I open my eyes slowly as my mind starts to reboot. I’m lying in the back seat of my father's limo. Still a bit woozy from the spell, I lean up into a bipedal sitting position and turn my head towards the window.
“Jesus Christ!” I shout. At least, that’s what I tried to do. With how dreary and fatigued I am it came out more like a groan.
Still, the city looked like Hell had taken a massive shit on the city. All around me, I see people looting and breaking into stores, while others are brawling in the streets. Anyone not taking part in the madness is running in confusion, looking for some form of authority to bring order to the chaos.
This was never part of the plan. Just how long was I out for? This isn’t good. I need to put a stop to the anarchy before I lose control of the city.
With boiling rage, I shift my attention to whoever was driving the car. I bring two of my hooves to my mouth like a microphone and shout at whoever was in the front seat.
I feel the car swerve a bit as a result of me startling the driver.
“Boss!” he yelled. “You’re awake. I'll get you to city hall right away. When David dropped you off, he ordered me to keep you safe. I’ve been driving the car for four hours praying for you to wake up and organize this shit. The city is a fucking wreck. The police force is in shambles, all the exits out of the city are blocked off, and everyone who tries to make an outside call blanks into a daze. This wasn't part of the briefing. Whatever happened to selling drugs and robbing banks?!”
“Can it, ape!” I snarl with anger in my eyes. “You will not second guess my reign now! Not while the city is practically in the soles of my hooves. Double-time it to city hall and call in as much backup as we can spare. Also, call our friends at the media and tell them the King will be making a public address to the city.”
“But I don’t think I can go on with this for much longer!” the man shouted. “There’s people outside acting like the world is ending, and for all I know, you're a horse of the apocalypse come to usher in armageddon. Perhaps all that talk about you being possessed wasn’t made up after…”
His eyes widen as he catches a glimpse of my horn glowing from the rear view mirror. He gulpes as I feed on his fear not only of me, but also the chaos outside. Bits of my strength are starting to come back with every drop of sweat that falls from his skin. Surely, this fear will provide me with enough strength to at least seize power. Of course, too much and I’ll lose my sanity again. I’d better calm this whelp down a little.
“Don’t be afraid.” I say calmly with a devilish smile. “I will save the city from its own destruction. However, question me again, and I will take your free will. I may have made an obligation to my human brother to be merciful, but how I show that mercy will be entirely up to me. A thousand years ago, you may not have been so lucky.”
I pause for a moment and widen my grin.
“So please” I say softly. “Do try to be more grateful.”
I see the driver nod his head as his shoulder jerks a bit in his seat. He activates his bluetooth and makes a direct call to one of my higher-ups.
“This is Marcel!” the driver says. “The King has awakened. He has issued the following orders!”
-----
“People of Chicago!” I cry out to my subjects from atop the steps of city hall. “I urge you all to remain calm, for I’ve come to bring order out of chaos.”.
A forming crowd of people is staring as they try and get as close a look as my line of bodyguards would allow. Just as ordered, I see a camera crew in the distance, with my mafia standing by to ensure their safety. While the crowd is miniscule compared to what I would have preferred, there is no more time to wait. It’s time I declare my rule.
I looked down at the bewildered crowd and smirk.
“Even without magic, I can read all of your minds.” I continue with a natural flare of charisma that had eluded me during my human life. “Currently you're asking yourselves, who is this sharply dressed creature speaking down to you? Is he an alien? Is he the one who put up the strange wall? Why are Anello thugs surrounding him?”
From the way their eyes focus on me, I can tell I have their attention. The fish have taken the bait, and all that remained was to reel them in for the catch.
I let out a hearty chuckle, before continuing. “While I’d love to answer all those questions, I’m afraid I don’t have the time. So here’s the short version.”
I take a moment to clear my throat before I begin.
