Chapter 1: Death of a Ruler
Lightning Dust rolled to the side, barely avoiding a massive black crystal spike as it ruptured from the roof. Dozens of more sprouted from the walls, the ceiling, even the floor. Lightning Dust whirled, dodged and jumped off of other protruding spikes. Far below on what was left of the floor stood a black unicorn, cackling madly.
“Even you cannot avoid me forever Lightning Dust.” Sombra said.
“Eventually I will swat you out of the sky like the fly you are.”
Lightning ignored him, remaining focused on not becoming a splat on a crystal. Lightning spun through a rapidly shrinking hole before diving towards the mad dictator. Sombra let out a dark laugh before vanishing into smoke. Lightning instantly pulled up, dodging the now expected shards of black crystal.
Only to run into a black cloud. Dark tendrils of smoke wrapped around her barrel and whipped her into one of the remaining pillars. Lightning let out a grunt as she slammed into crystal. The black smoky tentacles wrapped around her, threatening to crush her. Some of the smoke formed to reveal Sombra’s leering face.
“Now you die.” Lightning’s vision began to blacken as precious air was choked out of her lungs.
“Oh, there you are Pebble.”
Only one word could have described Sombras face. Priceless.
The tentacles released Lightning as Sombra teleported away. A second later a thirteen-hundred-pound marble boulder smashed into the floor he had been occupying. A massive chain connected to the boulder heaved, and the glass ball was flung into the air, smashing dozens of black crystals to pieces.
Lightning looked up from where she had fallen to see a grey earth pony mare whirling her chain and Pebble, impervious to the rain of crystals.
“I’m so sorry I took so long,” Marble Pie said quietly, “Sombra did a good job hiding Pebble, luckily we’ve played enough hide and seek that I can always find her no matter what.”
Lightning looked away from Marble, her eyes searching for Sombra.
“Did you see the others?”
Marble opened her mouth, then tackled Lightning Dust to the ground as a black cloud flew over them. The two got up as the cloud turned for another pass. Marble jerked her chain, sending Pebble flying at the black mass. The cloud dispersed, rolling over the large marble. Sombra shot down the chain towards Marble, his body turning from shadow to flesh as his horn lit up. At this point he was too close to Marble to miss.
Lightning Dust flapped her wings once and exploded forwards, moving faster than the mad king could register. She slammed into him, raking her steel hoof claws against his red horn. Sombra shrieked in pain as they crashed into the wall. Sombra recovered first and bucked Lightning off of him. Lightning Dust looked up to see Marble jump towards Sombra, whirling Pebble.
Sombra once again burst into smoke before the weapon could touch him. He flew upwards, making sure to keep out of the range of Marbles massive weapon.
Marble swung her chain in a circle above her head before launching it towards the floating unicorn. As Pebble shot forwards, Marble yanked the chain back. Instead of flying backwards however, Pebble detached from the chain and continued forwards towards Sombra.
This time the glass boulder hit Sombra, crushing him into the ceiling. Sombra still managed to turn to smoke before being smashed into the roof. When he reformed Lightning and Marble could see that his chest plate was severely dented.
Sombra let out a snarl as Pebble smashed into the base of a massive black crystal behind him. Before the crystal or boulder could fall Sombra grabbed them both with his magic and hurled them at the earth pony.
By this point Lightning had recovered from her fall and was flying straight towards Sombra. A second after he had thrown his projectiles Lightning was by his side, her hoof claws slashing at his barrel. She gouged straight through the armor and placed all her hooves on his him, allowing her to jump away before he could react.
It wasn’t fast enough. A black bolt hit Lightning, sending her careening into a nearby pillar.
Marble whipped her chain, looping it around the black crystal. She sidestepped and pulled the chain taught, causing it to tighten around the crystal. Marble swung her new weapon as Pebble smashed into the ground mere inches away from her.
Sombra looked away from Lightning Dust to see the crystal he had just thrown coming straight back at him. Instead of turning to smoke, Sombras horn lit up and a black beam struck the crystal. The crystal cracked for a second, then exploded into millions of tiny black shards.
Sombra caught each one of them in his magic.
Marble’s eyes widened as a hail of crystals rained down and dove behind Pebble. Lightning Dust was too stunned from her crash and subsequent fall to comprehend the impending doom, and failed to take cover.
An earth pony armored head to tail jumped from behind a pile of rubble and interposed herself between Lightning Dust and the black crystal rain. The shards bounced off the armor harmlessly, collecting in a pile below the pony.
The hail ended as Lightning recovered. She looked up to see the armored pony crouch down and jump, leaving a small crater behind her. The armored pony moved so fast that she practically teleported in front of Sombra, her hooves pulled back to strike at his horn.
