”
Twilight looks down at the floor in silence as single tear drops down from her eyes and onto the floor. “I’m going to bed now.”
As she slowly trots up the stairs with her head tilted and her wings dragging on the steps. The dragon shouts and says that it’s only 3:00. His cries go unheard.
After a really stupid and drawn out song about Being Different, (Which David and Rudy sang word for word) - a raspy voice speaks from the corner of the room. A pony masked by the shadow of the dimly lit room speaks to Twilight and tells her that he can make everything go back to the way it was a year ago. He promises her that she can live a normal life again if she merely shakes his hoof.
While reluctant at first, the voice plays on her fears until she finally agrees. She lifts up her hoof and shakes on it, and the camera cuts to black.
The show cut’s to Twilight waking up in her room the next day. A smile crosses her face as she looks back to find that her wings are gone. She starts to skip like the pink one across her room until she catches a glimpse of her self in the mirror. Her tattoo has vanished. She tries to cast a growth spell on a potted plant but ends up burning it instead.
She begins to panic and monologue.
“I was so stupid. Way to go Twilight,, making a deal with an intruder that suddenly appears in your house.”
She looks up at the clock beside her bed.
“Thats weird, it’s only seven o’clock, it should be light by now.”
She takes a peek out her window and see’s that Ponyville has become taken over by the a dark presence. Ponies in the street are running away from moving shadows and ponies with eyes similar to my own.
A large ‘to be continued’ appears on the screen.
As the cheerful theme song starts to play, I turn my head face David. “What is wrong with this show. How can they end it on such a dark cliffhanger and still play that happy girl music?”
David laughs “Compared to how to the one from A Canterlot Wedding this is nothing.”
“I think I’m starting to see why you guys like this show. it’s still pretty girly but it has some pretty surprising moment’s. It’s still stupid though.”
He lifts his right hand forward and tilts his finger in a condescending manner.
“First symptoms of becoming a brony is denial.”
“Is that right. Yeah, not happening.”
He smirks. “You don’t have to watch part 2 you know.”
I decided not to humor him anymore and hit play on the next episode.
This episode begins with a recap before going to the intro. After that god awful theme song is finished, the episodes finally picks up where the last one left off.
Twilight run’s down the stairs and grabbed her panicking dragon pet. She rushes outside and see’s the rainbow pony being chased by shadows. She see’s the other’s being chased by giant Sombra heads as well as army of possessed ponies. She ushers them into the library and closes the door behind her.
Inside the tree her friends comment on her missing wings and cutie mark. She tells them about the stranger, and they immediately get mad at her. They say that without her cutie mark, the elements won’t work anymore.
The evil king bursts through the door and they all act shocked that it’s him despite the fact that it was obvious. Kid show logic. Some things never change. Anyway he starts walking around the library and gloats his evil plan.
“You thought me dead, but I am been reborn. Defeating the Crystal Queen has granted me the ability of regeneration. I can never be truly destroyed. All three of your princesses have failed to kill me, and now your precious elements and your Princess of Twilight is powerless to stop me. Once Equestria is mine, I shall take back my empire and enslave the world.”
After a heated exchange of dialogue, Sombra got pissed and tried to vaporise them, but a blue winged unicorn bursts through the ceiling and shielded them with a force field.
“Princess Luna?” Twilight shouts.
“Take the elements and run, your power is still with you Twilight, but you must recognise that -”
Before she is able to finish the darkness from outside seeps in and grabs hold of her.
Her horn begins to glow and she zaps the six main ponies.
The ponies reappear on in a throne room where the big white pony is watching.
“Twilight Sparkle!,” she shouts. “why would you surrender your power to that monster.”
The purple unicorn’s eyes start to tear and she bows before the stern looking one. “I didn’t know it was him, princess, I just wanted to be regular old Twilight again. I was afraid that my friends were jealous of what I had become. I thought if I gave up the wings and the title, things would go back to the way they were before. I didn’t... didn’t... want... this.”
Her friends hug her and they go on to tell her how they love her for who she is, no matter how powerful or how majestic she was. It was surprisingly uplifting but I would never admit that to David.
The scene then cuts to the villain who get’s an awesome rock song that kind of reminded me of that one song from Anastasia. I figure that the similarities must have been some sort of homage to appeal to older generations who grew up with that movie.
After that brief moment of awesomeness, the show immediately goes back to being cheese. The dark lord bursts in laughing but immediately stops and as his eyes get really wide with surprise. The ponies are wearing the necklaces they grabbed earlier in the episode, and Twilight is wearing some silly tiara.
Sombra laughs and mocks them.
“Try all you want, but without your power not even the power of friendship can save you this time. I’ve done my homework. The Elements won’t work unless all six of you are in perfect harmony. I took your talent, and your power. The least you can hope for is a little spark from that pretty crown.”
“That’s all I need. You see, I’ve been doing my homework on this subject for four years now, and in that time I’ve only missed one deadline. I don’t need my cutie mark or my wings to tell me how special I am. Just having friends who support me no matter how successful I become is all the encouragement I need.”
