//------------------------------// // Sombra // Story: Little Consequences // by Skijarama //------------------------------// “Maybe this is a really stupid plan,” Rainbow found herself thinking as she got closer and closer to Sombra. In his current state, he was even more enormous than he had looked from a distance. She started to feel dizzy as she drew closer, like an ant next to a dragon. So vast was the difference between them that Sombra didn’t even acknowledge her once she crossed his path. His eyes were locked on the palace, the heart of the city. To him, she probably was no more than a puny pest to be ignored. She ground her teeth together in anger at the thought. “Okay, big guy…” she snarled under her breath before launching herself directly at his eyes as fast as she could. The colorful trail she left in her wake was what finally drew his attention. A low growl echoed all around her, making the very air itself quiver. “I can feel that in my throat…” she thought to herself. Rainbow then put on an extra burst of speed, intending to plow her front hooves into one of his eyes. Those plans were dashed, however, when a crimson horn emerged from a short distance above his eyes, crackling with shadows and purple electricity. Rainbow course-corrected just in time to evade being struck by a beam of what she could only describe as dark magic. She did a little twirl in the air in the hopes of provoking him into following her, shooting him a cocky grin as she did so. “Ya missed me, big guy!” she called over tauntingly before sticking her tongue out and launching herself higher into the air. She would have made some good distance, too, had her tail not been suddenly ensnared in a shadowy magical aura. She let out a startled yelp when he tugged her down, his magic expanding to encase her entire body. He spoke, then. His words were deep and distorted, like what Rainbow imagined a ghost or a phantom to sound like. “You are not of my empire…” he rumbled, tightening his grip on Rainbow. “Who are you?” Of course, Rainbow Dash didn’t hear him. She was busy screaming and thrashing in his grip, desperately trying to shake off the oncoming flashback. But, just like always, she was powerless to stop it. Sombra’s eyes gained a spark of curiosity, then, and he observed her for several moments. “LET HER GO!” came the voice of Twilight from far below, making Sombra blink. He looked down, only for a lance of lavender magic to strike him on his horn. A small flash of light erupted from the point of impact, and he let off a pained shout which echoed all around him for miles. His hold on Rainbow was shaken, then released, allowing the gaping pegasus to enter into a freefall. It only took a second for reality to reassert itself in her mind, allowing Rainbow to regain her bearings and shift around, entering back into stable flight. She shot Twilight a thankful nod before rocketing high into the sky at blindingly fast speeds. Sombra turned his furious glare down on Twilight, his horn crackling once more to life. His voice let off a deep, ominous snarl, and Twilight lost and all bravado she had gained from her momentary victory. Sombra’s red horn sparked dangerously, and he reared back, preparing to counter Twilight’s attack with his own. Twilight exclaimed in alarm before ducking to one side, barely evading the attack. When it hit where she had been, a dark pattern spread out from the center of the impact, looking almost like veins. The visual similarity made Twilight gulp, and a pit formed in her stomach. Another blast came shooting down for her, and she was just able to form a bubble shield around herself to stop the blast from hitting her. The impact created cracks in her shield and kicked up dust for several feet around her. She gasped in discomfort, scrambling back and taking her barrier with her. Sombra’s beam was unrelenting, and more cracks were forming in her shield. “Starlight, a little help?!” she shouted, pouring energy into her barrier to mend the damage. Starlight entered the picture, galloping from where she had been hiding behind a nearby house, her horn sparking dangerously with magical energy. She raced by Twilight and fired off a blast of her own at Sombra’s horn. The attack hit its mark, ending his spell and drawing another pained roar from him. The mass of smoke that was his body retreated several yards while his eyes closed. It looked like he was shaking his head. Starlight fired another blast, not giving him time to recover. Again, her spell hit its mark, and again, Sombra fell back. His horn sparked to life while Starlight went to prep another spell of her own. Thankfully, Sombra didn’t get to fire it off. Twilight dropped her barrier and launched her own beam at Sombra’s horn. When it hit, there was a sickening crack that echoed all across the empire, making the two unicorns cringe. Fiery cracks began to spread across the appendage, and shadowy mist bled out from the damage. Reeling in agony, Sombra glared down at the two before his horn crumbled into shadowy dust, disappearing back into the smoke. When the next beam of magic came from Starlight, it passed uselessly through him, his body shifting around the beam. Starlight’s eyes went wide with horror. “That’s bad!” she stated the obvious before grabbing Twilight with telekinesis and jumping to the side, taking cover behind the house she had hidden behind earlier. Shadowy smoke went rushing down the street where the two of them had been a moment later, tarnishing everything it touched. The two of them grunted on impact before Starlight turned an impatient eye to the sky and released her magical hold on Twilight. “Where the hay is Rainbow?! She’s supposed to be helping us!” Twilight, winded, squinted up into the