The mad king jerked back, avoiding the blow by centimeters. His horn lit up and a black beam spat out, smacking into the armored mare. The mare flew back towards the ground, her limbs flailing wildly. Lightning shot forwards intent on arresting her ally’s fall.
Before Lightning could catch her, the mare stopped, hovering in midair for a second before shooting upwards as if flung by a trebuchet.
“Huh?” Was all Lightning could say as she watched the mare hurtle towards the ceiling before stopping and being flung back as she had with the ground. It was like there was some kind of invisible, stretchy barrier she was running into that was keeping her away from the two surfaces.
Sombra didn’t let Lightning waste time gaping at the spectacle. He swooped in as a smoke cloud and picked her right off the ground. Black tendrils wound their way around the Pegasus, once again threatening to crush the life out of her.
A chain wrapped around her hind legs and Lightning found herself yanked out of the cloud by Marble. The grey earth pony gave a slight tug on the chain, releasing Lightning in midair. Lightning caught herself and turned to see Sombra bearing down on Marble, dozens of magical beams firing towards her.
Marble twirled the chain in front of her, intercepting every blast. The chain moved like a living being, flowing from one point to another as water. Sombra let out a snarl of frustration as his attack failed to leave a mark on his opponenet.
“You may be fast with that chain, but even you can’t hold me back.”
Dozens of tendrils burst from the cloud, combining with the beam attacks. Marble was quickly pushed back up against Pebble, struggling to keep up with the relentless assault. Lightning tried to fly in, but was quickly stopped as several crystals burst out of the nearby wall, cutting her off from the two.
Sombra appeared in front of Marble, throwing a crystal. The crystal caught the end of the chain and pinned it to the floor. Sombra grinned at the small victory, only to have the rest of the chain loop itself around his head. He instantly turned to smoke before the chain could pull taught. He moved to finish marble off, but the mare had already jumped.
Marble flew upwards, twisted and grabbed the hook that attached her chain to Pebble. The second her hooves touched the hook the boulder lit up with hundreds of rune markings. Marble heaved, ripping Pebble out from the crater she had made. Marble twisted in midair, bringing the boulder crashing down on Sombras smoky form.
The cloud moved to get out from under the hurtling boulder, but was too slow. Instead of passing through the smoke, the boulder crashed into it, smashing it apart like glass. Sombra let out a roar of pain and reformed a few feet away. His armor was battered and his coat was covered in lacerations. He let out a cough, and blood splattered the crystal floor.
“You’ll pay for that.”
A beam faster than light slammed into Marble, throwing her through a pillar and into the wall behind it. Sombra leaned on a nearby crystal, gasping for breath. He clutched his side and winced before lighting up his horn. Slowly the cuts and bruises faded away. Sombra let out a relieved sigh and looked up to see the armored mare hurtling towards him.
The invisible barrier once again caught her and flung her towards a pillar. Like with the floor and ceiling, the armored mare halted less than five feet in front of the column before being thrown backwards. Instead of being thrown to the floor, the armored mare sailed across the room towards the opposite wall.
Sombra grinned and let out an evil laugh as he turned to smoke and took to the air.
“Let’s play a little game. Ever heard of Tennis?”
The armored mare flew back from the wall towards Sombra, who nailed her with a beam of magic. She was thrown back to the wall. Once more the invisible force field threw her back towards Sombra, who used his magic to slam her towards the ground.
Sombra continued to play ping pong with the hapless earth pony, throwing her around the room like a rubber ball. Despite how hard or how numerous he hit her however, Sombra was unable to break the armor.
“It doesn’t matter how long it takes.” Sombra growled, “I can do this all day.”
In response the mare twisted, dodging Sombras blast. She spun around and whipped her tail towards him. Wires suddenly wrapped around his torso, hooves, and horn. Before the tyrant could comprehend what had happened he found himself being dragged across the sky behind the armored mare.
The two approached a wall, which pushed the armored mare away. King Sombra was not so lucky. He smashed into the wall and before he could collect his senses he was yanked out of his newly formed personal crater and carried across the room once more.
Sombra tried to turn to smoke, but the wires around him lit up with runes similar to the ones on Pebble, burning away any part of him that turned to smoke. He let out a screech of pain as he was brought down on another crystal surface. Sombra lit his horn, trying desperately to extract himself from the armored foe. Every blast of magic washed off her armor as if it was no more than wind.
Another pillar rushed towards them as Sombra cast another spell on the armored mare. The mare turned to whip Sombra into the pillar.
And smashed into the crystal column.
