//------------------------------//
// Chapter 61 (unedited) 
// Story: A New Beginning in a New Land 
// by REDACTED99999 
//------------------------------//

They made their way over to Twilight for two reasons: Jax still needed to apologize to her, and Twilight could summon Discord.
‘Fuck you for being a judgemental bitch.‘ Although Pinkie and Beating deserved his yelling the least, Jax still felt his gut cramp up at the memory of Twilight’s eyes widen before she flinched away from him. He had a feeling he really hit a soft spot with that. Everything about that night seemed like a horrible, horrible nightmare.
‘If you had let me take over, you would not have to do this.’ Sombra informed him, sounding very much like he was sulking. Funnily enough, it seemed like he was finally able to differentiate between his own thoughts and Sombra’s ‘talk’. Sombra just felt different.
‘Listen here, sulKing Sombra…’ he felt like he should high five somebody with that insult. Subtle and original. ‘I ain’t about to regret anything just because I have to give an apology to a few ponies. And after I’m done, I’m gonna go out and prank like I’ve never pranked before… which is actually a pretty good description since I’ve never actually tried to prank anybody.’
‘… I’m not sulking….’ Wow, he really was sulking. What the hell happened to him? Did he really put his everything into that plan and was now out of ideas?... Oh god that would be nice. ‘You, walking around apologizing to everything you meet is just boring. Do something exciting.’
‘Are you serious? I’m going out to prank some poor entity with the Spirit of Chaos and some veteran pranksters. Have some patience.’
No answer came, and they were nearing the castle, so Jax let it go. 
‘Except… Wait…’ Jax stopped as a thought occurred to him. Why was he being so friendly with Sombra? He should be furious - this was the pony who refused to let him sleep much for a week, took over his body when he finally managed to sleep, made him doubt whether his thoughts were his or not. He shouldn’t tell him to be patient, he should tell him to shut the fuck up and settle down. He should yell out all his frustration at what he went through at him, not at his friends as he had done.
A memory came to mind, of a mare with a face so perfect it looked like a mask. Sombra’s mom looked at him with a perfectly trained face, at least until he says something she doesn’t want to hear - then that mask is ripped off to show her true colours.
‘Stop it…’
Jax couldn’t help but wonder if he received that beating that was promised to him. Sombra hadn’t come home that night, so it must have been pretty bad. How could they beat up their own son like that….
Jax knew exactly how… since he had experienced the same thing. He understood exactly how it felt like to not feel safe in your own home. That was why he couldn’t bring himself to be mad at Sombra, despite what-
‘I SAID STOP IT!’ Sombra’s anger radiated out from the thought like a bomb. ‘We are nothing like each other, human, I’ve seen the thoughts you try so hard to forget. Your father may have raised his hoof against you now and again in a drunken rage, but that is nothing against the indignant rage of the Captain of the Crystal Guard teaching his son a lesson!’ Jax barely noticed Pinkie and Rainbow looking at him in worry. He had trouble breathing. ‘You know nothing of pain, true pain, you who had a family! A mother who loved you, and a brother who looked up to you for what you did for him! You’ve always known what it felt like to be loved, you only let your own suffering drag on because of your own weakness. If you had not pretended everything to be fine, you would have received help much sooner… Everypony knew what I was going through… they KNEW… and nopony did a thing….’ The rage was subsided for something much more vulnerable. ‘I only ever had myself, and for most of my life I lied to myself, told myself that I was okay, that everything would be fine. The day I accepted that it wouldn’t - that I was broken and couldn’t be fixed - was the day I became free. So do not compare us. We are nothing alike.’
“I’m fine.” He answered his friends, though he wasn’t sure what they had said. He could finally breathe properly, now that a rage that wasn’t his own stopped storming inside of him.
Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, getting him completely out of the weird state he was in. He looked up at the one who had hit him. “I wish you would stop doing that Rainbow. Three times in a day is a bit too much.”
“And I wish you would stop shutting us out.” Rainbow answered with her hooves crossed. “I thought a little pain would help you learn a lesson you should already know. ‘I’m fine’ is what you say when somepony asks you if you want tea, not when you look like you’re having a panic attack.”
“Alright… alright” He looked around quickly, but it looked like everypony was minding their own business, most of them giving them a wide berth. He lowered his voice. “I just… I had a conversation with Sombra. He… gave me some memories yesterday in the forest, and I just thought that I could relate… but he disagreed.”
Rainbow and Pinkie shared a look. “Why would you want to-“ Rainbow started but was cut off by Pinkie.
“Well I think that’s great!” She said with her usual cheer. “If I had somepony to share a body with I would be super happy to have something in common. Plus having something in common is the first step to becoming friends!” She pointed at Rainbow. “Like me and Rain-Rain-“
“I told you not to call me that!”