“I am a King from another world. Me and a handful of my kind were cast out from our world by a perverted and corrupt god who sought to reshape our world in his own twisted image. Our souls were sent to this planet, and we were reincarnated as humans, with only vague memories of who we once were.”
I pause to take a breath, before continuing.
“But now our human bodies eroded, and with the help of magic, I have restored bits of my past memories. However, the rest of my kind is now scattered, confused, and have once again been forced into exile. An exile crafted not from the cruel and calculating claws of a god, but from humanity, and its prejudice for all things alien.”
I can hear whispers amongst the crowd, as more and more people flock to me like Jesus atop the hill. I then remind myself that this was the first time in over two thousand years, of humanity that something as biblical as me had graced their eyes. This comparison, as twisted as it was, invigorated me to continue.
I narrow my eyebrows at the crowd with a look of disgust. “Because of human ignorance!” I proclaim scornfully. “My people are now in hiding, and are now forced to hide themselves in a world that had been their home only a week ago. That is why I have taken the liberty of conquering this city, and turning Chicago into an Empire where ponies may live without fear of human ignorance.”
The crowd started to get restless and panicky. Someone in the crowd aims a pistol at me and starts firing like a maniac. Effortlessly, I catch his bullets in my telekinetic grasp.
I toss the bullets aside and turn my gaze to the shooter. “A commendable but ultimately futile attempt, my friend. You might as well have been trying to kill the President of the United States. However, to show to you I am a merciful leader, I’ll just give a strike and let you be on your way.”
When I finish, I see the assassin raise his gun. In response, a few of my men raise their guns at the crowd, ready to mow down any civilian between them and the gunmen. I had only a moment before everything fell apart. In one swift motion, I levitate the gun out from under the assassin's hand, flip it so that it faces his knee, and pull the trigger.
The man falls down, hollering in pain. Some people in the crowd rushed to help him, but I deter them once I start training the gun at anyone who tries.
“Where others would have killed this man for turning down my mercy!” I cry out in anger.“I instead spared his life, but at the cost of his leg. During my rule, I will be a just king to human and pony alike. However, those who test my strength and my generosity may find fates worse than execution.”
The crowd drops dead silent upon hearing my threat, allowing me to continue.
“From this day forth, The Anello’s Family Mob and the CPD shall be two halves of the same coin. The police will continue to serve and protect and uphold the law, which, for the most part, is the same. I urge authorities to round up anyone who’s still causing trouble during today's unfortunate riot.”
I feel myself sweat a bit as I come to the more awkward part of my speech. They say, however, that honesty is the best policy, and people need to know why I have mobsters protecting me.
“Might as well tell the world who I was before all this,” I continue, “And why the mob is with me today. As a human, I was born into this world by the name Steve Anello. Having reverted to my true form and character, I have delivered justice onto my father Tony Anello, making me the active Don. Having gained the allegiance of my father’s organization, I have decreed these men to be my personal security force, as well as my royal police force.”
The crowd goes ballistic, as people begin to shout amongst themselves.
“That creature is the Anello boy!” someone calls out.
“Forget all this magic bullshit,” another shouts. “Are we really going to let thugs run the city?”
“Steve Anello? Isn’t he one of the main suspects in that incident in the back?”
“His father's kept me in debt for thirty goddamn years!” continues an angry-sounding man at the front of the crowd. “If what this monster says is true, then there’s no goddamn way I’m letting him stomp on me like that son of bitch Tony.”
“All my life I wished ponies were real” Some dork in the middle calls out. “And the only character I get to see in person is King Underdeveloped. “What a rip off.”
I shoot some weak bolts of lightning out of my horn, in hopes to get the crowd’s attention back. I watch as majority of them shriek and duck for cover. When the commotion stops, they all look up at me as I make my disdain clearly known.