The wires around Sombra loosened, releasing him. He flew a few feet before turning to smoke. He quickly landed and reformed. He gasped for air, his lungs burning from exertion. He turned to look at the armored mare…
And found her charging straight towards him.
A black beam shot from his horn towards the mare, who made no move to avoid it. The beam struck her chest center, creating a patch of ice that grew to cover her entire body.
The mare continued running, heedless of the encroaching ice that grew to encapsulate her. The ice covered her head quickly, but failed to slow her down. It made its way down her legs, slowed by the movement of the limbs that broke it apart.
Ten feet from Sombra the mare’s legs began to slow. Immediately the ices surged forth, covering her legs and halting her progress. Less than five feet away she stopped, covered in ice.
Sombra grinned at the frozen mare, then blinked.
The wires that had wrapped themselves around him seconds earlier hovered inches from his face, all covered in thin sheets of ice. Sombra walked around the mare, following the metal tendrils. As he walked he lit his horn again and the burns he had received from said wires began to fade away. By the time he had reached the rear end of the mare they had disappeared completely.
“How interesting.” Sombra said with slight awe. The pony’s tail hairs had all been replaced with the metal wires.
“Fascinating,” He breathed, “such ingenuity. you shall make a fine trophy to my collection.”
A small breeze stirred behind him. In the blink of an eye Sombra twisted around, turned to smoke and whipped out a black tendril of smoke. The tentacle slammed into the diving Lightning Dust and smashed her into the floor.
“You fool!” he snarled, “I am a king! You are nothing more than a bug to be squashed beneath my hoof.” He approached Lightning Dusts motionless form, preparing to finish her off.
Lightning didn’t give him the chance. Her clawed hoof shot towards Sombras horn, intent on slicing it of his head. The blades passed through smoke instead. Lightning grinned. She twisted, bringing her wings forward. Electricity surged forward to the tips of her primaries before leaping out into the smoke cloud. The lightning assaulted the smoke, burning it away. Sombra let out a scream and turned into his pony self. He quickly cast a shield that managed to stay the lightning.
As suddenly as it had started the barrage ended, revealing a smoking Lightning Dust. Her green fur and golden hair were singed, and she heaved for breath.
Lightning shot out from Sombras horn and blasted the Pegasus, lifting her off the ground and flinging her into a nearby black crystal.
“I’ll make you suffer!” Sombra roared as he charged towards Lightning Dust, who was struggling to stand. Sombra slammed into her, driving her back into the dark crystal. Lightning Dust let out a grunt and collapsed. She turned to look up at the King to see his newest wounds already healing.
“So not fair.” She mumbled. Sombra let out a snort and raised his hoofs. He stomped on her barrel, driving the air from her lungs. Lightning Dust let out a gasp for air. Sombra stomped on her again, this time Lightning coughed up blood.
A nearby growth of crystals evaporated in a column of fire. A Grey Pegasus mare flew out from the burnt wreckage, carrying a unicorn in each front hoof. The two unicorns let go and dropped to the floor.
“You’re going to pay for throwing Trixie down a hole!” The one on the left said. A purple cloak dotted with stars covered her light blue fur, while a similarly styled wizard hat sat on her even lighter blue hair.
“I have to agree.” Said the mare on the right, “getting thrown into a bottomless hole is just wrong.” Golden plate and mail covered her bright amber fur while her head remained bare, showing off her yellow and red hair.
The grey Pegasus landed between them. One eye locked onto Sombra while the other wandered, as if examining the carnage that used to be the throne room.
“Impossible!” Sombra roared, “there was no way you lot could have escaped that pit!”
“Well you know how much we like to disappoint you Sombra.” The mare on the right said before turning to the Pegasus.
“What’s the plan Derpy?”
“Trixie, you distract Sombra. Sunset and I will work on helping the others.” Derpy said.
“Yes! Revenge is Trixie’s” Trixie cackled, rubbing her hooves together. She turned back to Sombra, “Hey Sombra, want to see a magic trick?” Without waiting for a response, she twirled her cape, disappearing into thin air.
Sombra blinked in surprise, then a beam hit his side, throwing him once more across the room. He turned to smoke before hitting the ground and hovered in the air.
“Pretty cool, huh?”
Sombra turned to see Trixie leaning on her hind legs against a crystal, front hooves crossed over her chest. He let out a roar and cast dozens of projectiles upon the magician. Without looking up Trixie raised her hoof and threw a pouch onto the ground, which broke into a grey smoky cloud.
“Now I know what it looks like. Trixie! You’re stealing my act! Let Trixie assure you that she does not steal acts. Nor would she even want to turn into a cloud of black smoke.”
