Sombra backed away from the hero in disbelief, unable to believe what he was seeing. Spike, Gabby and Starlight all stared up at All Might with jaws on the ground. And then there was All Might, who stared at Sombra with the widest smile possible on his face. Sombra narrowed his eyes in response as his horn began to glow, thinking of how he would have to battle All Might.
Then his eyes narrowed further. For a brief moment, almost as if it hadn't happened, he noticed that All Might's eyes flickered. Then it happened again. Sombra thought about it for a moment, before he looked up at the massive mountain that the hero was still supporting. And his smile returned as he threw back his head and let out a loud laugh.
"Yes indeed! You are here! So what are you waiting for All Might? Let us do battle! In fact, I'll give you a free shot right now!" Sombra taunted. The dark king leaned in and turned a cheek to All Might, who narrowed his eyes at Sombra. "What's the matter? Don't want to take me up on my offer? Or perhaps it's because a mountain is quite hard to dispose of. Since you're so new to this land, you have no idea what or who it might crush if you were to throw it, would you?"
The look All Might gave Sombra answered his question.
"Of course, you could throw it at us, but it's very possible that with my magic or Monstro's might we could redirect it. But I'm always up for a bit of landscaping and I could think of a few places I would like to see that mountain on top of. How about that town right over there? That looks like a good place."
All Might's arms shook a little, but he did nothing.
"Ah, the eternal bane of heroes. Unable to act if it would endanger those around them," Sombra cackled. His horn glowed with dark power and he aimed it right at those who where behind All Might. To Sombra's surprise, All Might shifted and, with a step heavy enough to crack the ground, he moved in-between Sombra and the others. "Hmm, that is some strength. Getting close to you would be a foolish decision. Good thing I've got help. Hey, Monstro. Bring this mountain down on top of him."
Monstro roared as he was teleported into the air, aiming his fall so that he would land on the mountain the hero was holding. Even though he left All Might's sight within a second, the Symbol of Peace crouched down and braced himself, preparing to deal with the oncoming impact.
"All Might," Spike wheezed out. All Might turned his head to look at the dragon. "Gabby. Starlight. Leave me. Get yourselves out of here. I got myself into this mess. You guy's shouldn't..."
"As I said, young Spike, there is no need to fear," All Might began. Then his eyes blazed blue with an intensity that nearly blew the others back. "Because I am here."
Above the mountain, Monstro reached the terminal velocity and let out an inhuman roar. He cocked a fist back and aimed it right at the mountain...before a blast of purple energy caught him in the chest and sent him reeling. All Might and the others looked with surprise as Monstro crashed to the ground, while Sombra snarled as he looked up to see a purple alicorn looking down on him.
"You really know how to ruin my fun, you know that?" Sombra asked Twilight. Twilight said nothing as she landed at the base of the mountain, looking over her shoulder. Her eyesbrows shot up when she saw the Symbol of Peace holding up the mountain with Spike, Gabby and Starlight underneath.
"All Might...?" she asked in disbelief.
"Deal with Sombra. I've got this," All Might said with a smile. Twilight smiled in reply before she turned back to Sombra, her horn flashing violet.
"You made a mistake coming back, Sombra," Twilight snarled at him. "Attacking us in one thing. Attacking my home, my friends...my little bro? There is no tomorrow for you."
"Pity. And here I had my plans for tomorrow all mapped out," Sombra smiled. His eyes became slits as he crouched down, horn glowing. "And dancing on your grave happened to be one of my activities for tomorrow. So sorry, Twilight, but I'm not canceling my plans."
Twilight made the first move, shooting a blast of magic into the sky which exploded and rained magic down on Sombra. Sombra shifted into his shadow form and weaved in-between the bolts, closing the distance between the two of them. Twilight had expected this and, in a single motion, trapped Sombra's shadow form in a ball of magic and hurled him into the air. Sombra broke free and returned to his normal form, only for his eyes to go wide as a magic covered alicorn slammed into him.
"You're going to pay for what you've done," Twilight growled.
"I'm all out of bits. Do you take credit?" Sombra spat back.
"I'll take it out of your flesh."
The two blasted each other away before taking a moment to prepare. Twilight ripped trees out of the ground and spun them around her, adding spikes to them with her magic. Sombra crafted a barrier around himself before conjuring spears of darkness that he aimed at Twilight. Then the two resumed.
Twilight hurled her forest towards Sombra, who held his ground as the trees shattered against his barrier. He returned fire with his spears, which whipped past the trees and went to embed themselves in the princess. Twilight teleported out of the way and the spears missed her. She reappeared a short distance away, only to notice that the spears turned and continued to track her. She teleported once more and appeared behind Sombra, smirking at him before crouching behind his barrier. Sombra snarled at her as the spears approached him before his horn flashed, dissipating the spears.
He whipped his head around to see what the alicorn was doing, only for his eyes to go wide when he saw she was wielding a giant baseball bat. He gritted his teeth right as the bat struck his shield, sending him rocketing down to the land below. He slammed into the ground, his shield taking most the blow, before he bounced and skipped all the way to Ponyville. He came to a stop in the center of the town, groaning as he got up to watch his shield crumble.
"Give up Sombra," Twilight warned as she appeared above him. "And maybe I'll just have you banished instead of destroyed."
"Oh, I'm shaking in my little boots. Twilight's going to use all of her mighty power to slay me," Sombra mocked, before narrowing his eyes at her. "Please. You're strong, Twilight, I will give you that much. But your power isn't anything I haven't handled before. Now that Rainbow Power and the Elements might be a problem...but where are your friends? They aren't here? Where could they possibly be?"
