Shining Armor watched closely from the window of a clothing store as the stallion they were pursuing, on the other side of the street, stood in line at a stand stocked full of oranges. Behind him, Cadance and Sunset Shimmer were browsing the store’s stock and discussing what would look good on each other.
“I don’t know,” Cadance said as she held up the skirt she had been looking at. “Doesn’t it make my flanks look fat?”
“When I left Equestria, big flanks were all the rage,” Sunset said as she levitated a saddle in front of herself and gagged. “You’d never catch me dead in a thing like this. Though I guess living as a human for some time might have something to do with that.”
“I think it’s rather cute,” Cadance said with a giggle. “It’s a shame we can’t buy any of this stuff, but as long as we’re here we might as well try some of it on.”
“No time,” Shining said. “He’s on the move again. Let’s go.”
“Awww, come on. Just one more minute?” Cadance asked with a pout.
“This isn’t a vacation, Cadance,” he said, turning to see his girlfriend pouting as she stared down at the clothes in her hooves. “… Fine, we’ll come back after we’ve finished tailing this guy. Happy?”
Cadance’s face lit up and she nodded. “Yep!”
Sunset Shimmer took all of the clothes they had picked out into her magic and dumped them onto the nearby store clerk. “Be a dear and put these back for us, will you?”
Before the clerk could respond, the trio had already galloped out of the store and down the street, knocking over a few ponies on the way. “Some ponies…”
The stallion they were chasing made a sudden turn into a park, and the group stopped for a moment to observe before going in after him. The park was mostly empty and relatively quiet. Cadance wanted to stop for a moment to smell the beautiful flowerbeds that they had passed by, but Sunset Shimmer used her magic to drag her along.
“There’s something up ahead,” Shining Armor whispered as he held a foreleg out to motion the group to stop. “He’s stopping at that wooden structure.”
“Excuse me,” the stallion said as he knocked on the door. “Anypony home?”
“Who dares disturb the Great and Powerful Trixie?” a voice asked from the other side. The trailer’s door opened, and out popped a blue Unicorn mare with a silver mane.
Sunset Shimmer sighed at the site. “‘Trixie’, huh? Well, at least this one won’t be playing ‘twenty questions’ with me about Equestrian magic.”
“Forgive my intrusion, miss, but I heard from a passerby that you would soon be heading off towards Ponyville. Is this correct?”
“It is. Tomorrow, in fact. Which means that if you haven’t seen Trixie’s show yet, tonight is your last chance.”
“Might I trouble you for a ride to Ponyville? I’ll pay you handsomely, of course.” The stallion reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a pouch. He handed it to Trixie, whose eyes widened and jaw dropped as she opened it up to look inside. “Well?”
Trixie closed the pouch up and grinned at the stallion. “Very well then. Come back here tonight, Mr…”
“Sombra,” the stallion said. “Thank you for your assistance.”
“D-Did you hear that?!” Shining whispered to the other two in his group. They both nodded. “That’s Sombra!”
“Well, what are we waiting for then?” Sunset asked. “Let’s go arrest him!”
Shining Armor nodded. “After that pony goes back inside. Best not to cause a scene…” The three waited for the two ponies before them to finish their conversation. It didn’t take long, with Trixie heading back inside of her trailer moments later and closing the door behind her. Sombra turned around and began to walk towards where the three were watching. “Now!”
The trio jumped out in front of Sombra, surprising him and causing him to stop in his tracks. “What the? Who are you?!”
“Sombra, you are under arrest for treason and theft!” Shining Armor declared with a threatening glare.
Sombra gasped. “Shining Armor?” Shining nodded, and Sombra turned his eyes to the two mares. “… Well then, I guess that makes you Cadance, and… I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met.”
“She’s Sunset Shimmer,” Cadance said with a smirk on her face. “She’ll be the one to take you down.”
“Best to just turn yourself in right now, Sombra,” Shining said, motioning with his head for Sunset to move in. “Unlike you, she knows how to fight to in this form.”
Sunset Shimmer took a few steps forward, and her horn lit up. “Forget the warnings. Whether he surrenders or not, he’s coming with us.”
Sombra laughed under his breath, and then set his gaze on Sunset Shimmer as a dark grin spread across his face. “No… that won’t happen.”
Sunset Shimmer noticed something around Sombra’s neck. It was something red, and pointy, hanging around his neck via a piece of string. It glowed a sickly colour, one that Sunset Shimmer had only seen once before: when Princess Celestia demonstrated dark magic to her as a filly.
Sombra’s horn began to glow a dark-blue colour, and Sunset Shimmer quickly fired off a spell before he had a chance to. The beam of magic hit Sombra directly… or so it seemed. However, as the magic died down, Sunset was shocked to see Sombra still standing as if nothing had happened.
A blast of blue energy fired out of Sombra’s horn and hit the ground. The spot that the spell had hit turned blue, and a crystal shot out of the ground. The blue started to spread towards the trio, crystals shooting up wherever the magic had reached.
Sunset Shimmer quickly charged up a cancellation spell and fired it off, destroying the crystals and nullifying Sombra’s spell. ‘How is he so adept at magic after only being here for two days?!’ Sunset asked herself as she watched Sombra charging up another spell.
Before she could have any time to guess as to what the spell was, a loud noise behind her caught Sunset Shimmer’s attention. She turned around to see a large crystal poking out of the ground, and a second later, the crystal shattered, pieces of it spraying everywhere.
Whilst Shining Armor took most of the attack’s damage by placing his body in front of Cadance, he still managed to remain standing after the attack was finished. Sunset Shimmer managed to erect a small barrier, but the crystals seemed to have a magic-draining property to them, leaving her quite exhausted as she turned back to find Sombra walking away.
“I have no time to waste with FBI and rejected Princesses,” he said, causing a sting somewhere deep inside of Sunset’s body. “Farewell.”
“Wait-” Shining started, but stopped as he felt the stinging of the crystals piercing his skin take effect.
“Over here!” a voice shouted from the distance. “Looks like one of them’s injured!”
Sunset Shimmer looked up a nearby hill to find a few ponies approaching, two of them dressed in the armour worn by the Royal Guard. ‘I can’t let them see my face! I have to get out of here!’ Charging up her magic, Sunset Shimmer prepared an emergency teleportation spell. “Hold on tight, you guys! I’m about to teleport us!”
“What? Wait, what about-” Shining’s question was interrupted by a flash of light whisking them away.