Once Death Note ended, Rumble and David went back to their rooms. That left just me and Steve lying on the coach alone. He turns to me with a look of concern on his face.
“Did you have a fun day little bro?” he asks with a slight hint of remorse.
I nod my head. “It was certainly interesting. I just still can’t believe that the three of you are ponies now. It’s going to take a while to get used to this. And on top of that I’m still in shock over Dad being gone!”
I scoot over a little closer to him and gently place my hand on his back. I hesitantly begin to rub it as I look into his face to see if I could find any physical similarities between him and the human Steve. Sadly, I can’t find anything, which only adds to the spiral of mixed emotions welling up inside me.
“Steve?” I ask as a small tear trickles down my cheek. “Is it ok if I miss Dad? I know he was a bad man, and I know he was grooming me to take his place. I even know that he’s the reason why we don’t have a Mom anymore. But I still love him, Steve, and deep down I think you loved him too. I know we already talked about this yesterday, but I’m still can’t get over the fact that he’s dead.”
I can’t contain myself any longer, and I start crying my eyes out. I push my face into my brothers chest and wrap my arms around him. He gently nuzzles me and wraps me up in his forelegs as I dry my tears with his fur.
“I can’t change the the past Antonio. Right now I’m the only family you have left, besides our Aunt and Uncle who decided long ago they wanted nothing to do with this messed up family of ours. If being around me is just going to cause you pain, I’ll try and locate them. I’m sure I can find their contact information somewhere around the house. But I’m afraid of what I’m going to become without you Antonio.”
I look up at him. “Can’t you control yourself? You don’t have to be a mob boss or a king. We can just live life here.”
He shakes his head “I’m afraid it’s not that easy. The change didn’t just change my appearance, it changed how I think and feel about things. And right now, there is nothing I want more than to mold this city in my own image.”
Shocked at what he said I push myself away from him. I ask him quietly, “Are more people going to die?”
“If someone tries to stop me, I will not hesitate to put them down. Yet at the same time, I’m afraid that I’m going to take things too far. Become an even greater monster than Dad ever was. I’m not a hero Antoine, but I don’t want to be a villain. I just… I just want to finish what I supposedly started back in Equestria.”
“And what exactly does that mean?”
A small grin forms on his face. “I want the people of Chicago to tremble at my might, but more importantly, I want to turn Chicago into a safe haven for the pony race. If history has taught us anything, it is that human beings are stubborn to new ideas. Once the people of earth learn about ponies like me, there will be mass hysteria. For all I know, ponies are already being gathered and sent to labs to be tested on.”
He jumps off the couch and looks back at me with conviction. “Old Sombra enslaved the Crystal Empire,” he said, “and murdered it's queen because he believed that he could make it strong. The others couldn’t see what he was capable of, so he devoted himself to the dark arts and rose against the Crystal Queen. Now, a thousand and twenty-five years later, history is repeating itself. However this time, I have something which he probably didn’t have before.”
“What’s that?” I ask curiously.
His eyes, which was glowing green again, slowly turns back to red as I watch his horn light up. Magic encompasses my body and pulls me towards him. When his magic lets me go, he stretches his forelegs and hugs me even tighter than before.
“He probably didn’t have a family worth fighting for.” He replied sadly.
When I hear him say that, all my fears vanish as if they were never there to begin with. Even after all he’s done and everything he’s talking about doing, he still considers me his family. I realise I’m probably one of the few reason’s he’s still clinging to his old life. While this does comfort me, this means that I am also the only thing keeping my brother from transforming into a complete and utter monster. It dawns on me that Steve needs me more than I need him right now.
Having realised this, I grip my brother even tighter and rest my head against his fur as if he were a large dog.
“I promise I won’t leave you Steve, no matter how crazy you get.”
He chuckles at what I say and raises his hoof to give me the pony equivalent of a noogie.
“That a boy!” he says as he messes my hair up with his hoof. “Now that you're feeling better, you should probably go to bed. I hope you enjoyed your day of hookie, but tomorrow I’m having Moe drive you to school.”
My eyes widen at this statement and I glare at him “You really are evil.”
He cackles evilly and exposes his face.
“I guess I could let you stay home, but there was something I just remembered about my old life...”
Even though his facial structure had changed, I could still tell my brother was planning to play a joke on me. Normally this would be a normal thing between us, but now he had magic. Still, I decide to play along with his game.
“What did you just remember” I ask with a suspicious tone .
