Pony Headcanons #24: Sombra's Magic · 7:32pm Apr 15th, 2019
The way I see it, Sombra's magic is based on and powered by fear. He gets stronger by making others fear him. Which is why he had the Crystal Empire in a stranglehold. Nopony had the energy to hate him when they were too busy being terrified of him.
It's how he was able to mind control so many ponies in the Season 9 premiere. He surprised them, many of them didn't know he was real, so to see he was? It scared them. And thus it gave him power over them.
It's also why I imagine when he blasted Discord, he did do some minor damage because regardless of his plan, Discord was actually scared for Fluttershy. It did nowhere near as much as he pretended it did, but still.
It's also why Twilight was able to effortlessly swat away his blasts of dark magic and able to break out of his Worst Fear spell so quickly in the same premiere. She wasn't afraid of him. She knew his tricks, she planned for this. And the second time, she'd just gained a Heroic Second Wind, which means you she was not running on fear. She was not afraid of him. Because she'd seen him get atomized twice before. Third time was the charm.
Nice solid headcanon, I pretty much totally agree with it. *nods*
5044845
The more you're scared of him, the more power he has over you. Twilight wasn't scared. Hence why she could basically bitch slap his blasts away. Besides, she had one big advantage most ponies lack when dealing with Sombra. EXPERIENCE. She knew what he was capable of, and, Sombra's a bully. And if you're not afraid of a bully, that takes away a lot of their power.
5044863
Indeed it does! Like what Steve Rogers said. "You start running, they'll never let you stop. You stand up, push back."
5044867
Precisely. And in the case of Twilight and friends, pushing back involved disintegrating him. Twice. Which, if the look on his face was anything to go by, hurt like a motherfucker. Which, in all fairness, he deserved. Because he's a terrible person. Pony.
I also did a blog on Fluttershy, so, that may interest you.
5044870
Indeed so.
Yeah, I noticed it, but I was busy earlier. I'll give it another look soon. ^_^
5044875
OK, cool.