I Am Not Sombra

by Boopy Doopy


(7-1) Two Seconds

It took Sombra exactly two seconds to take in the situation and decide what to do.
The first half a second, he gauged the room around him. He didn’t particularly like what he saw, although he decided that it could have been worse. Staring at him was Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armor, and Princess Twilight Sparkle. Notably absent was Princess Celestia, but that wasn’t that large of a surprise. Celestia was very predictable, which he counted on and used to his advantage. That other being had likely denied accusations of what he’d done and drove her to insanity, which Sombra expected to happen. She was always quite an emotional princess. He knew she hated him almost as much as he hated her, and was glad for her absence. With her being gone, half the battle had already been won.
In the next half a second, he held eye contact with Luna, and realized that the second half of the battle still had to be fought. Her eyes showed that she already knew he was faking when he said that nothing happened. He wouldn’t be able to get away with convincing her that he still wasn’t who he said he was, and it limited his options for what to do next greatly. But that wasn't to his detriment. It simply solidified what he had wanted to do anyway
In the following second, he met Radiant Hope’s gaze. They had known each other for years, and knew each other well at that, so it only took a second of eye contact for the two to say everything they needed to say. In that eye contact, they briefly told each other of the danger of staying here, and made a quick plan about what they should do and how to proceed.
And then, after those two seconds were over, Sombra acted.
Luna was speaking truthfully in her promise of not hurting him unless he attacked or tried to escape, and because of that, she was just a hair too late in defending herself from Sombra. She could see what spell he was casting, and was a moment away from stopping it when he turned her into stone. It was a spell he alone knew, which was why he used it. He knew it wasn't something they'd be able to easily undo. The next moment, he fell out of the bed and onto the floor in agony, the pain coming from his use of the spell and what that fool had done. It turned out to be lucky for him though, because the instant later, Princess Cadance violently shot the space he’d been laying in, taking out the bed and the wall behind it, some pieces of rubble hitting the ponies in the room.
“Hope!” he yelled, but she already knew what he was asking. The moment before Cadance and Shining Armor’s next shot could hit him, the two teleported away.
The Princess of Love wore an angry look, growling for a few seconds before stamping a hoof hard to the ground and letting out a scream of rage.
“ARRRGGGHH! I KNEW IT!" she got out. "LUNA'S SUCH AN IDIOT!"
Twilight frowned at what Cadance had said, not liking that she was speaking badly of the blue alicorn. However, instead of commenting on this, she simply whispered, "It looks like Princess Celestia might have been right all along…"
"Of course she was right! She's always right! She's Celestia! And now Sombra's escaped and Luna got herself turned into stone because she didn't listen to her sister!" The Princess of Love growled lowly for a few seconds, then let out another scream.
"Cadance, calm down!" Shining Armor told his wife. "What are we going to do?"
She closed her eyes and took several breaths to gather herself somewhat. "A plan," she thought. "A plan is what we need. You're in charge now and it's likely all of Equestria is counting on you to think of something. We need a plan..." She thought of what to do for a few seconds before speaking again. "Shining!" she snapped, her husband jumping back in surprise as she turned towards him. "Get to the Crystal Heart now and make sure it's still there. If it is, guard it. If not, put the Crystal Empire on lockdown, and make sure to guard Chrysalis's cell."
"On it," he responded, and quickly teleported away.
“Twilight,” Cadance snapped, “I need you to gather your friends and get back here as quickly as possible. There’s a high likelihood that they already took the Crystal Heart, and it might be up to you and your friends to stop him.”
"Okay! Um, what are you going to do?” the Princess of Friendship asked.
“I don’t know yet, but I think I have an idea. I need to get to Canterlot.”