He laughs again as his eyes revert back to green. “I used to eat little ponies who played hookie in the Crystal Empire. You don’t want me to turn back into my shadow form and gobble you up.”
I know he was just teasing me, but my mind starts to think back to how he almost ate one of Dads security guards. I mean, we just got finished having a brotherly moment…
I jump back in surprise when I realise Steve’s body has just completely vanished before my eyes. I look down at the ground and see dark smoke rise from the the floor and coiled itself around me. As I watch the top of the dark mass take the shape of my brother head, I decide I don’t want to take any chances.
I turn around and make a break for the door, and as I glance back I can see the dark mass chasing after me. I can hear Steve snickering up a storm at the mean joke he had decided to play on me.
“You suck Steve!” I shout as I run up the stairs. All the while, my heart is pounding harder and harder. As soon as I reach the top of the stars, I turn back to only see that my brother had turned back into his physical form smiling at me.
“I’m sorry I did that,” he says sheepishly, “Fear and anger give me power, and from what I could sense, you were downright terrified. I’ll try and control myself better next time, but only if you go to school tomorrow. Of course, if you still need time to recover from all that’s happened, I’ll make up a legitimate sounding excuse for your teacher.”
Despite my frustration, I laugh and smile back at him. “I knew you were kidding, but still that was beyond freaky. Please try not to do that again.”
He chuckles. “So long as you stay on my good side you’ll be fine little man. However, misbehave and you might make me hungry.” He lifts up his right hoof and gives me a mock salute. “Night Antonio. No matter what happens we're going to get through this together. Also, I think you got me hooked on that show, let’s watch it again tomorrow after you do your homework.”
I nod and head to bed. As a walk into my room and tuck myself in, I do something that father would scold me big time if he ever caught me, not that that can happen now. To be honest, this might even be the first time I’ve ever done something like this. I cup my hands and ask God to watch over Steve, and to give me the strength to guide him should he ever go too far. I close my eyes and drift off to sleep, hoping that my prayer goes through.
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When I awake the next morning, I begin day three as the King of Fear and Hatred. I choose one of my long time friends in the gang to drive Antonio to school. I would do it myself, but I’m afraid someone will spot me behind the wheel.
Outside, Thunderlane is still trying to figure out how to fly (and failing miserably). I hear him crash into the side of the mansion for what feels like the eleventh time this morning, and decide to do some research into my old life.
I go up to my room and start up my desktop computer. When it’s all booted up, I find that using a computer has never been easier. I can type on the keyboard with just a thought thanks to my magic powers. This magic really is freaking awesome, and I pity all the other ponies who don’t have it.
While looking in Google images, I stumble upon an active brony site called derpibooru.org. I figure I can find some cool pictures of myself casting some spells which I could later use to conquer the city. Upon entering the site, I immediately type my name into the the search icon to pull up all the fanart.
The pictures I see range from gorgeous to downright shitty. As I browse through the images, I find that I’ll have to create an account in order to view certain images tagged “mature.” Wanting to take in all that this site could teach me about my self, I reluctantly create an account called KingSombra57 and type in my name again.
As soon as the page loads, I immediately regret my decision.
“What the fuck is this shit!” I shout at the screen.
The seach results are filled with homo erotic fanart of me and what I guess are various stallions from the show. I upon seeing them, I feel like my eyes shrivel up.
“What kind of sick perverts would make this?” I scream at the top of my lungs.
To my dismay, one of the guards outside my room decides to be a hero and find out what all the fuss is about. I hear the door open behind me.
“Boss is something the…”
As soon as he catches a glimpse of the computer screen filled with images of my “royal scepter,” the guard becomes silent as he slowly shuts the door.
In that moment I made a solemn vow to hunt down and kill every last artist that ever drew gay porn of me. However, after typing a more direct search, I found that the hilt list would be too big for even somepony as powerful as me to carry out.
Realising I need something to help relieve me from those images, I take a few moments to save a few pics of myself doing some of the various mares from the show. I found that a lot of these “bronies” seemed to like the idea of me and Twilight being a couple. That gets me thinking back to all the trouble I must have caused her back in Equestria. If I ever get the luxury of meeting her on earth, whoever she may be now, I should probably apologise for the inconveniences I have caused her and her friends.
Once I stock my favorite pictures with enough perverted images (not involving me with a stallion of course) to help ease my mental anguish, I adjust the filters yet again and continue researching magic.
After a couple of hours of browsing site after site, I realise no amount of research is going to help me learn how to master my powers.