Sombra spun around to find Trixie standing directly behind him. He lashed out, but the unicorn ducked and threw another smoke bomb.
“Nice cape.”
Sombra once again twisted to find Trixie several feet away. In her hooves was Sombras cape. Sombra looked at his back to verify that his cape had indeed vanished from his shoulders.
“Is this alpaca? It feels so warm.”
Sombra replied with a telekinetic blast, which Trixie avoided easily.
“Eh, not really me. Besides I already have a cape. Sunset might like it though.”
Sombra rushed the mare. Trixie held the cape up, showing the red side. At the last second, she whipped the cape around her and vanished into thin air once more. Sombra plowed through where she had been standing and crashed into the ground.
Sombra looked up from where he had crashed to see Trixie standing a few feet away, still holding the cape. She looked at him with disinterest as he got up.
“Toro, Toro.” She said unenthusiastically, as if bored. She flapped the cape a few times at him before letting out a yawn.
Sombra snarled in response and stomped a hoof. Black crystals shot up from underneath Trixie and latched onto her. Trixie yelped in surprise and dropped Sombras cape.
The dark unicorn sauntered over and plucked his cape off the ground as Trixie strained to escape the crystals.
“Sunset! You free Dead Mare. I’ll get Lightning Dust.” Derpy commanded as she dove towards Lightnings unmoving form, not bothering to check to make sure Sunset had heard her or not.
Derpy landed right in front of Lightning Dust. The fallen mare was clearly unconscious, but not dead. Her chest rose and fell erratically, and her armor was marred with several large dents.
Derpy frowned. She had treated many cuts, scrapes and wounds on the battlefield, but broken bones were beyond her. She turned to see that Sunset Shimmer had already freed the Dead Mare and the two were walking towards her.
“I think her ribs are broken. Where’s our doctor?” Derpy asked.
The Dead Mare lifted a hoof and pointed towards a column with a hole in its middle.
“okay.” Derpy said, “let’s go get her. Sunset, bring Lightning Dust.”
The unicorn nodded and carefully lifted Lightning up with her magic. The trio quickly made their way across the destroyed throne room. Derpy flew to the crystal column with the hole in it, looking to see where Marble had landed. A groan emanated from a nearby pile of rubble.
“Marble? Is that you?”
Another groan.
Derpy alighted on the pile and began to dig through the crystals. Hoof steps caused her to look up and see Sunset and Dead Mare approaching. Dead Mare strode forwards, her tail wires reaching out. Derpy quickly took flight as dozens of wires wrapped around miscellaneous crystals and flung them off the pile. A few seconds later Marble was revealed, shaking dust off her mane.
“Marble, get up.” Derpy ordered, “Lightning needs your help, I think her ribs are broken.”
“Oh my.” The diminutive earth pony said, “I’ll go get Pebble.” She bounded out of the rubble towards her oversized marble, which rested in its own made crater. The others followed close behind, with Sunset still holding Lightning Dust.
Marble reached Pebble and rolled it out of the crater and oriented it so that the hooked end pointed straight up. Marble pressed her hoof to a particular spot and a rune lit up. Small holes appeared on the bottom part of the sphere and spikes shot out, burying themselves into the crystal floor. Marble walked around Pebble and pressed another rune. The Marble split horizontally, unhinging itself while remaining connected to its bottom half. The top end flipped over and the hook on the top stabbed itself into the crystal floor, ensuring it wouldn’t move.
“Put her over there.” Marble said as she leapt onto one half of the now split marble. Sunset obeyed without comment. Lightning was carefully lowered onto the other half of the marble table and released from Sunsets magic.
Marble swept a hoof over the smooth marble surface, bringing dozens more runes to light. She tapped a few runes in succession and a translucent form of Lightning Dust appeared in front of her. Marble studied the holographic projection for a few seconds before giving a diagnosis.
“Four broken ribs and a punctured blood vessel.” She stated.
“How long before you can get her back on her hooves?” Derpy asked bluntly.
“Thirty minutes.”
“That’s too long.”
Marble huffed and rolled her eyes, “I could do it the normal way and have her recovered in a few days.”
“I don’t need her fully recovered, I need her fighting. And fast.”
Marble sighed, “I’ll see what I can do, but I’m going to need Sunsets help.”
“Fine,” Derpy said, “Dead Mare, let’s go.”
The two took off towards the sound of wanton destruction as Sunset and Marble attended to Lightning’s injuries.
Derpy and Dead Mare rounded a pillar to see Sombra surrounded by dozens of Trixies, all shooting kinetic blasts. Sombra let out a roar.
“ENOUGH!!”
