A Tyrant Uplifted

"Pinkie Pie, I need some help. Rainbow is having me join her for a day of pranks, but I've never pulled one in my life," Sombra said as he was let into the party pony's room, "And this seems to be the easiest way for me to get her trust."

Pinkie smiled at the unicorn, "You need a crash course, huh? Well, you've come to the right mare!"

She grabbed a red bottle... With her tail... That thing is prehensile?!

"This is disappearing ink. one of the best ways to prank anypony who takes a lot of notes is to switch their ink with this."

Sombra nodded slightly, "So the pony this would work best on.. Probably Princess Twilight."

Pinkie nodded, "However, it's been done to Twilight before."

"How about blowing up a milkshake?" Sombra joked.

"That's completely uninspired, my young apprentice," Pinkie responded.

------

The figure approached the town, but went into a concealed area. There, his face contorted in pain as his horn glowed. There was a cracking sound, as it started to twist, and straighten. The red colour faded, and the rest of his colour started to lighten. He suppressed the shadows in his eyes, and his mane turned gold.

"Welcome to Ponyville, Angel Mist," he said to himself. The green eyed unicorn then walked right into town, leaving the cockatrice bound and blindfolded in the bushes.

------

Sombra merely stood in the middle of the road, looking straight up. Pinkie Pie had been there with him, but because she couldn't keep from laughing, she'd gone off to do something else.

"What's up, neighbor?" Lyra said as she approached. She stopped, looking at the stallion. ". . .Sombra?" She waved a hoof over his face, "What's with the statue act?"

The darker unicorn didn't respond. He didn't even take his eyes away from the sky above.

"What're you looking at?" Lyra asked as she also started to look up.

More ponies came across the scene, each trying to determine what the unicorn was staring at.

Finally, when he even had Twilight Sparkle herself trying to find whatever was in the sky, Sombra went back to his normal manner and started walking away without a word.

Lyra followed, "What was that about?"

Sombra snickered, "I could barely keep from laughing that whole time. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie are having me do pranks to get Rainbow to trust me better."

Pinkie Pie stepped out of a haybale, laughing and snorting.

"She was with me until she couldn't stand still," The black stallion said with a smirk.

"I can't help it," Pinkie said, "It was hilarious! I think Twilight's still trying to figure out what's in the sky."

Lyra snickered a bit, but stopped as a white unicorn with a gold mane approached.

"Excuse me," the newcomer asked, "can you direct me t--"

He was interrupted by a gasp from Pinkie, "Omigosh! You're new! Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie! I need to schedule your welcome to Ponyville party. Does tonight sound good? Ican get SugarcubeCorner readyinjustacoupleofhours,y'know.What'syourname?Areyoustayingforlong?Why'reyouhere?Areyouherefor--"

Sombra stuck a hoof into Pinkie's mouth, "Sorry about that. She gets really excited."

"I. . Can see that," the white stallion said, "Can you direct me to a hotel?"

"There are a couple. Nearest one's. . .Just to the east of the town hall, I think," Lyra said.

"Thank you. And by the way, miss Pie. My name is Angel Mist, and tonight would work perfectly for your welcome party. I will be at Sugarcube Corner after I sort out my hotel room," the white unicorn said as he turned to walk away.

"Well, he seemed friendly enough," Sombra said, "I didn't expect anypony to approach me for directions."

Lyra smiled warmly, "It just goes to show how willing the ponies of Equestria are to--"

"HELP!" A filly cried out, running through the town.

"AppleBloom," Sombra looked towards the source of the voice, "Come on!"

The two unicorns ran towards AppleBloom's voice, meeting her in the middle of town.

"What happened, AppleBloom?" Sombra asked, "are you hurt?"

"No, it's Zecora," the filly said, tears in her eyes.

"Lyra, get Twilight," the stallion said. Lyra nodded and started for Twilight's library.

"Now, AppleBloom, calm down," Sombra said, "What happened to Zecora?"