From the Shadows

Sombra sat quietly in the back room of the bakery as the two argued in front of him. Two others mirrored his stance on the opposite side of the room, staring at him with wide eyes as they sat on their haunches. The cyan Pegasus was screaming into the face of the princess, yet the pink one and the yellow one were staying silent, more out of discomfort than out of not having anything to say.

"I know he's up to something!" yelled the Pegasus.

"He hasn't done anything to raise suspicion Rainbow."

"So you trust him Twilight?!"

"He hasn't done anything to make me think I shouldn't!"

Sombra couldn't help but feel amused by the pattern going on; Twilight seemed reluctant to believe each of her friends, who didn't trust him in the least. It was convenient, but alarming, as he hadn't even done anything to lead them to mistrust him; not yet at least. All the more evidence that hate and fear had taken root in Equestria, and all the more obvious as to why the princesses, in their infinite wisdom, had taken him into the kingdom.

"How do we know he's not behind this whole thing in the first place?!" Dash shouted, fluttering higher up off the ground to gain height over the princes, acquiring a position of dominance, "How do we know he's not the source of that 'dark presence' Celestia was talking about?!"

Sombra remembered that she carried herself much the same the night he was brought to town. She was always above the others in posture, fluttering over their heads or puffing her chest out amidst impositions of strength. She always was boasting her strengths, displaying her dominance; self-assured and confident, but brazen nonetheless.

"We don't! But we have no option but to work with what we do know. Celestia needs us Dash; we can't let her down."

"The princess wanted us to try and convince him to help us find out about dark magic, not make friends with him!"

"Why are you so apprehensive? Are you afraid of him or something?"

The Pegasus froze, descending to the ground so that her glaring magenta eyes were now only a few inches from Twilight's.

"I am not afraid," she growled.

After a few moments, her scowl turned from Twilight to Sombra. He returned the look, but with less malice. Dash suppressed the urge to step back as she looked into his eyes.

He was glaring, but he wasn't angry; he seemed to be mirroring her in the sense of expression. His eyes held a familiar look to her, the look of accepting a challenge.

Her glare softened, but her gaze was not broken, at least, until a vibrant flash of color interrupted the stare down.

"I'll go first!" yelled the mare, throwing her forelimbs into the air excitedly as she took a place before Sombra.

"Pinkie, I haven't even told you what we're here for. When we first showed up, Dash and I started arguing before I could explain anything."

The mare paid no attention to her alicorn companion, and immediately began giving the stallion her life story as had been requested of the other elements prior.

"I was born on a rock farm a really long time ago, and I got my cutie mark the first time I smiled. It was so cool! There was this huge rainbow and all the colors just filled me up and..."

Sombra took a tentative step backwards. To say the mare was hyperactive would be an understatement. Joyous, excited, like a filly, even though she was fully grown by her features.

She grew louder and louder as she transferred from her filly hood into a detailed explanation of her role in town, making the inhabitants smile and spreading joy; the thought alone made Sombra shudder.

"Which reminds me, I haven't welcomed you to Ponyville yet!"

The mare reached behind her, and Sombra realized, and was shocked by, the fact that she was emanating no negative emotion. He still had plenty to use from previous hosts, but he was gaining nothing new from her; no hate, no arrogance, no fear, at least at the moment.

Out of nowhere, as if by magic, an immense howitzer was produced. The mare aimed the cannon at Sombra with one eye closed and her tongue protruding past her lips.

The stallion planted his hoof into the ground defensively, and his horn began to glow blood red.

"Pinkie no!" yelled Twilight and Dash in unison, but they were too late to stop her.

She yanked the string, and a wall of crystal tore through the floorboards violently between Sombra and the cannon's muzzle. The shot was blocked before it came forth from the barrel, killing any chance for Sombra to see that its projectile was in fact a harmless burst of confetti.

The king lowered the barrier, and stepped forward menacingly. The huge smile on Pinkie's face ran, being replaced by an expression of fear.

"You dare attack me?!" he snarled as his pupils were lost in an essence of green, dark magic beginning to emanate through his pores to create a purple haze around his entity.