“The amount of interruptions is beyond insulting!” I scowl. I take a deep breath to calm myself down before continuing. “My point is that their loyalty lies with me. Who or what any of us were before today is irrelevant. This is a dawn of a new beginning for every living creature inhabiting with this city. However, neither the Crystal or Roman Empires were built in a day. It will take time before my prosperous vision for the city becomes takes effect. But I foresee that come Tuesday, you will all find that things will not be as terrible as you’re all probably imagining. Before I leave, I request that all of you stay tuned to the local news for updates. Also, any ponies are instructed to report to the Anello Mansion, where you will be given asylum until we can find proper residential areas for you all to live. With that said…”
I stomped my hoof vigorously and cheer at the top of my lungs “Long Live The New Crystal Empire!”
I take a moment to wait for an applause, but am disappointed when none is given. Even though the crowd was a lot calmer than it had been before, I could tell from their silence that these humans hated me. Every negative emotion they harbored towards me provided minor substance to my body, yet it left me with a void of satisfaction. A thousand years ago, I would have put every last one of these ungrateful whelps in chains. Oh how lucky they are that three deaths and twenty five years of humanity altered my governing methods. If none of that ever happened, these apes would be begging for my mercy.
I order my men to form a perimeter around me and order them to escort me back to the limo. Thankfully, my earlier conflict with the gunman has distilled any further attempts of resistance.
-------
I return home to a warm welcoming celebration. As the doors to the limo open, those who had supported me welcomed me back and praised my victory over the city.
“Hail to the King!” one of them cried. “Long live King Sombra!”
I lightly smile back at them, as I silently laugh to myself. I doubt any of them cared about my overall ambitions or my plans for a pony kingdom on earth. They were happy because my victory meant giving the wealth, power, and authority I promised them. Then again, maybe some of them did? I wasn’t a mind reader, though after that last spell I doubt that power was beyond taken care of.
“Thank you for your support.” I say as I stroll past them towards the door. “Keep an eye out for any ponies that may show up. I have some royal obligations I need to take care of.”
I stroll through the door, and make my way up the stairs. I rush to my brother’s room and knock on the door.
“Hey squirt!” I cry out. “I’m back.”
I watch as the door creaks open and my brother and gives me a quick hug.
“I saw your speech on the news.” he acknowledges as he starts petting my mane as if I were a well-behaved dog. “You could have killed that man back there, but you restrained yourself.”
I casually step into his room and smirk. “I did my best, but I really did want to kill that man. I held off for you and Thunderlane, and you know what, I feel good for doing it. I feel like freaking Batman right now.”
Antonio brought his hands up and ushered me to stop. “Please!” he pleaded. “Don’t say the ‘b-word. Rudy might have changed a little when he became Rumble, but his obsession with you-know-who still rivals no other.”
I lift a twelve inch model up from his desk and show it him. “Says the kid with a three hundred dollar Attack on Titan model” I say with a condescending smirk.
He opens his mouth to reply, but no words come out. He crosses his arms in defeat.
“Anyways, you probably shouldn’t thank me just yet.” I tell him as my smirk fades. “I passed out after I made that giant wall, and during that time there was rioting. That wasn’t part of the plan.”
Antonio sighed and lowered his head slightly. “That’s sad,” he murmurs, “but at least it was unintentional, right?”
I think back to my conversation with Thunderlane on top of the tower, when I told him I was ok with minor casualties. I was really only catering to the humans so they didn’t throw a fit and usurp me. Hell, my whole platform is to take a stand against humans who would do my kind harm, while building a monument to my greatness. Yet why are all these deaths eating away at me? Once again, I blame Discord for the unquestionable psychological damage he’s caused me.
“It’s true!” I tell him. “The riots weren’t part of the plan.” I conveniently leave out the detail about anticipating car accidents on the tower. Telling my brother my conflicting feelings about human life would only serve to harm our already damaged and awkward relationship. I could live becoming a villain in the eyes of my subjects. That is, all except one.
I see one of my minions standing outside the hallway from the open door, waiting for the right moment to get my attention.
I look up at Antonio and give him a warm smile. “Duty calls.” I shrug.
