The roar of the blizzard deafened the two of them, the snow pelting their coats with the force of arrows, and the ferocity of a predator. The white flakes were nothing like the special symbol of the coldest season, and indicator to the fun times and wonderful holidays ahead. These flakes had malice behind them, a grim apathy towards life and nature.
The two stallions struggled to move through the deep white ocean that had consumed their entire world. Their vision was all but destroyed in the eternal winter, the only source of light hung like body from a noose.
Celestia's sun no longer belonged to her. The blackened mass limped across the horizon, encompassed by a halo of light that served to remind them of their failure. The snow reflected what little light remained, as the two ponies tried desperately to stay warm and alive, among the mass devastation that surrounded them.
Shining Armor and Flash Sentry were almost at the meeting point. A large metal mass stood resilient against the white oppressor. Shining recognized the small structure.
He spoke up to his companion, voice muffled into obscurity from the winter, “We're here!”
“How do you know?” The pegasus asked him, visibly shaken from the frost.
“There!" The unicorn extended a hoof toward the mess. "That's Canterlot Castle! Or what's left of it!”
“Okay!? Now what?”
A massive crash of thunder devastated the clouds above them, as the snow seemed to pick up its aggressive onslaught. As much as the two stallions tried to keep any snow off of them, another layer quickly built up. It had a bite to it, not unlike a parasitic insect upon their coats.
“Hello, you two...” A voice boomed, easily slithering around and through the snow.
The two of them turned around, facing the blackened sun, and the figure that eclipsed it.
There he stood, a giant figure of ash grey. The tip of his horn as red as the fire in his eyes, the feathers of his shadowy wings as black as his smoke-mimicing mane. The Alicorn peered through crimson irises, surrounded by black and the purple mist that snaked from his sockets. The towering figure of Sombra dwarfed them by comparison.
Shining cursed, as the Alicorn's gaze fell upon him first. “It's been awhile, old friend.”
Flash shifted his shaking sight towards his friend, attempting to coax any sort of order from his superior. His eyes were only met with terror.
“Now, would you care to tell me what you two are doing in my Empire?” He asked, his quaking voice betraying the casual demeanor of his words. “And not buried in the snow with the rest of the corpses?”
“Shining, what do we do!?” The pegasus shouted.
“We need to hold him off until they get here!” Shining ordered, his friend visibly tensing.
“Hold him off from what!?”
“Us!” Shining shouted, before unsheathing his sword.
Sombra didn't wait for their next move, as spires of obsidian erupted from the whitened earth. The two stallions narrowly evaded the first volley, the thick snow beneath their hooves hindering their movement.
Flash Sentry took to the air. The sleet make it almost impossible for him to see, as the wind battering against his wings. He raced into the clouds as fast as he could, attempting to reach above the thrashing blizzard.
Magic blasts and obsidian barbs ravaging the ground below, as the two combatants tried to gain the advantage. Shining resorted to teleportation as means of agility, the snow too thick to maneuver through. His massive enemy grinned, arrogantly playing his prey while he could.
“Where did your friend fly off to? Abandoning his false Prince, is he?” He turned his head towards the direction the pegasus flew off to.
Another thunderclap resonated in the sky, drawing much closer. Shining blinked on top of a flat topped spire, before leaping off towards the Alicorn, his sword aimed at his eye.
With a confused expression on his face, the black stallion released a barrage of glass missiles towards his foolishly aggressive opponent.
A flash of magic caused Shining to vanish, and reappear behind the Alicorn. In his brief vantage over the black behemoth, a quick slash of his blade ripped up the Alicorn's spine.
Thunder continued to crash about the sky, as Flash manipulated the overcast around him. bolts of lightning came into sight as they snaked toward a collective target. A strange and stinging sensation overcame him, as the arcs of electricity finally reached him. Wrapping around him like bands of wire, the lightning clung to him with an almighty grasp.
One last thunderclap shredded through the clouds. Shining fell to the ground, successful in his strike.Wincing in pain, Sombra never had the chance to see the sudden bolt erupt from the clouds above, striking him instantly. Flash had crashed his hoof into the Alicorn's ribs, using the power of the bolt, throwing Sombra with the force of a train. The black stallion's journey through the air was short lived, as Shining's blade dug into his shoulder.
A huge mass of black soot erupted from the wound, blinding the two stallions further. After a momentary silence, Sombra's form reappeared behind the two of them, towering over the ponies with uninhibited spite, and completely unharmed. His horn billowing smoke like a chimney.
“Good try. I think my ribs cracked.” He cackled. Before either of them could react, a tower of obsidian impaled the pegasi's left wing.
Flash Sentry's scream exploded through the air, louder than the roaring winds around them. Ripping pain spread across his bones, as he hung from the injury the spire created.
Shining quickly charged up his horn, blasting away the crystal as Flash fell limply into the snow. He raced over to the pegasus, before a sudden circle of spikes exploded towards them. Shining managed to form a shield in time, with the spikes inches away from his face.
“Quick. I'm amused your survived.”
“We've beaten you once we can do it again!” Shining shouted back.
Sombra unleashed a hellish laugh. “What's that? I couldn't hear you over my raging blizzard that's suffocating your land. I couldn't see you, as I'm facing MY sun. Celestia is dead, and Luna imprisoned. There is a time when you will die, either by me, or my winter.”
Shining grimaced as the obsidian latched onto his shield, slightly growing over it like vines in ancient ruins.
“I won a long time ago, Shining Armor. I won't let you live this time.”
Flash groaned as he managed to stand, his body shaking. The dark tendrils continued to expand over Shining force field. The obsidian promising to envelop them.
Shining's horn lost it light, as his shield suddenly fell. The black spikes immediately thrust inward, rushing to greet them. His horn reignited in the blink of an eye, as he teleported the both of them out of their prison.
Landing in the frost, Shining quickly spun around. Sheering pain shot through his shoulder, as he found himself stuck through another pillar of obsidian. His warm blood was a terrifying contrast to the freezing cold. The unicorn didn't have a chance to scream, as Sombra's eyes sent their vicious messengers into his mind.
Flash regained his composure, as he tried to charge the preoccupied Alicorn. A small spike caught his hoof, slicing it as he fell to the ground. He winced as he looked up at Sombra, staring directly into the monster's gaze.
The blizzard continued its rampage, as silence fell upon the three of them. Standing completely still in the unforgiven snow, Shining and Flash lost themselves in unimaginable horror. Fears they couldn't even imagine consumed their minds, as Sombra reveled in their dread.
A collection of hooves crunched through the tundra.
Sombra's ears perked up, as he looked in the direction of the coming forces. For the first time, he damned his own winter, being unable to properly view the approaching party.
The only thing he could discern was that there were six of them.