#i also rlly like starlight and sunbursts friendship

[iveoy]

some unicorn doodles :) it’s always fun rewatching this show, makes me nostalgic

[bunbun206]

so um hiiii back w more pony nonsense.

so ok cozy runs away and shes just kinda living on the streets or whatever until the whole grogar thing happens.

she immediately starts clinging to tirek because he was her inspiration and whatever, but he does not care. hes def a little impressed someone that young managed to get away with so much but he doesnt really care about her.

and then sombra comes along. and initially she doesnt care much about him but shes very determined to get along with all of the others and since sombra is part of the team she'll give it a shot, even if not a very enthusiastic one. she starts going after him whenever she can and sombra doesnt like her at first, he probably tries to scare her off but she is so persistent and hes already feeling like crap after all that happened so he eventually gives up. he doesnt care anymore.

at first his plan is to just tolerate her but both him and cozy are very surprised when they realize they actually appreciate each other. its just amusement initially but it turns into genuine affection after a while. sombra is actually the first pony she ends up telling anything about her childhood (my headcanon is that cozy came from a really abusive family). sombra sympathizes with her, somehow. he hasnt really had any meaningful relationships in AGES and then this little girl comes along and shes so incredibly fun to be around. he starts to care about her and wants to keep her around. at some point he suggests that once this is all over they could just leave and rule equestria together (starting by the crystal empire of course). shes very excited about that and immediately accepts. its rlly just a found family type of thing.

but obviously things dont go as planned. sombra gets turned into stone and cozy gets taken by twilight. initially i said i liked the idea of cozy being redeemed by first getting sombra to be on their side, but ive actually changed my mind and think it makes a lot more sense if its the other way around. cozy is still a kid so their chances of breaking through her are a lot bigger. she already kinda trusted sunburst so i can see him being the main one involved with reforming her. i imagine the best way for her to change is if she actually starts to form bonds that she values with other people, because her whole motivation is based on misunderstanding the concept of friendship. eventually she'd open up about her past as an abused child and sunburst kinda becomes a mentor for her in a way.

at some point she mentions missing sombra a lot and thats what sets the whole thing off. cozy seems to think that, despite everything, there's still some good left in the guy and gets upset when others mention him in a negative way. she understands he did some really awful things and is one of the most vile villains in equestria but he was one of the first ponies to treat her with kindness and the first one to genuinely connect with her. he was certainly better than her parents.

so starlight starts to insist that it may not be too bad of an idea to bring him back. after all, she also really did some awful things but twilight showed her there was another way and against all odds she improved. and besides, she thinks friendships are worth preserving, and cozy clearly valued her friendship with sombra.

so twilight eventually gives in, even though she is very hesitant. like i've said, i imagine they figure out some spell that basically drains him of his powers and then they bring the guy back.

sombra is confused and very irritated because he no longer has any magic. when starlight explains to him that shes interested in reforming him he laughs in her face because thats a ridiculous idea. but then she explains her reasoning and sombra is shocked. he immediately wants to see cozy, after all its been a long time since they've actually seen each other. they have this emotional little reunion and once theyre left alone hes like "youre not serious about this, are you? youre just manipulating them, as you do."

but shes not and shes very insistent that he should try and listen. she says she doesnt want to lose him again and that really conflicts him. on the one hand, he hates this idea. he doesnt really give a damn about this thing and hes not interested in giving up his plans of taking over equestria. but he does care about cozy and this is clearly important to her. he decides he'll play along until she comes to her senses.

so he spends a lot of time with starlight. hes initially locked in twilight's castle and isnt allowed to get out (after all ponies wouldnt be happy if they heard he was back). theres a magic barrier keeping him from leaving and he cant even try to break it with his own magic because he doesnt have any. but he knows the spell is temporary and decides he can wait until it comes back to him. by then cozy would surely be back to normal.

in the mean time he has to put up with starlight and he hates it. she keeps trying to get him to open up which he finds really annoying. hes absolutely not interested in becoming friends with her or anyone and he tells her this very directly, but she reminds him they can always just turn him back into stone if they think hes not showing any progress and that quickly shuts him up. thats probably the most frustrating part to him, that he has no submit to someone else's orders.

so he eventually gives up. after all, he only has to put up with this thing for a while and then he can do whatever he wants. as long as she thinks he has any hope, it'll all go the way he wants it to. he just has to be patient.

but then he starts actually enjoying his time with her. starlight is kinda cynical and isnt really afraid to speak her mind, which he admires. he doesnt like being at her mercy, but the fact that she can even handle him is definitely worth of some praise. he expected her to immediately give up on him but she doesnt. its inconvenient, but its nice to have someone who he can have engaging conversations with and who is willing to spend time with him. its been a really long time since he did anything like that. he eventually learns about her whole villain thing and is VERY shocked, but it makes him feel closer to her somehow.

and then theres sunburst, who also shows up really often. hes not afraid of sombra in the slightest and instead is very interested in asking him questions. where he was from, how he did what he did, how his powers work. sunburst is very enthusiastic and sombra kinda likes the attention, especially since its so genuine. fun fact, sombra was also a huge magic nerd so he actually kind of enjoys discussing those things with someone. starlight often joins in the conversations and its very fun for all three.

then theres trixie. she has NO reason to be there, shes literally just curious. she shows up often and i imagine she and sombra dont get along at all initially. theyre both the arrogant types so i think having someone who is so bitchy towards him would really get on his nerves. in turn he has no problem snapping back at her so they just end up bickering back and forth everytime theyre together. but it eventually becomes more painful than anything else. trixie may be a little annoying but hes definitely his most enrtertaining visitor. he really enjoys her sense of humor and she has this very nice charm to her. eventually their arguments are more of them teasing each other than anything else. plus i can see them ganging up on the other two very easily. they have a blast together. he wouldnt admit it, but shes his favorite one.

and then theres discord. sombra doesnt like him. kinda like trixie hes really just there out of curiosity and everytime hes there his entire life purpose becomes annoying the shit out of sombra. hes more of a nuisance than anything else but he has his moments. like i said, sombra is a huge magic nerd so theres a part of him that is definitely curious about discord's powers, so hes kinda fascinated with him. and besides, discord really gets along with all his other friends (though he would NOT call them that) so sombra decides he might not be sooo bad. like trixie, discord is also pretty fun and charming, and like starlight he can very easily keep up with sombra. theres some level of relatability between them because theyre both kinda paranormal creatures in one way or the other (i dont wanna get into my sombra headcanons lol) and theyve both seen more than what those around them can understand. i think they start really disliking each other but eventually theyre like "huh. this guy is not so bad." discord is also even more ruthless with him than starlight. he has no problem pointing out to him that he is way more powerful than he'll ever be and if the others cant handle him then he can. if needed, discord isnt gonna hesitate to turn him into stone himself.

so when his powers finally start coming back to him and the magic barrier is wearing off, he cant bring himself to do anything. he doesnt really regret anything hes ever done (not yet, anyway) but he realizes if he does try to take over equestria he'll just be alone again. he talks it over with discord one day, and hes like "yep been there". hes going to really miss all of them, and especially cozy who he thinks about all the time and the whole reason hes there.

and besides. does he really have any chance at winning if they have discord on their side?

he truly just gives up.

Oh a sombra redemption arc 💖. God your ideas are always so *chef kiss*