Antonio nods. “Thank you for showing me that you still care, Steve. I still really miss the old you, but I’m really glad you’re still in there. Please forgive me for doubting you.”
For the first time since my transformation became complete, I feel tears fall from my eyes. They weren’t just small tears either, nor did I try and fight them, as I probably would have done so under any normal circumstance. All I could think about was how much I failed poor Antonio by trying to keep my human self alive for him. It was a valiant, but an ultimately hopeless cause.
“I’m sorry for taking your brother away.” I regretfully say, trying my best not to get too emotional. “I’m sorry for trying to convince you I was still him. The truth was I hadn’t realised how much of myself had changed until just recently. I truly thought I could balance two personas, but I think we both know now that was never going to happen.”
I turn my head to the guard and tell him to wait a moment. He nods, and I run over to my brother, looking very out of character with my tear-stricken face.
“The only thing I know for certain that hasn’t changed is that I love you. Other than that I don’t even think like a human being anymore. Everyone else seems beneath me, human and pony alike. I never used to think like this, at least not until the change.”
“But what about all the things that haven’t?” Antonio protested. “You might be a colder person, but you never were the most empathetic. I remember how you talked to Dad and the others. You were snarky, crude, and disrespectful. Plus, even though you despised Dad, you still dropped college to work for him.”
He lets out a long sigh and shakes his head. “Look, I didn’t mean to make you upset before. All I’m saying is that some of this stuff could just be enhancements of your old personality. Dad spoiled me a lot after you turned on him, but I don’t think even he would spare lives on my behalf. You may not be a good guy Steve, but you're not wicked. I see the good in you big brother, all you need to do is recognise it.”
With my mouth closed, I give my brother a warm smile as a way of saying thanks. He graciously returns the gesture and nods. We silently break contact and go our separate ways. I follow the guard through the hallway, as my brother’s faith in me wipes the guilt of my sins away.
We we enter the main hall, I look down from the railing and see four ponies standing patiently downstairs. My mouth gaped wide open. I turn to the guard who escorted me.
“I figure this is the urgent matter.”
At long last, I had found other victims who had been dragged into this madness. Upon making my descent down the stairs, I sense a large spike of fear emanate from a member of the group, while the others just stared at me with cautious but curious eyes.
Meanwhile, I stare with at them with equal interest, though two of them I eyed more intently than others.
One I first recognised from my trips through memory lane as being a ‘crystal pony’, the inhabitants of my old kingdom. What really perplexed me about him was the fact that not only was he a crystal pony, but a pegasus as well. Based on my research of the past, I was under the impression that the crystal ponies were all earth based. Apparently there were a few residents my former self had overlooked.
The other oddity in the room was of a grey furred pony with long leathery bat wings. It was he who gave of the strong aroma of fear. As I got closer, I could see the yellow-eyed creature take a few steps back. If I were to guess, I’d say he was a former fan of that show, and probably knew of the terror I was capable of. To see such a frightening creature shiver sent a tingle of pleasure down my spine, but I made no effort to exploit it.
The other two were unicorns. One was yellow with a with a shooting star on his flank, while the other was a cream colour with a donut mark.
Overall, they were an odd bunch, but one I intended to treat with the utmost hospitality.
“Thank you all for coming on such short notice.” I say trying to sound as welcoming as possible without sounding evil. “I hope you all made it here fine.”
“You’re King Sombra!” The bat pony stutters. “You enslaved all those ponies in the show.”
I chuckle. “Like I said on TV kid, this is all about new beginnings. I take it you must be familiar with that show from the early 2010’s. That’s good because outside of what I learned from magic, I know next to nothing about Equestria.”
“Hold on a minute bub!” the pony with the donut marks shouts in a stereotypical brooklyn accent. At least it beat all the forced Italian accents I had grown accustomed to.
“Is something wrong?” I ask facetiously.