A white flash appears over her flank shows that her cutie mark has reappeared. “I realise now that my friends care about me with or without wings. My new life might make them a little uncomfortable, but true friends support your accomplishments. If it weren’t for them, I would still be a lonely magic student with her head stuck in a book. I never would have been able to finish that spell if it wasn’t for them. If anything they deserve this power more than I do, but for now I know they will happily stand by me as we blast your sorry flank back into the ice.”
Wing’s begin to sprout from Twilight's back as the bodies of the six began to fly upward.
“Impossible!” shouted Sombra. “I stole your power. Your friends are jealous of you. Your elements shouldn’t be able to work.”
Twilight smiles. “If you ever return, your welcome to attend my lecture at Canterlot University. In the meantime. Class dismissed.”
The episode’s with Sombra getting blasted and flying off Team Rocket style into the horizon. The shadow’s covering ponyville dissipate, and their is much rejoicing. After another song which is lame compared to the awesome one from before, the credits begin to roll.
David and Rudy turn their head towards me. “So do you want to watch the season five finale now?”
I shake my head. “Sorry, I’m ponied out right now. Listen, thanks for letting me in earlier. Can I talk to you in the guest room?”
“Sure thing.” he says.
We gets up from the coach as Rudy puts on a Mario game.
I walk into the guest room with David and close the door. I look back and at him and see that he still has the gun with him. Did he have that thing with him the whole time we were watching? I’m starting to feel like an escaped convict, which I guess isn’t that far from the truth.
I notice that David has cut a hole in his pant’s, where a long grey horse tail is hanging behind him. I watch in amazement as the thing actually moves.
“Can you control that thing?” I ask as I point my finger and stare blankly at it.
“A little bit. It’s like it’s a long forgotten muscle. But I think I’m getting the hang of it. These things are supposed to be really flexible. I saw an episode once where Applejack played fetch with her Dog Winona using her tail. Season 2 May The Best Pet Win.”
I try to get my attention back on David but I can’t stop looking at the freaking tail. I started to think about mine, which was currently being suffocated by my pant’s. I could deal with it for a while longer. I’ll let it come loose sometime tonight. Then I remembered why I wanted to talk to David in the first place.
“Listen, I need to crash for the night. I promise that whatever is happening to will not make me attack you or Rudy.”
He shakes his head. “I can’t risk it, I’m sorry. Rumbles the only family I have left. God forbid I ever let anything happen to him. You’ve already killed once today. What’s to stop you from killing again? I’m going to have to go to sleep eventually and when I do I won’t be able to protect Rudy or my self from you.”
I have to convince him that I’m safe. I was transforming to a pony in a human world. I was undoubtedly being hunted by my father's organization. While it was possible that they might come here looking for me, this was the only place I felt safe taking refuge in. At the same time, he was absolutely right. I’m unpredictable.
Tell him if he doesn't give us refuge, we will toss that little runt out the window.
Goddammit not this again!
“David. I really don’t have anywhere else to go. As far as I can tell, this only happening to the three of us.”
He shakes his head. “I forgot to tell you this earlier, forgive me, but there was a lot to discuss. It’s not just us. There are others too, I have found blogs on some of the old brony sites about people claiming to be turning into characters. There aren’t many, but they were all posted between last night and today.
We have become soft. This is why I cast the self guidance spell on us back in Equestria. I knew this world would make us weak. Please do yourself a favor and kill this clown.”
“Leave Me alone.” I shout.
“Whoah.” David says with has he raise both his hands and backs away. “Take it easy.”
I turn to him. “You're right, David. I'm a danger to you and your brother. There’s a voice in my head that sounds just like the guy from the episode. He’s the one who suggested I kill that guy, and now I think you're pissing him off. I don’t want to get into it, but I just want to say I’m sorry. Let me just use your bathroom and I’ll leave.”
David stares at me funny. “Where will you go?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ll just ask the evil pony in my head. I’m sure he’ll have an idea. This is the worst day of my life man.”
At that moment, I did something that I promised I’d never do in front of another person. I cried.
“I didn’t want to kill him. Everyone including the boys were freaking out over my eyes. The voice wanted me to shoot a little girl and her mom. I fought back and won so he told me to kill the man instead. I lost myself for a minute, but in the end it was me who pulled the trigger. I felt really bad after words but I also felt powerful. Everyone was so afraid of what I had become. I felt like a god. That’s why I hate myself. I shouldn’t be feeling the way I feel. It’s like another side of me is that was always their is finally coming out.”
I brush the tears from my eyes and turn to him. “If you're going to shoot, I’d suggest doing it now while you still have a hand and fingers. Once I’m fully transformed, I’m not sure if bullets will even be able to stop me.
David looks at me. He is afraid of me, but his muscles are stiff. He doesn’t have what it takes to kill his best friend.
“If you change your mind I’ll be in the bathroom. I won’t stop you, but you probably won't get another chance.”
I open the door behind me and close it. David doesn’t follow.
