Antoine and Rarity slowly backed away from the advancing pony, neither of them sure what to do. Rarity didn't know what all the fancy new parts on Sombra meant, but she knew he was dangerous even with all of her friends with her. Alone she feared she didn't stand much of a chance.
Antoine was having similar thoughts. He didn't know who this dark pony was, but he had been fighting evil long enough to know what it looked like when he saw it. And he'd knew when someone had been robotocized all too well.
Sombra stalked towards the pair with his infamous smile stretched across his face, delighting in the fear on their faces. "It is so nice to catch you by yourself, Rarity. I swear that we never get to just have alone time. Whenever we meet your friends are always with you, it makes catching up such a pain. How have you been doing, what's on your mind and how would you like to die?"
"I don't know why you bother anymore, Sombra," Rarity spat, trying to sound a lot braver than she actually felt. "Yesterday made the fourth time that we have bested you and, had your staff not broken, would have been the fourth time we've killed you. It doesn't matter what scheme you concoct, what evil force from the past you resurrect or...whatever it is you have done to your body, you will fail. My friends and I will always defeat you."
"Oh Rarity, I agree. You and your friends have bested me time and time again. And for a while, I had to wonder why. After all, I had the smarts, the skill, the looks and the power. And yet, I could never win. What was it I was missing? What did I lack that you fools possessed?" Sombra asked as he turned his back on the pair. Then his head spun one eighty and his eyes turned red as his smile grew. "And then I realized it. Allies. Friends. Help. The reason the six of you always defeat me is because, well, it's six of you with unimaginable power against the one of me with unfathomable power. The math adds up, doesn't it?"
"But even a villain has fate aid him once in a while. Because thanks to my most recent loss at your hooves, I managed to finally meet an intellect that is almost on my level. Someone who...understands what it's like to constantly be up against you annoyances. We shared notes, we cursed names and we planned. Oh how we planned." Sombra then looked down at his metal hoof, nodding his head in approval. "But most importantly, we both learned from one another. We combined our efforts. And together, our genius will destroy all of you with ease."
"Eggman. You are working with Eggman," Antoine spat. Sombra lazily turned his gaze to Antoine, as if noticing him for the first time.
"Eggman. Such disrespect. Dr. Robotnik is the man's name, you can at least refer to him as such," Sombra corrected. "You are...Antoine, are you not? You look how Robotnik described. Cowardly. Weak. And a look in your eyes that tells me killing you will be no trouble at all. Cool sword, though."
Antoine swallowed nervously in reply.
"But you are not my concern. Rarity, I believe you are holding onto something. Something that has caused me quite a bit of pain in the past," Sombra snarled with a smile. "That little necklace you have there. That little...Element. I would ask you to turn it over to me and perhaps I would spare your life...but we both know you won't turn it over and I'm not letting you leave here alive."
"So how do you want to do this? Do you wish to try to use it's power to fight me? That would be your best bet, if you hadn't already wasted its power taking out my shadow minions. Perhaps you'd wish to fight me yourself? Please do, I could use a laugh. Or maybe you will do the smart thing, which is to lay down and die. At least if you do that, I will make your death painless..."
Rarity swallowed her fear as she started to get her horn to glow, but her eyes went wide with shock when Antoine stepped between her and Sombra. The swordsman pointed his blade at Sombra, who smirked at the display.
"Well well, the knight in yellow stained armor. Trying to pretend that he's a hero even when he knows better," Sombra mocked. "Step aside coward. I'll deal with you after I've dealt with Rarity."
"Am I a hero? Non, just a soldier doing his best. Am I a coward? Perhaps. Am I going to stand aside and let this mademoiselle be killed by ze likes of you?"
Antoine then lunged forward and plunged his blade at Sombra's skull. Sombra smiled before his horn flashed, firing a bolt of magic at Antoine. The swordsman deflected the blast, but it was still strong enough to knock him aside. Rarity's horn glowed and she shattered the windows around her, hurling the thousands of razor sharp glass shards towards Sombra. Sombra raised an eyebrow at the oncoming glass before he conjured a wall of darkness, cackling as the glass shattered harmlessly against it.
"Fine, I guess we're doing this!"
Pillars of darkness burst forth from the ground, with claw like grips at the top that came crashing down towards Antoine and Rarity. The coyote raced to his hover board and flew out of the way, weaving around the sky to avoid being hit. Rarity tore out chunks of concrete from the buildings and roars and hurled them at the darkness, knocking it aside everytime it tried to attack her.
Antoine let out a yell as he leapt off his hoverboard, allowing it to be crushed by the dark pillar to give himself an opening. He plunged his blade into the top of the pillar and dropped down, dragging his blade all the way to the base of the pillar. Rarity slammed two giant chunks of concrete into the pillar she was fighting, letting out a roar as she compacted the darkness tight enough to create diamonds. Both pillars exploded at the same time, leaving the two to turn back to Sombra.