“Are you saying that all that stuff Nick or Shadow Wing over here been saying is true? We really turned into characters from this show made for LITTLE GIRLS?”
“Dammit, Narissa,” the yellow unicorn moans. “Even as a dude, you are so freaking whiny.”
The chubby unicorn turns and scowls at his friend.
“I just wanna know what ruined my life, Comet!” he yelled, raising his hoof like a fist. “And I told you, the name is Joe. Every time you assholes call me by my own name, you remind me how much harder this whole ordeal has been for me. I lost my identity, my boyfriend, and my tits! I just want to know why!”
The cream-colored pony slumps to the ground and starts breaking into tears. The crystal pegasus takes a step forward and makes eye contact with me.
“Please forgive Joe.” he says. “We were all lucky to be single when the change happened. Poor Joe here lost both his humanity, and his sex. There used to be five of us you see, but only four of us turned. The one who didn’t was Joe’s boyfriend. He couldn’t take seeing his girlfriend turn into a male pony, so he fled.”
Wow! Holy awkward scenario, Batman! This chick, or… dude, or whatever had it rough.
“The worst is these damn male hormones!” Joe blurts out. “I don’t find him attractive anymore, despite all those memories and times we shared!” He gets on his knees and starts to beg. “Please just tell me why this happened!”
I nod my head. “I have no doubt you all must be very confused. I’ll get my brony friend Thunderlane and we’ll try and fill you in on what we know so far. Also, I have proposition for you all, but that can wait after you’ve all calmed down a bit.”
“Proposition?!” Shadow Wing says, flaring his bat wings and glaring at me with hostility. “I told you this guy can’t be trusted. He’s not going to give us a new home. Not for free anyway. Just like in the episode, he’ll enslave us and make us dig for diamonds.”
I burst into laughter. “Maybe in the past but certainly not today! Today you are my guest, and what I offer you is simply optional. I expect more ponies to show up, and chances are some of them will take my offer. However, my promise for housing will still stand should you refuse. We’ll talk about it after dinner once you’ve all calmed down. The chef will be making spaghetti and meatballs.
“But ponies don’t eat meat.” Joe blurts! “We’ve tried.”
I shrug. “The meatballs are for me and my brother. For some reason I didn’t lose my appetite for meat when I changed. One of the perks of practicing dark magic, I guess.”
I let out a uneasy chuckle as I stare at the uneasy faces of my guests.
“Anyways, how about we take a tour of the mansion to pass the time. That should give us an opportunity to better know each other outside of what we know from that silly girl’s show.”
I hear the batpony mutter something as he turns his head away from me. I guess becoming a pony hadn’t diminished this fellow’s love of the show. The defensive nature of fanboys never ceases to surprise me. Obviously it will take all my charismatic power to win these ponies over.
-----------
Over the course of our tour, I make it my goal to learn as much about this odd bunch of ponies. We eventually meet up with Thunderlane and our brothers. After joining up with us, I instruct Antonio to lead the tour and I drag Thunderlane to the side for a brief moment.
“What do you want man?” he asks, a little annoyed by the secrecy.
“For one,” I whisper softly. “I want to thank you for getting me off that tower alive, but I also need you to tell me what you know about our guests. Who were they in the old world and such?”
Thunderlane does his best to tell me what little he claimed to know about a few of them. For ones he knew very little about, I had to check via my phone. Even then, I could barely find anything useful about their Equestrian lives. I sigh in frustration over the lack of information. How am I supposed to sway these ponies if I don’t know who they were back in our world?
“This will have to do I guess.” I grumble. “Let’s head back before they get suspicious. We’ll be eating soon.”
“Italian food again.” Thunder said smugly.
“You can blame my father for only hiring Italian chefs.” I groan. “The man was such a living, breathing stereotype. Feels like my whole life has been The Godfather meshed with My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”
We laugh and sneak our way back into the group. The others asked where we had gone but I told them it was a private matter.