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“Why is this happening?” I think to myself as I watch Steve closes the door behind me. “I’m his best friend, I should be helping him fighting this thing. But I can’t risk him going crazy and hurting Rudy.”
I tilted the gun in my hand and look at it. “Maybe I should do what he says. If he’s becoming Sombra, there’s no telling what he’ll be capable of in the future. Will modern weapon’s even work on him? Oh great, I’m starting to sound like Snake now. Why couldn’t I have turned into future Twilight instead. Oh that’s right, I would have to lose my penis. Thank God and Celestia that’s not happening.”
I figure my mind must be going on a tangent to prevent me from making this decision. “He’s not going to have anywhere to sleep tonight, and he could hurt someone out there. If I can help him get control of his insanity. But if I can’t my brother and I could end up dead. No! I can’t think like that. When he’s done in the bathroom. I’ll think of something. Like Discord said to Twilight all those years ago, ‘maybe the magic of friendship can help me.’”
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I lock the door behind me and rush over to the sink. I take off my sunglasses and turn on the cold water. I don’t waste any time as I cup my hands and bring the cool liquid to my face. After about a minute of this, I turn my head to look at myself in the mirror.
“Alright.” I said to myself out loud. “It’s about time you explain everything thing to me. Who and what are you. Why am turning into a cartoon horse. And why do you keep telling me to hurt people.”
As a I hunched over stared at myself, gasp as I see it stand up on it’s own. My reflection was moving. I had become Norman Osborn, and he the Green Goblin.
“In order to make this easier for you, I will refer to myself as another entity. Though keep in mind that you and I are Sombra.”
“Impossible!” I said. “He isn’t real, you aren’t real.”
My reflection smirks. “Technically you're right. I’m not real. But you are, and always have been Sombra. I’m merely an echo of your past self that you created just before your rebirth.”
“Please just speak english. I can’t follow any of this.”
My reflection face palms himself, a reaction that I find humours.
“Very well. Let me recap the event’s that have brought us to this point.”
“26 years ago, after your defeat at the hooves of the six, you sought refuge in the caves of the Everfree Forest. You were weak and on the edge of death, but death would not come. It was the curse you paid for immortality after you killed your beloved mentor a millenia ago. Still, you felt death for the third time in your life.”
“Fast forward a year latter. You are miserably lying in your cave, devouring the head of a squirrel you caught. Some of your magic had come back to you, but most of your power would take centuries to fully return. As you ate your dinner, the demon Discord entered.”
“He mocked our current state, but he also feared us. He knew that your power would return. So he told you that he would make you someone else problem. Being the brilliant mind that you are, you were able to guess his intentions. You knew what spell he was going to cast and you knew that you were powerless to stop it. He was going to send you to a another realm, where you would be reborn in the body of another for twenty five years. However, unlike the other’s he must have sent over, you had an ace up your sleeve.”
I hold my hand up to stop him. “Wait, as outlandish as this story is, I need you to clarify one thing. You ponies wear clothes?”
My reflection slammed his hands on the sink and glared at me. “It’s an optional luxury, let me finish. You ruined the build up.”
“As I was saying just before Discord finished his Five Score, Divided by Four chant, you cast a self guidance spell on yourself so that an echo of your persona could help guide you once your true self reemerged. Now I see that it is a good thing you did because we have a lot to work on if you are going to live up to your past self.”
“What do you mean?”
“Discord was very selective when it came to the kind of life he gave each individual pony. He did it has almost a parody of ponies he pushed. For you he chose to make you the son of a powerful individual. This set is a parody of my relationship with the Crystal Queen. I was jealous of her, I learned to hate her, I eventually overthrew her, killed her, and I took control of her kingdom. I imaged Discord planned for us to fail, but he didn’t think of the self guidance spell. Tonight our horn will grow back, and with it a fraction of our power. You must strike your father down and take command of his slaves. Once that is done, I will leave you, and the city is your’s.
I felt a part of my self wanting to smash him, but the idea of bringing judgment upon my father and taking over all over Chicago sounded really tempting. Perhaps I really was King Sombra all along. However, If I was to embrace the new me, I would have to do so I on my terms.
“I like everything you suggested, but we need to set up some ground rules. For better or for worse, this second life I have lived has changed me. If we're going to do this, we're doing this my way. David, Rudy and my little brother Antonio are non expendable. If you even try and make me hurt them again I’m going to take a drill and lobotomy myself. Second, no more holding little girls and their mothers hostage. No needless killing, especially if it involves children. If we need strike fear, we either kill someone else or find another way. Third, you are not allowed to speak unless I want you to, is that clear.”
He a wide evil smile comes across my reflection’s face. “Crystal clear my king.” he says “Crystal clear. I am only an adviser sent to guide you on the path you would have wanted to take. I will aid you in controlling your magic once it resurfaces. The rest I will leave to you. Now go make that son of a bitch pay for what he did your human mother.”
I return the smirk which I imagine is just as wide. “With Pleasure.”