Chapter Three: Search And Destroy
The Everfree Forest. An ominous forest, home to many foul creatures and the holder of many secrets. These dense woods had claimed many unfortunate souls in the past, mainly due to the incompetency and/or unpreparedness of the travelers who step foot in the forest. Needless to say, you would be a god-damn jackass of a moron if you went in there without an idea of what you are doing…
Unfortunately, Sombra happened to be one of those ‘god-damn jackass of a moron’.
The dark unicorn was making his way through the dense woods, having found his way out of the passage about an hour ago, and trying to find his way out of the place. However, as he did so, he was lost in his thoughts…or rather muttering about the absurdity of what Quicksilver just told him.
“The nerves of those fools.” Sombra scoffed, “Asking me to do a fool’s errand.” He then mocked in a whimpering tone, “Oh Sombra, we brought you from the dead so you can chase the bogeyman away.” He then spat, “Please that is the stupidest thing I had ever heard.”
Then he mocked once more, “Oh, Sombra, don’t leave. If you do, Equestria will be destroyed.” He chuckled, “Pff, I am more capable of destroying Equestria than any of them ‘demons’. And even more, they think I am incapable of find my way out of this forest. Please don’t me laugh!” Despite that saying, he let out a loud laugh…unfortunately, his laugh echoed, as the sounds traveled all throughout the twisted trees of the forest.
The unicorn felt a pang of uncertainty as he heard his laugh, as he looked around. Due to a life of being far up north, he had never been inside of a forest, and as he surveyed his surroundings, he did not like it. Even with the bit of sunlight peeping in through the foliage, the place was still dark, even more so for his liking, not to mention it was…dare he say it, creepy, especially given the fact that there seemed to be no living beings in the vicinity.
Sombra however shook the uncertainty, trying to maintain his snarky pride, “I am King Sombra…I was born with a sense of di-rec-tion.” He emphasized the last word, as he continued onwards…however, though, he then asked himself, “Now…where am I exactly?”
Suddenly, he heard a buzzing, as a small bug, whose body was a size of a tennis ball, flew upwards in front of him. Unfortunately, the bug immediately got caught in a sticky web. A web that was inhabited by an even bigger spider. Sombra only looked up at the bug, and to his surprise, heard the bug pleading.
“HELP ME! HELP ME!” The bug pleaded in a high-pitched voice as the spider opened his maw.
What ensued was a tearing of bug flesh, as bits of it fell on Sombra’s snout, prompting the unicorn to shake it off in disgust. His disgust was soon replaced with disturbance, as he heard the bug’s voice one last time.
“Too late…”
“Okay…that was…unsettling.” Sombra admitted, as he continued onwards. However, as he did so, he began to hear other noises, from growls to snarls, caws and sqwuacks, and the most unsettling of all…a whistling of a slug and the constant utter of ‘beware…’. It was starting to get on the dark stallion’s nerve as he continued his trek.
“Damn it, Sombra, keep it together. It is just your mind playing tricks on you.” Sombra rehearsed to himself, “Just focus on the task at hoof and you will be golden. Just remember the steps you need to take to achieve your lost glory.” Sombra took a deep breath.
“Step One: Find a way out of this forest.” Sombra listed, as he ducked under a low branch.
“Step Two: Gather your bearings and make your north to the Crystal Empire, all the while gathering your strength.” The dark stallion continued, as he stepped in a puddle.
“Step Three: Once you arrived at the Empire and regained your entire strength, unleash your entire repertoire of dark magic upon the place when they least suspect it, and annihilate anyone who stands in your way.” He continued, giving a smug grin as he pushed through a bush.
“Step Four and this is my favorite part…reclaim your rightful place as king, lead your army to take over all of Equestria, kill Celestia, Luna, that filly and her pet dragon, enslave the entire pony race, keep a few concubines on the side, and profit! Oh yes, Sombra, that’s it. You will be all powerful, and you, Sombra, will rule over-“
Deep in his day-dreaming, Sombra did not notice his hoof being caught on a root sticking out, and as a result, he tripped over it and fell…into what seemed to be a foggy lake. Sombra quickly burst out of the water, catching his breath as he looked at what he landed in, only to see his reflection.
The dark unicorn gave a snarl as he brought his hoof down on his watery double and stomped his way out of the water.
“Step Four Point One: Level this Celestia-fucking forest and kill everything within it.” Sombra seethed in his mind, as he shook to get all the water out of his pelt. As soon as he was nearly dry, he looked out onto the lake, a layer of thin fog spread along the surface. Sombra gave a scowl as he saw no sign of a way out.