Eventually, the seven of us find ourselves in the dining room and we all sit at the table. Spaghetti hits the table shortly thereafter, and the others break into conversation. As I watch them talk and laugh with Thunder and the boys, I levitate my wine glass and take a sip.
I need to review everything I know about them. Both as humans and as ponies. If I am to convince them to join my cause, I need to know who they are.
Let’s see if I got this correctly. The one that used to go by Narcissa is Donut Joe, an extremely minor character that had very few appearances on the show. He ran a donut shop in Canterlot, and may have been a secret agent. In this reality, she was Narcissa, a culinary arts major with a minor in Business who hoped to one day open her own restaurant. Prior to the change, he/she had a boyfriend who fled sometime during the final stages of the alteration.
His human-born brother is the yellow unicorn named Comet Tail. Thunder and I looked him up on my iPhone. He was a background pony with an official Hasbro name, and his trading card suggests he can use magic to run at high speeds. As for his human self, Trevor, he was just a simple guy who worked at a local gym and ran track.
The bat pony goes by Shadow Wing, who, prior to last week, was an indie game animator named Patrick. He mentioned he was also a Dungeon Master, and that their former group of five met through Dungeons and Dragons. Out of the four of them, he was the only fan of the show, yet he knows nothing about the character he turned into. Nothing, except his new name. The best Thunder could tell me was that he was probably part of the Lunar guard, due to the weapon cutie mark, and the fact that he was a batpony. Besides that, his Equestrian identity was unknown.
The last one, Platinum Lance/Bill was part of the National Guard and a longtime friend of Patrick/Shadow. Unlike Shadow and Comet, Thunderlane was able to recognise him as the crystal pegasus from season 4. Even though his name was never made official in the fandom, he was really a bodyguard to Princess Cadance, the mare who overthrew and nearly killed me.
Okay, I think I’ve got it all sorted out in my head. Time to give them the pitch.
I lift up my wine glass and fork and tap it against the floating wine glass. The room goes silent as everyone’s eyes fall on me. I smile, as I once again feel like the center of attention.
“You all seem very relaxed now.” I say. “Much more relaxed than when you first came in. If you don’t mind, I would like ask each of you an important question.”
I clear my throat, and slowly turn my gaze to my each of my four guests.
“First, I think you all deserve to know the truth, at least from what I know. Thunderlane will correct me if I get anything wrong.”
I tell them everything I knew about Discord and what I saw him do to me, Thunder, and Rudy through both my dreams and my memory spell. In addition, I share bits and pieces of my story, making sure to leave out the ugly parts so that I can gain their sympathy. Finally, I tell them about my glorious plan for the city, and how I hope create a world where ponies might become a part of Earth.
“It will be gorgeous!” I cry out. “With human ingenuity and pony magic, this world shall know prosperity. However, for this to work, I’ll need ponies who are willing to join my cause and serve under me. We also will need magic with which to protect ourselves against the humans.”
I turn my head to look at Platinum and Shadow. “The two of you can serve as captains of my Royal Guard. Order must be kept or the ponies that immigrate may be killed by humans who either see ponies as aliens, or wish to take a stand against my reign.”
The two glance at each other, looking very uncertain about what to do.
I then turn to the two unicorn siblings. “I wish to teach you all the art of magic. While I cannot teach you dark magic due to its soul-corrupting properties, I’ll be willing to teach what I can so long as you help me build the cities defenses. We need a method of getting ponies into the city, and need to establish a safe way to get supplies in and out of the city. We also need to create a barrier against bombing raids and infiltrators. I am powerful, but even I have limits. With enough magic at our side, we can literally do anything that we want to do.”
“Time out a second!” Thunderlane says as he put his hooves to his chin. “Holy freaking crap Steve, you didn’t.” Thunderlane burst out into a fit of hysteria.
I glare at my friend as I feel a boiling rage form in the pit of my stomach. “May I ask what you find so humorous?” I say in annoyance. Why is it every damn person in this city feels like they can interrupt me?
