A Foe on Equestrian Soil · 8:57am Jan 22nd, 2016

"Come on out, darling..." Rarity crooned to the open air. "I know you're out here somewhere..."

The forest air was deathly still, but the white pony knew not to let her guard down. Especially not now. Not while their 'visitor' was still at large.

"Did the Order of the Horn send you?" a mare's voice echoed through the woods around her. "A white unicorn. You had to have been!"

"Dearie, in case you haven't noticed, we're not in your home lands." Rarity called out again, taking slow and steady steps. "You're in Equestria now. Nopony sent me but my friends. And Dark Magic isn't exactly welcomed here either."

"You had many practitioners, through the ages." the voice spoke up again. "I came here, to learn what happened to them. To learn of the most powerful black mage of them all, the Unicorn King, Sombra."

"I'm afraid to burst your bubble." The unicorn turned to look over her shoulder, eyes darting about. "But King Sombra is dead. Has been dead, for a couple of years now."

A new voice echoed out, this one male, touched with a ghostly and hollow sound. "This may be true... but we will see. A Dark Mage such as Sombra, does not die easily."

"And he was still well-learned... one like him, would not let his teachings fall into obscurity." the mare's voice spoke again, becoming a little clearer. "My purpose here, is to find his teachings, and learn more about the use of Dark Magic."

Rarity shivered. "You would plunge the world into darkness doing so."

"Really now. Typical white magic's reasoning."

She only had the barest hint of warning, before jumping to the side. A crimson lance of energy blasted right through where she had been standing, impacting on the tree behind her. With that, she galloped forward, head low, horn at the ready, before launching herself at a black shape hidden in the bushes.

There was a scuffle, and then a gust of wind, tossing both forms out. Rarity was quick to leap to her hooves again, her opponent now exposed. A grey unicorn like herself with a black mane, with red highlights. Yet at the same time, she knew that this was no Equestrian unicorn. Her cloven feet and curved horn spoke to that.

Though her opponent's eyes were blue, shadow leaked from their corners. Hovering beside her in her telekinetic grip, was a gnarled and twisted-looking tome, that seemed for all in the world like it was grinning at her.

She narrowed her gaze in turn, her body tensing for whatever move came next. "Dark Magic is not going to save you, darling."

"On the contrary." Oleander replied, pawing the ground as her book opened, the fearsome image of a demon coalescing about it. "Dark Magic, is the only thing that can save us all."