So once upon a time, back in 2012, the second season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic ended and I got hooked on the series after the finale and decided to create a Ponysona for myself. He first turned out like this
, but I decided that since I liked his design and thought of a story for him, I decided to make him into a character for an MLP fanfiction. It was the very first MLP Fanfic I ever wrote, you can read it right here if you like.
count-author.deviantart.com/ga…I made his backstory kind of a sad and tragic one that would lead him down a dark path when he starts out alone, gains a friend, forms a strong bond with overtime while dealing with much grief from both everyday troubles and his imminent destiny to become a monster, and ends up becoming said monster when his friend begins to disappear from him and he meets a dark being that manipulates him into following that destiny, complete with the friend seeing the main character's fate and losing herself to misery as a result. Jump ahead 1000 years later, the monster returns for revenge, is stopped by the Magic of Friendship, and has a double fate of either being killed by his own evil intentions being overwhelmed by the powers of good or of him giving into it and sealing away his own evils, turning a new leaf in the process and being granted a second chance at life as a reformed villain-turned-good....
This was LONG BEFORE the Season 3 Pilot was released, by the way! (That one had the Sonic/MLP Crossover I did!) I made another story for Soul Wind where he chose the "Second Chance" option and was given a new purpose in life with the help of some of the Mane 6 and the CMC and it's represented by a Burning Torch Cutie Mark! The Torch was a gift from his friend, showing that she'll be by his side for the rest of his life as long as he sticks to following that purpose! He sets off to fulfill his destiny. Beats the alternative where he just outright DIES, right?!
Then comes Season 3's build up where it shows clips and shots from the Season 3 Pilot, "The Crystal Empire" and one of the new villain, who was ultimately named "King Sombra"! I saw this guy and I was like "WHOA! Who's THIS dude?!" and I wouldn't find out until the premiere. Then the day comes... I didn't see it until it got uploaded because I was running a 5-Mile Run for the "Blood-Sweat-&-Tears" Association for funding their research to help the find the cure for heart and blood-related diseases like cancer and stuff like that. It was my first year doing that if I remember right, so I finished 8th. Still got the t-shirt for it!
BACK ON TOPIC!
But then I DID see it and I saw King Sombra in his full glory and thought "I don't know why, but I think I like this dude! He's intimidating, he's looming over you like a big brother! He's like everything I love in a villain and a disaster all mixed into one!" And then he gets blown up and my jaw dropped and I saw that his horn was still intact. I just saw the death of a character...in MY LITTLE F$%KING PONY! MY MIND BLEW UP SEEING THAT!!! But I thought to myself, "Nah, I saw that horn fly out! I've seen enough Dragon Ball Z to know that when you leave just ONE tiny little thing about that dead villain intact, it WILL COME BACK!!! And it WILL become stronger! And it WILL give you a BAD TIME!
Hehehehe....
I was actually really blown away by his performance and basically fell in love with his concept and I called him my favorite villain, not just in MLP, but one of my favorite villains in fiction! But I saw that everyone else in the fandom, with some exceptions (I even know a guy who doesn't care for MLP, but he absolutely LOVES King Sombra!), everyone else just downright hated the poor villain. So many critics blew my mind with how much hate such a good character was getting. I just didn't understand. I merely shrugged and just accepted that I've developed unpopular opinions. It's not like it was the first time. But I then decided that I would recreate King Sombra in my own literature when I heard that Meghan McCarthey, in all her wisdom, decided to discard Sombra as "The worst thing she's ever created", that part cut a gash in my heart as a writer. I can understand the fans not thinking highly of a character by not reading between the lines and seeing the potential, but his OWN CREATOR?!?! I forgave her for that mistake, but in response, I decided I would write a damn good story that would do justice for the villain with limitless potential! And I wasn't the only one!
Little did I know, that I unconsciously, already, did... You know why?
Well guess what IDW F$%KING DID!
Not only did they give King Sombra some love as a villain in certain plot-important issues of both the My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic Comic Books, but also in the two side series, the Spotlight Comics and the Friends Forever Comics where subtle hints were dropped here and there about returning villains whether it be by tiny details on the panels or by the cover arts on certain versions! I thought about it and wondered if they would ever do something for those villains and give them backstory and make them more understandable as villains.
Lo and behold, "Fiendship Is Magic" comes around for the month of April! Happy Birthday! And the the first one is Sombra's! VERY Happy Birthday! And so I read it and actually get to know more about Sombra...and it looks familiar... In a CREEPY way, Familiar! Here's my description of it!
"It's King Sombra's backstory. It's kind of a sad and tragic one that would lead him down a dark path when he starts out alone, gains a friend, forms a strong bond with overtime while dealing with much grief from both everyday troubles and his imminent destiny to become a monster, and ends up becoming said monster when his friend begins to disappear from him and he meets a dark being that manipulates him into following that destiny, complete with the friend seeing the main character's fate and losing herself to misery as a result."
That...that right there... That scared me... Though there were obvious differences, there were certainly obvious similarities, parallels even! I looked back at Soul Wind's story and shivered at how similar they were. And by this point, I was writing "Flashing Life" while studying at my Vet Tech school! I saw how coincidental this was. While I was writing the story arch where Flash Sentry and King Sombra meet and fight a fated battle, this happens!
Hehehehheheheheheh...... It almost....feels like....fate...?
Then, here comes the big one! The story arch I've been waiting for! The one that I wanted to happen! The story that I thought would never happen! IDW's recent 4-part story arc for the main series comics, "Siege Of The Crystal Empire"! Here's how I describe it!
"Jump ahead 1000 years later, the monster returns for revenge, is stopped by the Magic of Friendship, and has a double fate of either being killed by his own evil intentions being overwhelmed by the powers of good or of him giving into it and sealing away his own evils, turning a new leaf in the process and being granted a second chance at life as a reformed villain-turned-good...."
The parallels... The concepts... The similarities... The contrasts... They balance equally! And...and...AND!!! (Balance) The Reflections Arc... It's Sombra was good but chose to turn bad to save everyone from a horrible disaster... This Sombra... He was bad but chose to turn good to save everyone from a horrible disaster... And his ending was even parallel to "Soul Wind Second Life"... Oh....my.... BAGELS!!!
IDW... What, have you DOOOOOOOOOOOOOONEEEEEEEE?!?!?!?!?