He rose into the air, his shadowy form nearly doubling in size. His horn lit up and the ground below him cracked and crumbled. The horde of Trixies exploded into glass.
“Whew! Good thing none of those were me!” Derpy looked up to see Trixie standing vertically on a pillar, wiping imaginary sweat off her brow. Sombra’s eye twitched and the crystal beneath Trixies hooves exploded, throwing her to the ground. The magician twirled in midair and released a flock of doves that halted her ascent before disappearing inside her cape.
“TA-DA!” Trixie shouted. Sombra blasted her, only for the unicorn to once again shatter into glass.
“That was rude!” Trixie said, “you didn’t even let Trixie bow!”
Sombra looked around to find Trixie and spotted the two other mares. Derpy shot up as a kinetic blast lanced towards her and readied her lance. The Dead Mare whipped her tail, picking up debris and hurling it at high speeds to intercept Sombras attacks.
Smoke tendrils leapt out of the black cloud and shot towards the Dead Mare, who continued to remain unmoving. Her tail glowed blue as its wires met the black tentacles. The Dead Mare’s wires sliced straight through Sombras tentacles, while Sombra wrapped his magic around as many wires as he could manage.
Derpy dove towards the backside of the Sombra, lance poised to strike. Without even turning his head Sombra grabbed the pegasus with his magic and threw her into the ceiling.
Derpy recovered quickly and caught herself. She resumed the attack once more, this time aiming at his side. As she approached Sombra a magical aura covered her. Derpy flinched for a second before realizing that she hadn’t been thrown back.
Sombra failed to sense her this time, allowing Derpy to run her lance through his side. The lance went straight through Sombra, who then exploded into thousands of glass shards. Derpy jerked back in surprise. Smoke wrapped around her a second later and flung her into the ground.
Derpy groaned and rolled onto her hooves. The blow had stunned her, but the armor had protected her from getting pasted into the floor. She looked up to see Sombra hurling a chunk of crystal the size of a house at her.
Trixie suddenly appeared at her side and whipped her cape around them both. Derpy found herself opening her eyes and standing behind a black crystal stalagmite. Trixie was a few feet away, watching Sombra continue to engage with the Dead Mare.
“It took you long enough!” Trixie hissed, “what were you doing over there? Throwing a Lou-au?”
“I thought you could handle it!” Derpy snapped.
“I was handling it finely until he started copying me!”
“I noticed.”
The crystal they were hiding behind was ripped out of the ground and thrown at the Dead Mare. She turned and punched the massive crystal. The blow caused the rock to explode violently, spewing shards of crystal-like shrapnel. Trixie waved a hoof and the shards hurtling towards her and Derpy turned to feathers.
“We need to hit him hard enough that his regeneration can’t kick in.” Trixie shouted. Derpy didn’t get the chance to
respond as Sombras magic lifted the magician in a stranglehold. Two boulder size crystals were lifted as well. Sombra grunted and hurled the two at Trixie, who was unable to move in his grip. The boulders smashed into Trixie and each other. Sombra grinned and puled the two crystals back, letting glass shards fall to the ground.
Sombras face turned furious.
“Where are you magician? These illusions will not hide you forever.”
“How about this illusion?”
Trixie appeared a few feet away, smiling. Above her hovered a massive sphere of blue crackling energy, which she hurled at Sombra without hesitation.
Sombra didn’t bother to figure out if the attack was real or not, he dove down as the sphere of destruction approached.
And winked out of existence.
Before Sombra could realize the attack was an illusion all-too familiar wires wrapped around his smoke cloud. The tiny runes on the wires lit up again, vaporizing parts of the black cloud.
Sombra screamed as the Dead Mare dragged him down to her. He writhed in her bonds, unable to escape. Then he touched the floor and melted into the crystal.
The three ponies stared at the spot Sombra had melted into with shocked surprise.
“Did we kill him?” Trixie asked.
A familiar laughter echoed throughout the throne room.
“Fools, you think you can triumph? We are at the throne of my power, let me show you what I can do!”
Every black crystal that Sombra had created during the fight exploded into some creature or another. Pegasi, dragons, changelings, griffons and other unknown winged creatures filled the air, while earth ponies, unicorns, yaks, buffalo, zebras, minotaurs, diamond dogs and more unknowns covered the floor. In less than three seconds the trio was completely and utterly surrounded.
“Buck.” Derpy spat.
The horde charged. The Dead Mare’s tail flicked. Everything within a ten-foot radius crumbled to dust in seconds, torn apart by the blue wires. Slowly the radius decreased as more and more crystal construct pushed in.
“We’re not gonna make it!” Trixie called out.
Then the temperature dropped. Noticeably.