cloud-smothered sky for several seconds she looked, then smiled confidently. “I think I know what she’s doing. She’s gaining altitude!” Starlight turned to Twilight, her face showing her bewilderment. “For what?!” She demanded in exasperation before their view of the sky was obstructed by more dark smoke. Sombra’s eyes emerged from those shadows to glare down at them. A cheshire grin full appeared beneath them, showing that he had two very sharp fangs in his maw. “Found you...” he chuckled darkly, his body encircling Twilight and Starlight, trapping them. His eyes narrowed and his grin widened. “I wouldn’t look so cocky if I were you,” Twilight retorted, putting on a snide grin of her own in the hopes of throwing Sombra off. She let her horn light up and spark with energy. “You have no idea what we’re capable of.” “Clearly…” Sombra began before the smoke rushed in, smothering Twilight and Starlight before either of them could let off a spell. Their frightened screams became muffled and silenced even as they kicked and struggled. He smirked down at them, delighted by their fear. “Neither do you.” Just then, there was a blinding flash of light from Sombra’s center, heavy winds exploding out from the source. A ring-shaped, prismatic explosion expanded outwards with that winds, illuminating everything within the Empire. The glass in many nearby windows shattered, and the air resounded with an ear-splitting boom. At the same moment, a blue pegasus-sized bullet shot down to where Twilight and Starlight were at supersonic speeds, scooping the two out of the darkness before launching back into the air. It had all happened so fast that, to an onlooker, it may have looked like Sombra just exploded in rainbow light. In the sky, Twilight blinked in an effort to get the spots out of her vision. Her ears were ringing and her head was throbbing. Once her vision cleared up, she tried to figure out what she was looking at. After a moment, she realized that, far below, the shadowy form of King Sombra had had a sizable rift made in it, with the remains of a sonic rainboom emanating from the core of his being and still expanding. It was then, watching as those shadows swirled back several hundred yards towards one of the outermost districts of the Empire and starting to reform, that Twilight realized something. She was very high up. She let out a panicked squeak and flailed out her forelegs, desperate for something to hold on to, her height-panicked mind oblivious to the foreleg tightly wrapped around her barrel. Rainbow grunted when one of those wildly flailing hooves smacked her on the cheek. She tightened her hold on Twilight to get her attention. “Twi, calm down! I gotcha!” she shouted to be heard over the wind rushing in their ears. Twilight did calm down, looking up at Rainbow with wide eyes. For a moment, she just looked. She saw the sheer determination and focus in Rainbow’s eyes, how her mane was flapping wildly in the wind, and how Starlight was also being held by her other foreleg. After a moment, Twilight managed to find her voice. “Whew… nice timing, Rainbow. Thank you,” she sighed, relief washing over her. “Yeah, don’t thank me yet,” Rainbow rebutted before curving around and lowering herself, Twilight and Starlight to a rooftop a few blocks away from where she had pulled off a tactical rainboom. Sombra was still reforming in the distance, his voice roaring and screaming with rage and pain. Rainbow cringed, her confidence melting away. “I think I only made him mad,” she said shakily. “He’s too strong,” Starlight fearfully added while taking a few shaky breaths. “His body is mostly made up of that dark smoke, and it looks like he can make his shape into whatever he wants. Any attacks we throw at him, he can just bend around them. If he brings out his horn for magic, we can fight back, but he can make it vanish, too. He did that earlier, and when he did, our magic became useless.” Rainbow nodded stiffly. “That’s not good,” she muttered absently, her ears folding back a little. She turned to the other two hopefully. “Ideas?” “I think we’ve made about as much progress as we’re going to make. He hid his horn, and I can’t think of another way to attack him,” Starlight sighed, shaking her head. “We might be stuck, here…” Twilight lowered her gaze a little bit while those two talked, hesitation creeping into her stance. For a few moments, she just stood there, trying to martial her senses. She then gulped heavily before lighting up her horn with magic. “Rainbow?” she began in a shaky voice. Once she had the other mare’s attention, she looked into her eyes. “The barrier; I might be able to do it, but I have to do it now.” Rainbow looked back towards Sombra, who was still reforming. She grimaced when she saw that he was still in the Empire, only just within its limits. “...We’ll lose some of the Empire if you do,” she warned calmly, through her voice made it clear she had no other ideas. She then turned back to Twilight and nodded. “But we can’t be picky. Do it.” Twilight nodded slowly and began channeling magic into her horn. She reached out with her magic while trying to gauge the distance between where she stood now and where Sombra was. After a second or two of thought, she had a distance and lifted her horn to point at the sky, the glow on it intensifying dramatically. Rainbow and Starlight had to shield their eyes, backing away several steps. Twilight grit her teeth and growled in her throat before a beam of lavender magic shot high into the sky. It then exploded outwards, beginning to form a dome of magic, the edges of which were reaching down to encase all but a small crescent of the Empire. Sombra, still reforming, opened an eye to look at what was happening. That eye widened