The Return of King Sombra

A Sparkle of Love

After hearing the horrific origins of Professor Screw Loose, Twilight takes some time to wrap her head around what she's learned. Thankfully, Flash Sentry is there to reassure Twilight that everything will be okay and that she will overcome the threat of the Rogue...

Once Twilight, Cadance, and the rest of Mane Six had exited the library, they all stopped walking for a moment and just looked at each other. They were all horrified by what they learned about Professor Screw. Just thinking about what Amethyst Maresbury had described made some of them sick.

"Wow, I was not expecting any of that." Rainbow Dash said.

"How could somepony just kill their parents like that!? It's just so... cruel." Applejack said.

"I for one just don't understand why Professor Screw did that to his parents. Ms. Maresbury said that they were a very loving family." Rarity said.

"Do you think maybe Professor Screw was being abused or mistreated by his parents? I mean, it does happen." Fluttershy said.

"Well, I do see what you mean, Fluttershy. Growing up in a household with abusive parents can have a severe effect on anypony. But even if that were the case, I'm sure Ms. Maresbury would have said something about that." Rarity said.

"Just because Ms. Maresbury didn't see any abuse happening, doesn't mean it didn't happen. A lot of times that kind of abuse goes unnoticed. It's awful but it's true." Fluttershy said.

"Once again, you're absolutely right, darling. However, I don't think that is the case here. Considering that Professor Screw committed these horrible acts on ponies that weren't his parents, it's too cruel to have just been cause by domestic abuse. There has to be more." Rarity said.

"You know what really confuses me? How in the hay is scientific torture or whatever Screw called it, his special talent? I mean, there's no way that anypony's special talent can be doing something bad." Rainbow Dash said.

"And why do you say that, Rainbow Dash?" Cadance asked.

"Well, because that's just not how cutie marks work." Rainbow Dash replied.

"Cutie marks represent the special talent of a pony; what makes them truly special. While most ponies have special talents in what we consider to be good or normal, there are ponies out there whose special talent is something bad. I'm not sure if scientific torture is indeed what Professor Screw's special talent is, but it sure does seem like it." Cadance said.

"What I wanna know is how the Professor went from simple science projects to the dissecting and killing of innocent ponies and even the poor innocent defenseless critters! He really went from zero to a thousand like it was nothing!" Pinkie Pie said.

"From what Ms. Maresbury told us, I believe it was a case of a passion slowly becoming an obsession. For instance, think of the ponies that bully others. They start off small, with simple name calling or teasing. As time goes on, they start to go even further as they begin to enjoy the bullying. Name calling becomes harsh insults, teasing becomes harassment, the occasional push or shove becomes a punch or a beating. For Professor Screw, it started off with simple projects, but something pushed him to look into the darker side of his passion. Whatever it was, caused him to take his experiments further and further until eventually, he became obsessed with going deeper into the rabbit hole he dug himself." Cadance said.

While Cadance was explaining her thoughts on the matter involving Professor Screw and his horrifying origins, Applejack looked over to Twilight. She hadn't said anything since they left the library, and it seemed like she was in deep thought. Deeply concerned for her friend, Applejack walked up to Twilight and tapped her on the shoulder.