Trixie was just fast enough to cast a shield around the party, as the next second a sea of fire rolled over everything. It slammed into Trixies barrier and washed over it.
Derpy, Trixie and Dead Mare had never seen crystal melt. It would have been more fascinating and less nauseating had the crystals themselves not looked like living beings.
The crystal constructs melted into nothing as the fire lessened. In a few minutes the fire had come and gone, incinerating every single construct. The throne room had gone from a warzone to melted slag.
Trixie dropped the shield, gaping at the destruction.
“You girls okay?”
The trio turned to see Sunset, Lightning and Marble running over. Pebble had been returned to her sphere shape and reconnected to the chain. She was dragged behind Marble, rolling over the newly rearranged terrain.
“We’re all fine.” Derpy said, “A little heads up next time would be nice.”
“Sorry, barely had enough time to react.”
“Just be more careful.” Derpy turned to Lightning Dust, “You ok?”
“I can fight for now.” Lightning replied, “that’s all that matters.”
“Let’s hope so.” Sunset said as she looked over at the Sombras throne. It was the only thing undamaged in the entire room. Smoke coalesced around it, revealing king Sombra.
“Impressive.”’ He stated, “most impressive indeed.”
Derpy ignored him, “any ideas?”
“I have one.” Trixie said with confidence.
Derpy raised an eyebrow at Trixie’s use of first person before replying.
“Good enough for me. What do we do?”
“Get him to raise a bubble shield, the rest will come later.”
“Got it.”
The six mares charged the mad king, who gave them an amused smile from where he sat.
“I tire of your annoyances, and your struggles no longer amuse me.”
They didn’t give him a response. Marble jumped into the air and pulled her chain, swinging Pebble overhead.
Sombra teleported away as the marble smashed his throne to bits.
“That was my favorite throne.” He growled. Black crystal spikes burst from the ground in front of him in a wave.
“That was your only chair.” Sunset said as she cleaved the crystal wave in two with a sword of fire. Dead Mare leaped over Sunset and divebombed at Sombra.
Sombra turned to smoke and flew upwards as Dead Mare cratered into the floor. She whipped her tail once more, only for Sombra to teleport away.
He reappeared higher up, still in smoke cloud. Derpy flew in and flapped her wings once, creating a small whirlwind. The whirlwind struck the cloud, dispersing it. Sombra growled and retreated from the mini tornado. He flew even higher and reformed.
Lightning Dust swooped in, shooting her namesake from her primaries once more. Sombra shot his own lightning at the attack. The two bolts connected in an explosion. Lightning strained, forcing the connection towards Sombra. Before the lightning could touch he cast a bubble shield, blocking the attack.
“Now!” Trixie yelled.
Sunsets horn lit up and a teal sphere of magic encompassed Sombras black one. Trixies horn lit as well and a third sphere of magic formed.
“Pull him down now!” Trixie said. The two unicorns grunted in exertion as they dragged Sombra towards the floor. The dark king strained against their magic, but still he was pulled downwards. Derpy and Lightning joined in, pushing the orb to the ground.
Marble unhooked her chain and cast it at the bubble, wrapping it around several times. She heaved and Sombra was pulled a few feet down. Dead Mare whipped her tail, extending her wires so they wrapped around the barrier as well. Sombra was jerked a few more feet down wards.
Sombra let out a laugh.
“Fools! Can you not understand? This very room empowers me! My mere presence here grants me unlimited power!”
His cape vibrated for a second before turning into Trixie, who hopped off his back before taking off her hat and bowing. Sombra stared at her, his eyes narrowing into slits.
“If you think you can deceive me with that illusion, then you are a fool.”
The Trixie in the bubble didn’t respond, but instead leaped forward. Sombra failed to react in time, not perceiving her as a true threat.
He was very surprised when her horn pierced his neck. He gasped, losing his concentration. The other five brought him to the ground quickly. Trixie removed her horn from Sombras neck and jumped away. She magicked the blood off her horn and joined Sunset.
“Did you get him?” Lightning asked as she and Derpy landed down.
Trixie grinned evilly, “In a way.”
Sombra groaned and got up, the gaping hole in his neck sealing itself shut.
“That’s just plain wrong.” Lightning complained.
“Was this your plan?” Sombra asked, “Celestia herself could not best me, you lot will fare no better.”
Trixie lit her horn, shooting a beam at Sombras feet. He looked down to see himself standing in the middle of a large circle with rune markings both inside and out.
“What is this?”
“Something I made specially for you.” Trixie answered, “it stops you from turning to smoke. Very handy.”