Twilight glared at Sombra in response.
"Could it be? The most famous spewer of friendship herself abandoned her friends in the frozen north to come fight me on her own? That she left behind her most powerful tools because she wanted me all for herself? I'm flattered Twi, but you ain't my type. Way to preachy," Sombra smirked.
"I don't need my friends to deal with you," Twilight muttered. "You could barely handle me as a unicorn. But now, with the alicorn power, I outclass you in magic a hundred fold."
"Twilight. Both Celestia and Luna are alicorns as well. And did they beat me with their own power? No. It took them using the Element's to actually bring me down," Sombra chuckled mirthlessly. "It's not about power, it's about how you wield it. And you are a three year old throwing a tantrum in comparison to my skill. You've already lost and just don't know it."
"Really? And how's that?" Twilight asked.
"Because you didn't seem to realize I was stalling."
Twilight didn't even have time to react. The moment those words left Sombra's mouth a massive blow struck her in the back, knocking her out of the sky and sending her crashing through the streets. She came to a stop in front of the school, blood trickling from her mouth as she forced herself back up.
"It's princess Twilight!"
Twilight glanced over her shoulder to see that nearly all of the ponies from town were gathered at the edge of the shield protecting the school, eyes wide with relief when they saw the princess. And, despite her injuries, Twilight drew herself up and smiled at them, before turning to face her foes.
They didn't make her wait. Monstro barreled towards her like an out of control freight train, knocking over buildings as he charged towards her. Twilight slammed all four of her hooves into the ground before conjuring the strongest barrier that she could manage, bracing herself as Monstro crashed into it. Magic met flesh and for a moment it looked like flesh would win. Then Twilight let out a roar as she dug past her depths and poured more magic into her barrier, deflecting Monstro's blow and staggering him.
She didn't give him a second. She dropped her barrier and rocketed towards the titan, wrapping magic around his ankles and ripping him off of his feet. Without releasing her magic she let out another yell as she tossed the monster over her head, before bringing him crashing down into the hillside. The entire town shook from the force of his impact, but when he didn't get back up Twilight let out a sigh of relief.
"Wow, she beat that monster!" Twilight heard a young voice say. "She's so strong!"
"Of course she is! She's the princess of Equestria! She's number one!" another foal spoke.
"Twilight, you're my hero!"
"Kick his flank, Twilight!"
"My insurance will cover this, right?!"
"Well aren't you inspiring!"
Twilight got her shield up in time to stop the oncoming blasts of darkness, but a smokey shadow slipped past her barrier and Sombra appeared in front of her. He smiled wickedly at her before unleashing a massive blast of magical power right in her face. Twilight roared as she was sent tumbling back. Yet even as she took Sombra's blow, she delivered one of her own. With a flick of her horn, she caused her own barrier to explode on top of Sombra. The dark king roared as he slammed into the ground at the same time as Twilight.
"Come on Twilight!"
"You've got this!"
"You're our princess! You can't lose!"
Twilight could barely feel her body and what parts she could feel hurt like crazy. But with one last push she forced herself back to her hooves, glaring over at Sombra who had managed to do the same. Sombra narrowed his eyes into slits as he glared at her, his horn glowing with dark power. She matched him and caused her horn to alight, the two staring each other down.
Sombra let out a roar of hatred as he fired all he had at Twilight, unleashing a blast of dark magic so powerful that it drained the color from the air. Twilight drew forth all she had left before unleashing all of her magic at Sombra's, bringing the sky to life with violet light. The two beams collided and, for the longest moment of the ponies lives, they're magic was even. Then Twilight screamed and blasted clean through Sombra's spell. Sombra had just enough time for his eyes to go wide before her magic enveloped him, causing him to roar as her magic blasted him off into the sky.
Twilight took a moment to breath. Her body felt like she had been stepped on by an Ursa, her head pounded with such an intensity that no medicine would dull the pain, and, worst of all, her magic had fried her crown and melted it to golden soup. She would have to order another one.
But then she glanced over to the ponies behind the shield, the ponies who were now screaming her name and celebrating with tears in their eyes. And she allowed herself a small smile. They were alright. That was all that mattered. She smiled at them and lifted a single hoof into the air in victory, before looking up to see the mountain that All Might had been carrying floating over her head.
For a moment she was afraid Sombra was already back, but then she saw Celestia and Luna on either side of the mountain, using their magic to keep it from falling. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were in front of it, guiding the way for the princesses. A shockwave exploded next to her and the next thing she knew, All Might, Spike and Gabby were all next to her, while Starlight and the other Elements were racing to the school to check on those inside. Spike walked up to her, a tearful smile on his face.
"You did it!" he exclaimed. "You beat Sombra!"
"I think I did," she muttered weakly. She then walked over to Spike and examined his wing, shaking her head. "It's broken. We'll need to take you to the hospital to get it patched up. I'm sorry I let this happen."
"Are you kidding? You saved us!" Gabby exclaimed. "You beat Sombra! You beat Monstro! You...saved the whole town!"
"Of course she did! Twilight's the best of the best. My number one hero," Spike said. He and Gabby pulled Twilight into a hug, barely noticing the exhausted alicorn collapsing into their arms.
And off to the side, All Might crossed his arms with a soft smile on his face, nodding his head in understanding. Then the ground rumbled and all eyes turned towards Monstro, who was getting back up to his feet. Twilight grunted as she started to get up as well, but All Might held out a hand to stop her.
"Please, princess. Allow me."