“- both love an innocent prank from time to time! But it can also be something simple like, most ponies like cupcakes!” She took out a cupcake from her mane and ate it. In one bite. “And I love cupcakes! And cake… and muffins… and cream puffs… and-“
“Alright Pinkie, but I’m not exactly trying to become friends with him.” Jax argued.
‘Even if you did, I would not want you as a friend. A king does not need friends.’
Pinkie looked mystified. “Why not?”
For a moment Jax was confused whether she meant why he didn’t want Sombra as a friend or why Sombra thought kings didn’t need friends, but then he remembered that Pinkie couldn’t hear Sombra. Unless she could read his mind of course, and… well he was at least 50% sure she couldn’t.
“Well let’s see here… he almost killed Scootaloo, he almost killed me, he-“ He started counting off on his fingers.
“Yeah but that’s all in the past!” Pinkie cheered. “Sombra is a new and improved pony! I bet he’s bursting to make friends!”
…
What?
‘This Pony is clearly out of her mind…’ Sombra contributed.
He exchanged a glance with Rainbow, who looked just as sceptical. “What makes you say that?” He finally asked.
Pinkie shrugged. “I ‘unno. It’s not exactly my Pinkie sense… it’s just a feeling I have. I mean, he hasn’t bothered you for a while, right?”
‘Pinkie Sense?’ He wasn’t sure whether it was him or Sombra who thought it, but he wasn’t going to ask what that was. It sounded like it made some kind of sense: Pinkie sense.
God that was awful. Anyway. “A couple of hours of peace doesn’t exactly make me optimistic….” He moved to look at Rainbow again, but realized he had an opportunity to use her new name, which was too good to pass up. “What do you think, Rain-Rain?” He smirked at her, not even caring that he wouldn’t get an answer.
He ducked just in time to get out of the way of her hoof. “Now Rain-Rain, don’t overreact!” He couldn’t help but laugh madly as he tried to get the words out.
“You’re only making it worse for yourself!” Rainbow moved a little faster this time, but she was obviously holding herself back. He wasn’t sure how long that was going to last, but luckily his reflexes allowed him to duck right next to his Trusty guard. Without further ceremony, Jax picked up Trusty and held him between himself and Rainbow. He was surprisingly heavy, but the thought of protection against Rainbows anger gave him strength. “I have a guard and I’m not afraid to use him!” Trusty looked back at him with a somewhat weird expression. Half amused, half indignified? Something like that. “You wouldn’t hit a guard, would you, Rain-Rain? That’s a crime!” At least Jax assumed so.
‘By the shadows…’ Jax had a feeling Sombra was facehooving, if he could do that in his current state.
To his horror, Rainbow smiled… it was not a pleasant smile. “I was holding back Jax… but I see now I was being too nice. Get ready to feel the thunder!”
The true horror started when she started to fly around him (and Trusty) with enough speed to get a wind going… it wasn’t hurricane levels, but if she as much as touched him with that speed, he would probably die. “Rainbow Dash… let’s not…” he tried to swallow but he had a lump in his throat. “Let’s not turn this teasing session into murder…” He laughed nervously. Surely she wouldn’t…
“Rainbow?”
Only a maniacal laughter answered him.
“Rainbow?!”
She finally swept in so fast he could barely see her, coming straight towards him, and he had no time to even think about getting Trusty between them.
Of all the ways he thought he would die, being killed by Rainbow Dash over a joke wasn’t one of them.
***
“I said I was sorry!” Rainbow apologised for the fifth time. “How was I supposed to know that that could kill you?”
Jax kept trudging towards the castle. It was close by now. “Rainbow, sorry is something you say after you spill some tea on somebody’s sofa. If Pinkie hadn’t interfered, I would have been a blood-stain on a wall.” He wasn’t exaggerating either. Rainbow had gathered a lot of speed going in circles around them.
Rainbow flew in front of him. “Well what do you want me to say? A pony would have survived without problems, and it’s not like you’ve told us you were made of glass!”
“What… really?”
Pinkie appeared next to Rainbow. “Yupperino! It takes a lot more than a little shove to kill a pony! You were lucky my Pinkie Sense went off.” She smiled at him.
‘I cannot believe you are so easy to kill. Good thing I would not die with you.’ Sombra added.
Jax sighed. The near-death experience had shocked him, since it went so fast from teasing to almost dying. Lesson learned, Rain-Rain was officially a no-go.
He took a deep breath. “Alright… I’m sorry too Rainbow. I shouldn’t call you something you don’t like. And sorry for using you as a shield Trusty.”
‘Instead of apologizing you should use this opportunity to get something from her...’
‘This is the mare that jumped in front of the crystal that would have pierced my heart. I’m never going to manipulate her like that.’ He made his ‘voice’ hard as steel.
“I’ll forgive you this time.” Trusty answered.