His fangs bared and his eyes transformed as he became something other than a pony. He became like an animal in rage, a monster. His outline became blurred as he began to grow larger, becoming even more menacing than before somehow. Yet, for how terrifying he was, he gave off subtle magic, making the fear all the more real. This was Sombra; the pony before was lost in his new form, as well as everything associated with him.

Pinkie receded; now Sombra could feel the essence of fear coming from her now, and it was strong. Coupled with that of the yellow Pegasus cowering in the corner, it was the strongest sensation he had ever experienced, its cold, invigorating touch taking root inside him, giving him feeling, something that had become elusive in the past eons.

Sombra towered over the now cowering Pinkie Pie; tears had begun to form in the mare's eyes. Somepony shouted at him from the other side of the room, and he felt a whoosh of wind as Rainbow Dash attempted to tackle him, passing straight through his entity as if he weren't there.

He turned on the Pegasus now, forgetting Pinkie Pie, and advanced on her, baring his teeth as his eyes trailed streams of purple. The tingling of static filled the room, and the crystals in Sombra's wake grew larger as his power began to fill the room, intimidating and striking awe into the hearts of all present.

Rainbow Dash tried to get up, but Sombra, with a telekinetic wave, slammed her back into the floor. The floorboards reverberated with the force of the impact, and the mare heaved as the air was forced from her lungs.

Something else was yelled from the other side of the room, but Sombra heard none of it. He was on a high, blinded by rage and made drunk by the presence of fear and hate in the room.

Shards of crystals shot up from his hooves as he stepped forward, slowly gaining ground on Rainbow Dash, writhing on the ground from having the wind knocked out of her.

The king's horn began to glow red hot as a crimson ring formed around the Pegasus's neck, and Sombra lifted her from the ground as he bared his teeth, glaring; not an amused glare any more. Rage had come forth in provocation. These mares had dared to attack him; they would pay.

The ring constricted around a cyan throat, and Dash began to choke and squirm, suspended in the air, powerless.

"AFRAID YET?!" Sombra bellowed, a deafening roar that caused all within to cower as the ring bore down more, and Dash's face began to turn purple.

Her eyes began to roll back in their sockets, but the king only bore down harder, relishing in the Pegasus's terror of impending death.

She went limp in an instant, and a purple beam shot from the other side of the room, boring a hole through the king's head. The gap was replaced as a dark mist filled the circular hole, and Sombra let his grip release.

Rainbow Dash fell to the floor heavily, collecting in a heap of colorful fur, feathers and limbs. Silence took the room, the energetic hum having died down; only the sound of breathing and the creaking of the floorboards as a few more crystals sprouted through the floor filled the otherwise silent room. The king stood still, and from the opposite side of the room, Twilight began to wonder whether firing a bolt of magic at him was a good idea.

She was panting, her stance ready and her brow set, but the king stood as a statue.

Then, the silence was broken by a growl; a low, rumbling, angry sound that resonated in the ears of those who heard it, and as it grew louder, Sombra, slowly, turned his gaze to face the princess. Fangs bared, brow tense, and stance strong and wide, he stared her down, unharmed.

He stared daggers at her, until the growling evolved into another energetic hum in the air, and Sombra's rage returned in an instant to replicate the power and energy he held moments before sevenfold.

"T-Twilight!" squeaked the mare in the corner as Sombra's rage built to a peak, and the alicorn prepared herself.

Twilight's horn began to glow as she reared back a second time, preparing to plunge forward with all of her might to defend her friends and herself, but the king stopped her before she could.

With a roar like thunder, Sombra displayed his capacity for power.

In an instant, the king's aura, the sound, everything, was drawn towards him in a gush of hot wind. It collected within him, pent up and waiting.

There was silence and stillness for a moment, and even though Fluttershy's mouth was agape in a scream, no sound could be heard.

The energy collected in the king's center, his mouth open in a silent roar, and then suddenly, rushed outward in every direction. The king released a pulse of raw, awesome power within the room, and havoc, as well as a deafening boom, ensued.

Twilight felt herself being lifted from the floor, and when she felt an impact on the back of her head, her vision suddenly turned to blackness.