in shock. It then narrowed and was joined by its twin, an infuriated howl sounding from him before he charged forward, ramming into the edge of the barrier just as it met the ground. Twilight let out a gasp and cry of pain when Sombra collided against her barrier. Cracks appeared on the surface and she crumpled to her knees. Sweat poured down her neck and she gasped and groaned with strain, slamming both of her eyes closed. After a second, she opened one eye a little bit to squint at the damage. “Gah! I d-don’t know if… if I c-can hold it-” she gasped when he struck it again, some of his shadowy form leaking through a few small holes in the barrier that she was very quick to patch up. Rainbow watched in awe, slowly turning in place to look at everything Twilight was creating. All around them, purple light was filling the sky, shimmering brightly and forcing the fiery clouds Sombra had made to disperse, allowing the blue skies beyond to show once again. Sombra impacted the barrier another time, and more cracks appeared across the whole thing. Twilight cried in pain, closing her eyes and curling up even more. Sombra’s enraged screams and howls of indignation finally snapped Rainbow out of her trance, and she shook her head before looking at Starlight. “You gonna help her or not?!” she demanded, flaring her wings open for emphasis. Starlight, not needing to be asked twice, nodded and sparked her own horn to life, adding her power to Twilight’s spell. Pale blue light began to weave in with Twilight’s, closing gaps wherever they had formed and smoothed over rough surfaces. As this went on, Twilight’s uncomfortable gasps began to ease off, and she finally opened her eyes to look at what they were doing. Sombra growled on the other side of the barrier before tackling it one more time, this time bringing out his horn and sending a massive beam of dark magic against the smooth surface at the same time. It cracked; but only slightly. Starlight grit her teeth, a bead of sweat forming on her brow before the cracks mended themselves. It was with that effort that Sombra ceased his attempts to force his way through the barrier, glaring at them from beyond, his entire body shuddering with contempt. “We can’t keep him out forever,” Starlight muttered, eyeing the shadowy king in the distance wearily. Twilight chuckled weakly. “Maybe not…” She mumbled under her breath before slowly getting back to a standing position, Rainbow was quick to move to her side and help her up, making sure she didn’t fall over. “But we can make sure it isn’t easy for him.” Rainbow, still holding Twilight up, glared over at Sombra in the distance. She then flashed him a wide, cocky grin. “That means get lost, Smokey!” Sombra merely narrowed his eyes for a few moments before they disappeared back into the smoke. The mass of darkness then slowly began to lower to the ground, spreading out around the edge of the dome. Soon, surrounding the entirety of the Empire, save for a small crescent of abandoned buildings that rested outside the barrier, a thick layer of darkness watched and waited for an opening. All was silent for several seconds. Then, Rainbow looked at Twilight. “Twi, are you okay?” “I’m alright,” she waved Rainbow off, still a little shaky on her hooves. She then shot Starlight a thankful smile. “Thanks, Starlight. I owe you more than one…” “You’re welcome, but…” Starlight’s own smile faded away, replaced with a look of unease. “You’re right. We can’t keep this up forever,” her horn sparked a bit and she shrunk away from it a little. “Well, how long can you keep this barrier up?” Rainbow asked carefully, circling around to stand in front of them, worry written on her face when she looked at Twilight. “If he stays docile like right now?” Starlight began, looking up at her horn uneasily. “...Maybe a week?” “And that’s assuming we can keep ourselves awake and fed,” Twilight furthered, grimacing as a small tingle of pain started dancing down her spine. “But if he starts attacking again… I’d say less than a day.” Rainbow looked at the two for a few moments before she cursed under her breath. She trotted over to slam her hoof into the edge of the roof, an agitated shout ripping out of her lungs. “Dang it! What are we supposed to do?!” Nopony had a good answer. Many seconds came and went as she stood at the edge of the roof, taking deep breaths to calm her nerves. Eventually, she actively looked down into the street to check the damage. She raised an eyebrow when she saw a large group of several dozen crystal ponies down there, looking up at her, Twilight and Starlight with wide eyes and gaping jaws. Those looks of shock slowly began to give way to relieved and happy grins. One of them began stomping his hooves in applause, as did another, then another. In no time at all, the entire assembly was shouting and cheering their gratitude, causing Rainbow to back up a step in surprise. She blinked before looking back at the two mares on the roof with her. They, too, seemed caught off guard by what they were hearing. They shared a glance, then looked back over at Rainbow. “They’re cheering us on…” Twilight said quietly. Rainbow blinked and looked down into the crowd again. Listening to their cheers, hearing their applause, seeing the thankfulness and relief in their faces… it put a smile on her own. She watched as some of the ponies below rushed through the crowd to find loved ones, crying tears of joy when they found them, checking each other over to make sure they were okay. Something stirred in Rainbow’s heart, and her posture straightened. “Well, then…” she started before turning back to Twilight and Starlight. Her smile gained an edge of confidence and firm resolve. “We can’t let them down now, can we?”