“Alright, now that that’s over with we can finally speak with Twilight.” Rainbow all but barrelled down the door to the castle.
***
They found Twilight in the library section of the castle, which in and of itself wasn’t a big surprise. She liked books, after all. What was surprising was that she seemed to be sleeping. She was drooling all over a heavy tome, something Awake Twilight would frown heavily upon.
“Hey guys!” Spike called out from his bed made of books - something Awake Twilight would probably also frown upon. “What brings you to the library?”
Jax exchanged glances with his companions but it looked like he was the one who had to explain the situation. “We were looking for Twilight actually. Do you think she has had enough sleep, or should we come back later?”
Spike looked dubious at Twilight, then back at him. “The last time she slept was the night before you went crazy-“ His eyes widened, no doubt because of the hurt expression Jax accidently showed. “I uhm, I mean, since the night… since the night before last night, and she only fell asleep a few hours ago. I’d give her a little more time, if it’s not urgent.”
Another glance exchange and shrug later, and they made their way out. There were more people to apologize to, after all.
‘I cannot believe you want to waste so much time.’ A grumpy Sombra informed him.
He was ignored.
***
They made their way to Fluttershy first, who accepted his apology without any fuss. Rainbow wanted to stick around it seemed, but grudgingly went with them when they left even though Jax informed her she could stay and they would get her.
Applejack was next, and she swept it away with a hoof “You were under a lot of stress sugarcube, Ah understand.”
They were on their way out, when Big Mac stepped in front of them. Jax could feel his smile disappearing, but forced it to stay. He was being unfair to the red stallion in front of him, none of what happened was his fault. “Hey Big Mac.” He tried to sound cheery but… eh.
“Can Ah talk with ya?” Big Mac asked, his eyes swiping over his rather large group. “In private?”
“I… don’t actually know.” Jax turned to Trusty. “Can he?”
Trusty raised a hoof to his chin, but it was True Shot that answered. “As long as we can see you, there shouldn’t be a problem.” He did sound a tiny bit more relaxed than usual, but it still sounded monotone.
“Alright. Let’s go outside.” He tried to keep his tone warm, but he couldn’t really. It’s not that he didn’t like Big Mac - he barely knew him after all - it was because a part of him blamed him for being possessed by Sombra. Logically he knew that he shouldn’t, but emotionally he saw Big Mac lit up by lightning the night he had come and ruined what little of a life Jax had managed to build. It was ridiculous, the only one to blame was Sombra. But Sombra didn’t really have a face of his own….
They arrived in the orchard, in view of everypony, but far enough away that they wouldn’t hear a word. Big Mac looked at them a bit nervously, obviously meaning private as in just the two of them in the same room, but he didn’t say anything. He just swallowed.
It was on the verge of becoming awkward, so Jax decided to take the lead. “Listen, I’m sorry about being less than friendly towards you…” One more apology to the list, it seemed. Jax was getting pretty good at it.
“That’s fine.” Big Mac said, looking at the ground beneath him. “What you saved me from-“ He shuddered visibly. “Ah can’t thank ya enough Jax, yet as mah sister had ta remind me, Ah haven’t even thanked ya once.” He took a deep breath, and exhaled. “If not for you, Ah would have that young fillies blood on my hooves. Ah’m… Ah’m not sure Ah would be able ta live with that.” He looked straight into Jax’ eyes with a sincerity that made Jax lean back a bit. “So thank ya. Ah know it hasn’t been easy on ya… so if there’s anything ya need, just ask.”
Jax nodded slowly, unsure what to say to something so sincere. “Sure.” Looking around awkwardly, at a lack of words, his eyes fell on the group behind him. “Hey, we’re actually going pranking after I’ve finished apologizing to everypony. You wanna come with?”
Big Mac gave him a light smile. “Pranking really ain’t my thing. Besides, Ah have more work to do on the farm. Maybe we can do something else some other time?”
Jax smiled back. “Sure. I’d like that.”
***
After the little run-in with Big Mac, Jax decided he might as well be thorough and send a letter to Celestia as well. She had been there and she had taken the brunt of his anger no matter how gracefully she took it. She deserved an apology as well. They went through the orchard towards his house, with the intent of writing a letter there, and either give it to Spike to send when they made it back to Twilight’s castle, or send it to Luna with Spike’s gift and have her deliver it.
When they made it to his house, he noticed something he should have noticed just by looking out of a window, or at the very least while he was coming out of it. There were two rather large tents set up behind his home, one with Celestia’s mark on both sides, the other with Luna’s. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what these were… it also meant that he had another chance to introduce himself to his guards, at least the night version of them.
With a tired smile, he went into his home to write yet another apology. Maybe his friends could help him word it.
He looked back at Rainbow and Pinkie. 'They may not be wordsmiths but… ah whatever. It would be fine.'
He felt Sombra scoff.