Platinum’s lips puff out a bit before his mouth explodes into laughter. I watch in disgust as chunks of spaghetti fly out across the table.
“Oh my God I just got it.”
“What’s so funny?!” I shout.
“Your name used to be Steve, right?” he asks.
“Yeah, so?!”
“So…!” he whispers into Shadows ear, who then covers his mouth with his hoof. The crystal stallion then turns to me and starts to sing. “So now it’s time for so long.”
“But we’ll sing just one more song.” Shadow continued.
I felt like my father had come back and shot another bullet into my chest. Everyone except the kids starts singing. My entire sales pitch, the one I had been planning since these ponies got here, all ruined by an ironic and unusual reference to a children’s show that every person born in the 90s remembered.
Despite how mad I am, I find myself laughing along with them at my own expense. Even though I had about had it with irony at this point, at least this hiccup was my own. Unlike all the others this past week, it wasn’t part of one of Discord’s twisted machinations. Plus, acting like a hothead is not going to win them over.
“That was very funny,” I say with the hope of getting the conversation back on track. I turn my attention back to the unicorn siblings. “What I meant, was my new Chicago needs unicorns to help it sustain itself. All of you are free to refuse me, however, before you give me your answer, I want you to think about where each of you were two days ago. Did you any of you have any hope, or even a plan? Right now there are an untold number of ponies who are suffering like we’ve suffered. They will continue to suffer unless we can provide them with a new beginning. I may have been the bad guy back in Equestria, and I’m sure as hell not a hero. I might be power-hungry, but I am hellbent on using this power to give our kind the second chance it deserves. Like I said earlier today, what matters now is the future.”
Nopony spoke. The room falls into silence. I look into their faces, yet try as i might, I can’t tell what they are thinking.
Platinum hops off his seat and walks towards me. Is he plotting to kill me? I ready my horn just incase, but I make sure not let my magic show. He trots right beside my seat and looks into my red and green eyes. I see him raise his hoof in the air. He’s going to strike me. I prepare my magic to zap, when I notice his hoof is moving towards me. No. Instead he puts his hoof right beside his head. He’s saluting me?
“I don’t care if you're not a saint.” he says. “You are the first pony our group has met in this city, and the only person with any sort of plan other than hiding. I can’t speak for my friends, but I for one would gladly help you out if it means making a difference to all the other poor souls out there.”
Shadow stands up, staring at his friend with a look of uncertainty. He turns to me, and I watch as he too gives me a salute.
“I still don’t trust you.” he says. “You were one of the most evil villains on the show excluding Discord and that one movie villain Tirek. No way they could have gotten away with that DBZ-like fight scene on a kids show. Anyways, my point is, if you want my full loyalty, you’ll have to earn it. If I don’t like what you’re doing, I’ll quit.”
I applaud him with my hooves.
“I appreciate both of you for giving me the benefit of the doubt. I hope after a few weeks, you will all come to know me as your King. With your help I know we can reshape this city into something wonderful.”
“Are you guys serious joining this shady character?” Joe protests. “This isn’t going to end well. I don’t want any part of it.”
“I don’t know about you bro.” Comet replies. “But I for one would like to learn how to use some magic.”
“Also!” I add. “Did I mention that if you all do agree to become my students or members of my guard, I’ll let you live in the mansion. I’m not sure you’ve noticed, but this is a really big house.”
Joe’s face lit up. “I’ll do whatever you ask of me, your grace.”
Hee. Hook, line, and sinker. All four of them. All I need to do now is show them how awesome a ruler I can be, and I’ll earn their loyalty. What would happen if I could build an entire army, I wonder?
I shake my head. I’m still a long ways off from having anything like that. However, once the new ponies start arrive, I’m sure more of them will join my cause. At long last, Chicago is now my kingdom. By the end of this weekend, I’m confident the city won’t even look the same.