“Dammit, how big is this forest?! I had been here for who-knows how long and I see no sign of it ending. I swear to that white alicorn whore, if that bastard Quicksilver sent me out here to die, I am going to kill him!” The gray stallion threatened as he paced back and forth, “What I am going to do? Walking around will not get me anywhere if I don’t know where I am going. If only I knew where it was that I was…”
Suddenly, an idea popped up in Sombra’s mind, as he looked behind him to find a thin dead tree. “That’s it! One thing that I had learned in reading is that when you are lost, look for a high point…all I need to do is teleport myself up…” The unicorn’s horn began to glow red as he attempt to warp…only for his horn to flicker off, “Damn. I must not be at full strength still. Stupid organization can’t even revive me right. I guess the only way to get up there is…” Sombra let out a sigh, as he approached the tree, and shuddered, “The old fashioned way.”
The dark horse looked up to the lowest branch, which was a bit above his head, and with a deep breath, Sombra jumped onto the first branch, barely hanging onto it as his back legs dangled.
“Come on, Sombra. Mind over matter.” Sombra rehearsed, as he struggled to pull himself onto the branch. He gave a pant as he looked back up, only to see many more ‘stepping’ branches that stood between him and the top.
“Bloody hell.” Sombra groaned as he began his climb up the tree. Fortunately, the next couple of branches were closer to each other and allowed Sombra to quickly scale up the old tree, albeit awkwardly, making Sombra somewhat grateful that there was no one around to see him like this.
As Sombra laid his right front hoof on his twelfth branch, he looked skyward again and the top seem a lot closer, much to his relief.
“Good. Halfway there.” Sombra said to himself with glee as he continued climbing, “Sooner I get to the top, the sooner I can get out of this place before something else-”
“Hey, mister.”
“GAH!” Sombra gasped, losing grip on a branch, causing him to backslide a couple branches before he wrapped his hooves around the tree.
“Hello.”
Sombra quickly glared at the direction of the voice, only to be surprised by the origin. Looking at him, lounging on a branch next to him, was another pony…although this one was different. The pony was a female, obvious from her feminine green eyes, but her body (not to mention her voice) was strange.
It was lithe and quite attractive for a pony her age, but what disturbed him was the fact that she looked like an alicorn, a breed he grew to hate, yet there were a couple of differences. One, her wings were not like that of a pegasi, but of ones he saw on the bug that got eaten by the spider, and two, her legs had a bunch of holes in them, like swiss cheese. A light green armor was wrapped around her abdomen, and her horn was jagged looking. She had a long dark blue mane (holes in it like her legs) and two distinctive canines sticking out of the upper part of her maw.
The black-colored pony looked at the unicorn with amusement in her eyes as Sombra gave a growl.
“How dare you scare me like that!” Sombra snarled, nearly panting from the scare, “I nearly fell to my death just now!”
“My apologies, kind sir.” The pony said with a purr, “I didn’t think a male such as you was scared such as easily.”
“I was not scared!” Sombra defended, “You…you just caught me by surprise, is all.”
“Uh-huh.” The black pony smirked, “What’s your name, handsome?”
“Handsome?” Sombra repeated in confusion, as he looked upwards and then back at the black alicorn-like pony, “I’m afraid that is none of your concern. Now if you excuse me…” Sombra began to climb once more, focused on climbing upward, “I’m busy.”
The female let out a huff as she rest her snout on one of her holey hooves, “Hmm, you’re not from around here, are ya?”
“Well, no, uh…” Sombra was not sure how to answer, but he was certain that telling her the truth about him is one way of getting himself killed by Celestia herself pretty quickly, “I was simply taking a stroll, and well, I was hoping to get a good view of the lake…”
“By climbing a tree?” The alicorn-esque pony asked.
“Yes. How else?” Sombra spat back as he continued upwards, leaving the pony below him. However, he was surprised as he saw the same pony, hanging upside down from her back hooves, nearly prompting the unicorn to do a double take of the branch below him.
“Hey, are you lost?” The female questioned, with a smug smirk on her face.
Sombra’s temper was reaching it’s breaking point once again, as Sombra tried to remain calm, “No, I am not lost, but I am very busy. So, could you kindly take your business elsewhere?”
“Are you sure? Because the only reason a pony would climb a rather brittle tree in the middle of a forsaken forest is either they are part monkey, or they are lost.” The black pony stated.
“Look, lady. I am trying to be patient here, but I have no time to argue!” Sombra seethed, “Now go away!” With that, he continued higher up the tree, but the black pony only flipped herself upside-up as she watched the unicorn.
“I wouldn’t grab that branch if I was you.” The female stated.