Sombras eyes narrowed, the widened a second later when he realized that he had failed to turn to smoke. Then he grinned. He raised his hooves to strike at the runes.
“Don’t let him damage the glyphs! I’ll make sure he can’t teleport out.” Sunset shouted. A magic bubble encompassed the circle, making it impossible for Sombra to teleport out. Dead Mare, Marble, Lightning Dust and Derpy charged Sombra on all sides.
Dead Mare got to him first, grabbing him and lifting him up before he could slam his hooves into the ground. Dead Mare chucked him upwards where Lightning Dust blasted him with her lightning. Sombra caught himself in his magic and avoided the lightning by teleporting to the ground.
Marble whipped her chain, wrapping it around his neck. She yanked the chain, whipping Sombra straight up where Derpy was waiting for him. She stabbed with her lance, but Sombra jerked out of the way and teleported to the ground again. Wires wrapped around his hooves and he found himself unable to melt into the floor.
“You are a fast learner.” He commented before grabbing the wires. Dead Mare was yanked off the ground tail end first and thrown into Derpy. Sombra continued to swing Dead Mare around the room, knocking her into Lightning Dust and Marble. The wires released him, cutting as they whipped back.
The two earth ponies and two pegasi were flung out of the circle. Sombra grinned and walked over to the edge of the circle.
Trixie appeared in front of him and fired a telekinetic blast. Sombra dodged and fired his own shot, shattering the illusion. Another kinetic blast hit him from behind, and he turned to see another Trixie.
“I see,” he said, “clever, very clever.”
Dozens of Trixies appeared, all firing kinetic blasts. Some of the shots smacked into Sombra while others phased through him. Sombra blocked all the shots as he scanned the ever-increasing crowd of Trixies. Sombra fired a single blast at one of the Trixies. The shot slammed into her, picking her up and throwing her into a pillar.
“You are a true magician.” He said. He turned to leave the circle.
A sword of fire sliced him in half horizontally. Sombra looked down at the separation, then up at Sunset Shimmer. She hurled a ball of fire at him. It struck in a massive explosion. When the smoke cleared Sombra stood there unharmed, connected with his bottom half.
Sunset conjured blades of ice, only for Sombra to teleport out of the circle. He appeared a few feet behind Sunset and blasted her, knocking her unconscious.
“You have power.” He said, “but no skill.”
A hoof stomped the ground behind him. Sombra turned to see the Dead Mare. In the blink of an eye she leaped towards him, moving faster than he could think. In the span of a second, she had moved pass him.
Sombra didn’t feel any different. He didn’t even feel any pain. He looked down at himself to see where she had hit, only to see no marks. He frowned at the lack of damage, thinking it had been one of Trixies illusions.
Then his body fell apart. Everything below his neck separated into thousands of pieces, collapsing into a pile of flesh. His head fell to the floor, still intact. Dead mare walked up to the pile, flicking her tail free of blood.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.” Lightning Dust said as she and Derpy flew in. Marble, Sunset and Trixie limped over a few seconds later to examine Sombras remains.
“Is he…?” Sunset asked.
“Looks like it.” Marble said.
“I believe the expression is, ‘he dead’.” Lightning said, exaggerating the last two words.
Then the pile melted into the floor, head included.
“ARE YOU BUCKING KIDDING ME!” Lightning Dust screamed, “I GET MY CHEST CAVED IN, WHICH WILL TAKE DAYS TO HEAL! HIS BODY GETS SLICED INTO A BILLION BITS AND HE’S FINE SECONDS LATER! WHAT THE BUCK!”
Silence.
“There does appear to be a slight difference in our healing rate and his.” Sunset said.
Everyone else face hoofed.
“I think it’s the crystals.” Sunset continued, “Every time he healed he was touching the ground. Next time we kill him we need to make sure he doesn’t touch the ground. Or any surface in this room for that matter.”
“That’s all well and good.” Derpy said, “but we can’t kill him if he’s not here, so, where is he?”
They were given an answer when Sombra appeared before them, cackling like a mad mare.
“Don’t you see? Your struggles are futile. You cannot defeat me. You may kill me again and again, but I will always come back. I cannot say the same for you.”
Derpy looked at the others. Trixie and Sunset were haggard, having exhausted themselves more quickly than the others. Lightning Dust could barely keep her wings flapping, looking like she might drop at any second. Marble looked fine for the most part, her insane earth pony strength aiding her endurance. Dead Mare looked no different, and Derpy figured she could go another dozen rounds before slowing.
Derpy shook her head and focused on Sombra.
“Doesn’t matter. We will find a way.”
“Good luck.”
