Dark Horse: A My Little Pony Story

Chorus pushed past all of the partying ponies and tried to make his way back to the garden. He had to confront the unicorn he had danced with earlier. He clamored over the red carpet and slid across the checkered floors before accidentally crashing into a very familiar pony.

"Chorus!" Pinkie Pie beamed. "Twilight said you were gonna be here! Come with me, we need to catch up!"

Chorus looked outside at the forest, then back at Pinkie Pie, trying to decide his next move.

"Okay, Pinkie," he sighed. "Show me the way!"

Pinkie Pie led Chorus away from the garden and towards a long table lined with barstools. She sat down, and so did Chorus. A server pony passed them by, and Pinkie waved him down.

"Two pink lemonades, please," she asked the server pony in her most professional tone of voice.

Shortly after, pink lemonades were delivered in front of them. Pinkie Pie took a big sip of her drink and turned to face Chorus.

"So, Chorus, a little birdie named Twilight Sparkle told me you'd be here tonight. That same birdie told me all about your super spectacular time saving Ponyville. I mean, everypony knows about that, but I want to hear about it from you. How did you save everypony? How did you cast that crazy spell!?"

Chorus contemplated how to explain everything that went down.

"It actually all started with you, Pinkie," Chorus laughed.

"Really?" Pinkie's eyes glowed.

"Yea," Chorus started. "It all started when I went to your house and you slammed the door in my face and forgot my name."

Pinkie gasped.

"Exactly. I knew you wouldn't do that, so I tried to investigate exactly what was going on, and that's when I ran into Ginger Blush and Prose. We uncovered the entire plot to take over Ponyville. A whole lot of stuff went terribly wrong, and I ended up alone in Ponyville. I was basically Ponyville's only hope at that point. I was really lucky that my friends had been encouraging me so much, convincing me that my magic was powerful enough to save everypony. Without them, I might not have had the confidence to even try. I was able to harness powerful magic by weaving it together with my music magic. What really saved us in the end was our collective collaboration. I don't need to tell you about the power of teamwork. I bet you and your friends have saved the world like five times since I last saw you," Chorus finished speaking, slightly out of breath.

"Don't be silly," Pinkie giggled. "It was only like three times."

The two ponies laughed with each other. Chorus's expression became slightly somber as he remembered his current situation.

"Pinkie, can I ask you something? I think I need some advice,"

"Sure!" Pinkie replied.

Chorus searched his brain for a way to ask for helpful advice without revealing what was really going on.

"If... somepony I know is doing some- or has done some... bad things, is there anything I can do about that? Is it truly possible to... fix somepony?" Chorus asked.

Pinkie Pie raised an eyebrow and put her hoof up to her chin.

"Nope," she answered.

"Nope?" Chorus echoed her.

"Nope," she repeated. "You can't fix somepony."

"Really?" Chorus asked, disappointed.

"You can't fix somepony. But you can help anypony. If there's anything I've learned from my adventures with my friends, it's that nopony is beyond help. Everypony has a reason that they do what they do. All you have to do is figure out that reason, and then you can help them. The only way somepony can be 'fixed' is if they want to 'fix' themselves."

Chorus stared and blinked at Pinkie Pie.

"That was incredibly insightful, Pinkie," Chorus commented.

"I know! I'm feeling very insightful today," she smiled.

Chorus laughed. "Thank you, Pinkie. I think I'm going to go use your advice."

"Okey dokey lokey! See you later!" Pinkie shouted after Chorus as he left their table.

Chorus made his way back through the event hall, back towards the garden. He maneuvered back through the garden wandering deeper into the garden until he found the large gangly tree he had visited not long before. He stood at the base of the tree and looked around at the moonlit garden.

"I know you're out there," Chorus called out. "You know, when you said the night would be ending early, you didn't specify that you'd be the cause of it!"

Chorus's shouts were met with an eerie silence.

"Don't pretend you can't hear me!" Chorus shouted.

There was another long pause of silence, broken suddenly by a deep voice echoing from the darkness.

"You know nothing," the voice snarled.

"I think I know enough," Chorus snarkily replied. "King Sombra."

Chorus felt chills all over his body as the bushes near him rustled. Chorus watched as the mysterious unicorn stepped out of the shadows and into the pale moonlight. King Sombra, the King of Monsters stood before him, decked out in his usual steely gray armor. His dark scarlet cape perfectly matched his menacing red horn, which was now clearly apparent in the light.

"So you know who I am now," Sombra pointed out.

"And I know what you've done," Chorus added.

"As I said, you know nothing," Sombra repeated. "I know what you've heard, Chorus."

Chorus shuddered, not knowing how Sombra knew his name.

"I warned you to get out of here, too. And now here you are, doing... whatever it is you're doing. You've doomed yourself."

"No, you've doomed me." Chorus stated. Sombra glared at him as he spoke. "You're the one doing all of this. Why, King Sombra? Why are you doing this? Wasn't taking over an entire empire enough?"

Sombra fumed. "Since when do you ponies care about why? Why do you care about why?"

"I- I just-" Chorus stammered. "I've met you. Sure, it was a brief meeting, but it made me believe there's more to your story. And I might be the only pony alive who's willing to listen, so now's the time for you to tell it."

"Chorus!" Chorus heard a voice call out from behind him.

Twilight Sparkle, Prose, Ginger Blush, and Savoir Fare all appeared behind him, rushing into the garden.

"We've been looking for you," Prose stated. "Where have you-" Prose was stopped mid-sentence as she noticed Chorus's company. Everypony stared in fear and shock at the sight of King Sombra.

"W-what is h-he doing here?" Ginger Blush stuttered.

"You really want to know why, Chorus?" Sombra spoke, ignoring the present company. "I'll show you why."

Dark, shadowy magic burst out of Sombra's horn, flooding the garden and blinding the surrounding ponies. Suddenly, the darkness of the moonlit garden was replaced by a beautiful shining sun.

"Where are we?" Chorus asked.

"When are we?" Twilight asked, noticing their surroundings.