"Why are either of you bothering at this point?" Sombra asked. Antoine leapt into the air and aimed his blade at Sombra, who sighed as his horn glowed once more. But then his eyes went wide as a portal appeared in front of Antoine and the swordsman vanished from his sight. Sombra had just a moment to look over at Rarity, realizing she had opened the portal, before Antoine appeared behind him.
"It is nothing personal," Antoine said as he slashed his sword across the back of Sombra's neck...only for it to come to a dead stop. "What is the happening?"
"What is happening, you mouth breather, is that I am no longer flesh and blood. I have transcended my mortal coil."
An explosion of darkness went off around Sombra, hurling Antoine into the side of a building. Rarity's horn flashed as she started chucking cars and tables at Sombra, but with a look the dark kings shadow magic pulverized the projectiles into dust. Tendrils of darkness wrapped themselves around Rarity's limbs and started to drag her towards Sombra. But before they could bring her to the king, Antoine leapt over Sombra and cleaved through the darkness. Rarity threw up a magic shield around her and Antoine as more of Sombra's darkness attacked.
"I can't...keep this up...much longer," Rarity said through gritted teeth.
"This is ze very bad. His spells are too strong for your magic and his skin is too tough for my blade," Antoine deduced. "At this rate the two of us will be very quickly killed."
"I am open to ideas," Rarity said. Antoine took a moment to think, trying his best to ignore the cracks that were forming along Rarity's shield.
"I have an idea, but we need to get away from Sombra. Can you possilby-" Antoine hadn't even finished his sentence before Rarity's horn flashed and the both of them teleported away. They appeared in a grassy field on the outskirts of the city, where Rarity promptly collapsed to the ground. "Madam Rarity, are you okay?"
"I'm...not as good with magic...as Twilight," Rarity wheezed out. "So even a...simple teleportation spell...is too much for me. Do your plan now!"
"Oui, I shall," Antoine said. He reached into his belt and pulled out a small gun. He pointed it into the sky and fired, ejecting a smoking projectile that ascended into the heavens...before it exploded sparks that made the shape of his face. Then the swords man turned around to see Sombra standing across from him, an amused smirk on his face.
"Sombra...you will not..." Rarity began, only for a blast from Sombra to knock her down once more. Then the dark king turned his attention to Antoine, scoffing as the coyote drew his sword.
"So the coward finally realizes that he can't do anything by himself and has to call in his friends for help. But help isn't coming, Antoine. And do you want to know why?" Sombra asked. "Because at this moment all of your friends and those annoying Elements are too busy fighting for their own lives to come and help you. And why should they? You're a coward with a sword. Not some brainy alicorn with god like magic. Not some tricky hedgehog who can run like the wind. A cowardly coyote. At least if you were a cowardly lion I could say that you had a decent movie, but you don't even have that."
"And yet, between you and me, who here has died?" Antoine asked. Sombra narrowed his eyes in response. "You are just like all ze other villains I have faced over the years. You are powerful. You are cunning. You overcome everything we do to stop you and you very nearly get want you want. But zat is the clear difference here, Sombra. You come so close, only to fail. And you will fail here as well. Unlike me, you will never achieve your aspirations."
"Please. Do not compare my goals of conquering the worlds to your pitiful wish to not wet your bed at night, "Sombra snarled. He grabbed hold of Antoine's neck with his magic and hoisted the swordsman into the air. "Your desires are nothing. Nothing you have or ever will do will come close to what I have done.
"How so? I desired to become a soldier who could protect his crown and country. I have achieved zat. I wished to live up to my father's legacy and be brave like he was. I have done zat. I even managed to be brave enough to marry ze love of my life. But all of those pale in comparison to my greatest accomplishment."
"Oh? And just what, pray tell, would that be?" Sombra asked as his horn began to glow.
"That I managed to stall you until she got here."
A blast of plasma caught Sombra in the chest, getting him to roar in pain as he was sent tumbling backwards. He lifted his head with a snarl just in time to watch as someone slammed into the ground in front of Antoine in the superhero landing. Her legs and left arm were robotic, while her right arm, body and head were still organic. Her fur was yellow, her chest fur was pink and her ponytail blew softly in the wind. And her emerald eyes were locked onto Sombra, burning with a quiet fury.
"Ah, you must be Bunnie D'Coolette," Sombra chuckled. "I was wonder-"
CRACK!
Sombra's jaw snapped to the right as Bunnie laid him out with a left hook, sending the dark king tumbling away.
"That's fer touching mah man," Bunnie snarled. She then looked over her shoulder and winked at Antoine. "Howdy, hun. Sorry ah'm late."
"Nonsense, mon cheri. You are right on time."