I slam my hooves on my desk and grit my teeth. There has to be some way for me to remember these damn powers. If only that stupid echo in my head hadn’t left me.
I rest my head on the desk, frustrated beyond belief that I had wasted this entire day looking at porn rather than doing something practical.
“Come on!” I tell myself. “Two days ago I was casting spells like there was no tomorrow. Heck the echo didn’t even teach me that one I cast on my father’s mind.”
I lift my head as an imaginary light bulb floats above me. The spell I used on Thunderlane and Dad! What if I could use it on myself, to travel back to the life I can’t remember. I need to relearn all the secrets so I can build an empire in which the pony race can thrive. The idea is so brilliant, I was ashamed I hadn’t come up with the idea until just now.
Without a moment's hesitation, I hop off the chair and begin to charge the memory spell. I have no idea if this is going to work on myself, and I can feel myself sweat a bit underneath my fur. However, if I have any hope of taking the the city without the feds finding out too quickly, this is a risk I must take.
“Here goes nothing!”
I cast the spell and images of my life on earth fly past me like holographic tv screens. Watching David failing at flying, hugging my brother, getting shot by Dad, taking shots at my birthday party, all those events fly past me following others. It’s all going by too slowly though.
Not wanting to linger any longer than I have to in memory lane, I charge my horn and crank the juice up on the spell. The video screen starts travelling past me at light speed, to the point where I can't even keep track of what memories I’m looking at. Metaphorically, I slam the brakes on my spell, only to be blinded by a flash of of light.
----------
“Good evening Sir Sombra.” Greets an elderly mare with a coat of crystal, “How many I help you this fine day?”
“I’m fine madam,” I say, giving her the most innocent smile I can muster. “I’m just here to do some magical research for her majesty the Queen. Do you know where I could find the forbidden archives?”
Her welcoming smile quickly turns into a grave look of concern. “Nopony is supposed too even know that exists, I couldn’t possibly...”
“It’s a matter of grave importance!” I interrupt, lying nonchalantly. “The queen believes a great evil is about too threatened the kingdom and has asked that I search the archives. She believes that the key to stopping it should be hidden in there. She asked that you keep this a secret, or else bad things will start happening in the empire.”
I smile upon seeing my fib sent her into a fit of worry. She hands me the key to the archive and starts telling me where it’s hidden.
“Put that key into the keyhole in one of the books in history wing, shelf Z. Please be quick your grace. They say the contents of anyone of those books could drive a pony mad.”
“Don’t worry,” I say as I levitate the key and put it in my saddle bag, “I promise I won’t be long.”
I trot towards my destination, snickering at how gullible the old hag was. It seems all these years of loyal service are finally paying off for a change. Once I read through those books, I know I will be strong enough to slay the alicorn. Thought I love my mentor very much, if she were to continue her rule, we the Empire would remain weak. With Gaia gone, I can finally show them that this isn’t just a city of earth ponies, but a nation that should be feared and respected.
But should I do this? I am her faithful student, whom she trusts more than even her own sisters.
I shake my head. No! My mind was made up the moment I set hoof in this library. There is no turning back now. A revolution is on the horizon, and my anger and hatred of her has reached it’s peak. I must erase any and all sentiment I may feel towards her so that the Empire may thrive. I am the strongest unicorn this realm has seen since the days of Starswirl. It is my god given right too too take what should have been mine all along.
When I reached the location that the librarian mentioned I begin my search for the keyhole. Once I spot it, I eagly place the key into the slot and watch as the bookcase opens the doors to a chamber. Inside, torches magically light up the room to reveal a dozen shelves covered with dusty tomes and cobwebs.
My eyes marvel at the sight of them all, and I ponder what precious knowledge each one contains. Could one of them contain the secrets of immortality? Or perhaps one contains a passage on bringing the dead back to life. Maybe there could even be one that can alter a ponies thoughts.
I feel as if the books themselves are feeding my imagination, and given how supposedly evil they are, they may very well be doing that. Even knowing this, my resolve stays firm. Power, is strength, and with it, the world will forever know my greatness.
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I put a magic bookmark for later as my mind returns to the present. Unlike all the other times I have used this spell, I saw my memories from my own perspective. Every other time I cast it, I always saw the events as an observer.
Well now that I have a “Pensive on Demand,” I can finally learn some wicked cool powers. However, in the the back of my mind I dwell on the warning the librarian had given me about the books driving ponies mad. Well, turning into a pony has already made me clinically insane, so I guess a little more madness can’t hurt, can it?