The black crystal floor turned into a goopy liquid, trapping the unicorns and earth ponies. Derpy and Lightning flew in, trying to pull them out of the sticky substance. The black goop crawled up the ponies, covering them.
Derpy strained to pull Dead Mare to no avail. The goo continued to travel up the mare’s body. At the last second Dead Mare jerked back, breaking Derpy’s hold. The goo encompassed her completely, dragging her down into the floor.
Lightning wasn’t so lucky. She failed to release her hold on Marble in time and the goo reached her, pulling her down. Derpy watched in helplessness as Lightning Dust was dragged down under. Lightning looked at her with fear.
“Behind you!”
Derpy darted up as a kinetic beam shot underneath her. She turned to see Sombra riding a flat crystal over the goo, firing more magic beams at her. Derpy continued to fly upwards, avoiding beams with ease.
“They say Lightning is as fast as Rainbow Dash herself.” Sombra said, “but every pony knows that you are the agile one. I even heard it once said that you flew through a hurricane and came out the other side without getting wet once.”
Thousands of drops of black goo rained upwards from the floor. Derpy didn’t hesitate, she tucked her wings in and dove at gravity defying black rain. At the last second, she closed her eyes. She flipped in midair as if stumbling, only to enter the rain without a single drop touching her. She rolled and tumbled and jerked in the air as if tossed about by a wind current. Even the most experienced flyers would have thought her to be out of control, and they would have been absolutely correct.
Yet when the rain ended Derpy was untouched. She opened her eyes to absolute darkness. The goo covered the crystal’s natural light, turning the room pitch black.
“Stunning.” Sombra’s voice was barely a whisper, echoing through the darkness.
“Absolutely stunning. The others have their own abilities and powers, but it all hardly compares to your skill and grace.”
Silence, Then.
“Such a pity.”
Derpy jerked to the side as a black beam flew past.
“So, you can see in the dark.”
Derpy turned to the voice, one of her eyes glowing with a soft gold color.
“You may be able to see in the dark, but can you fly forever?”
A black tentacle of goo shot out from a nearby pillar towards Derpy who managed to fly out of the way. More tentacles formed and angled to capture the Pegasus, who continued to evade. Slowly Derpy made her way to Sombra.
Sombra didn’t move, never taking his eyes off of Derpy. She continued to get closer despite the goo’s attempt.
“Dodge this if you can!” Sombra yelled. Suddenly the goo surged forth, creating a massive moving wall that encompassed everything. The wall rolled forwards, leaving no space to hide behind.
Derpy stopped short and pulled back her wings as far as the could go. She flapped her wings once, and a small tornado formed in front of her and sailed to the moving wall. Derpy quickly deposited herself in the middle of the twister before it hit the wall. The two forces collided, with the whirlwind tearing the goo apart and flinging it away. Derpy emerged on the other side unscathed.
Or so she though. A crawling sensation on her hind hoof caused her to turn and see a small speck of goo on the edge of her hoof. Already it was growing, and in a minute, it would cocoon her.
She turned and dove towards Sombra, who fired a beam of magic. Derpy’s lance glowed blue with runes as she batted the beam back into Sombras face. The bolt blew him off his crystal and into the air, where he caught himself in a shield ball. Derpy reached him, slashing the magic apart with her lance. She twirled as she passed by, her wing blades slicing his throat open.
Sombra gasped and instinctively teleported a few feet away, appearing next to a pillar. He reached out to-
Derpy’s lance speared through his head, sprouted out the other side and buried itself into the pillar behind him. The lance glowed brightly, destroying Sombra’s magic.
The goo finished covering Derpy. She didn’t see if she had hit Sombra, but the screams were enough confirmation. The goo sealed over her eyes, and darkness enveloped her.
Sombra screamed as he flailed wildly, his magic being destroyed by the infernal lance. He strained to touch the nearby crystal pillar. If he could only touch it. But it was too far. The lance had come from a downward angle, and gravity pulled him against the lances base.
The lance prevented him from teleporting away or turning to smoke, cutting off his only ways to escape.
“So be it.” Sombra said softly before closing his eyes and lighting his horn for the last time.
The dark king screamed.
Then was no more.
Author's Note
If you are confused about anything please ask. There was so much I wanted to go over in this battle, but felt like I didn't have time story wise to do so.
I promise that I'll explain all of the characters powers more in the next few chapters, so bear with awesomness.
I also need help with the second chapter. I know how I want it to go, but I feel like I should discuss it first. If you are interested contact me personally.
BREAKING NEWS: Sources claim that errors and other grammatical mistakes plague this story! If you see any signs of such activity please report it to the author. Thank you and read on.
UP NEXT: The truth is revealed. and it is UUUUGLY!