“Oh please, it’s a stupid branch.” Sombra growled, “What can it do?” He grabbed the said branch and suddenly, the branch snapped, “GAH!” Sombra gasped as he fell down the tree again, hitting a couple of branches on the way down., before barely catching another one with his front legs, before glaring darkly up at the female.
“This tree’s branches are as fragile as twigs, you silly colt.” The female smarmed, as she noticed Sombra’s horn, “Hey, why is your horn so freakishly shaped?”
“Uh, I don’t know, why are you so freakishly infuriating?!” Sombra spat back, trying to get back up.
“Hey, it is not my fault you are so fun to play with.” The insect-winged pony chuckled.
Sombra only snarled, “You know what, lady? Fuck y-GAH!” The branch he was hanging onto snapped, sending him to the ground in an unceremonious ‘thud’ “God…damn…it.”
He heard hooves land on the ground as the black pony only gave another chortle, “So this is the infamous ‘King Sombra’ the organization been telling me about. I must say, I didn’t picture you to be so…klutzy.”
The dark unicorn’s winced shut eyes darted open as he quickly got onto his hooves (ignoring the pain in his body as he did so) and glared at the female with mistrust, “How do you know my name?! What do you know of ‘Wendigo May Cry’?!”
“Simple, silly.” The female grinned darkly, “You were all that good ol’ ‘Quickie’ would talk about. Don’t see why, though, especially since you can’t find your way out of a forest.”
“Quickie? You mean…” Sombra’s face turned to sheer annoyance as he groaned, “Oh dear god, Quicksilver sent you, didn’t he?”
“What? Can’t an attractive female such as I talk to you because I want to?” The black pony asked innocently, although her tone said otherwise.
“Attractive?” Sombra repeated as he looked at the female. He found it hard to believe that somepony could find something so…abnormal…could be considered attractive…although, he would admit, with such a slender frame and quite a sexy look about her, she does make a…what the hell is he thinking? “Look, I do not know what Quicksilver is trying to pull, but I will not be allured into some worthless cause with sexual favors of a female!”
“You know, I do have a name.” The black pony growled, giving a pout, “Honestly, didn’t they teach you manners back where you are from?”
“Don’t you dare patronize me, you freak!” Sombra snarled, his voice getting loud, “I may not have my crown but I am a king and I deserve to be treated as such!”
“Whoa, watch it, pal!” The black pony defended, obviously offended, “You don’t see me calling you a freak because of your messed up horn!”
“Don’t you dare insult my horn! If I wasn’t feeling my best, I would kill you right NOW!” Sombra roared in the black pony’s face, his horn slightly flickering to emphasize his point.
The black pony flinched back a few steps as she hissed, “Would you keep it down?! Are you trying to attract attention of every creature here?”
“I don’t care!” Sombra roared, losing his temper in one fell swoop, “I am already having a bad day, and I don’t really feel like ‘keeping it down’ just for the sake of some stupid animals!”
“You don’t understand, Sombra-”
“It’s KING Sombra to you!” The dark unicorn corrected, “Honestly, I am sick of not getting my respect where it is due!”
“The only respect you will be getting is for the dead again if you don’t shut up.” The azure-haired pony growled as her eyes shifted left and right, “Your loud ranting will lead ‘him’ right towards you!”
“What are you talking about?!” Sombra growled, noticing her shifty eyes, “Lead who towards me?”
The black pony looked at Sombra, her playful eyes turning to grim ones, much like Ganon and Quicksilver’s, “The hunter behemoth.”
“The what?”
His question was soon answered as a low rumbling sound echoed throughout the forest. The black pony’s breath hitched as she looked out towards the lake, “Oh no…he’s here.”
Sombra, not liking the tone of her voice, looked out onto the lake, and to his surprise, he saw something rising out of the foggy lake…and to be honest, he wished he hadn’t.
It was a beast unlike anything he had seen before. It’s body was like a giant wolf, except it’s body was grotesquely bulky and veiny, and scars marking all over the beast’s skin and underbelly. It’s pale-colored fur stood out from the surrounding, and a armor-like carapace on his back, and piercings on his long flappy ears. What make the beast intimidating though was it’s giant claws, gnarly fangs, and a long and very blade-like appendage sticking out of it’s forehead.
The beast’s beady white eyes glared upon the two equines as it took note of the unicorn with the red horn, and with a toothy grin that would induce nightmares, it spoke in a masculine, yet very demented voice.
“SOoooOOOoooMBRA…”
“What in the name of Faust…” Sombra whispered in shock.
“The behemoth...” The black pony muttered.
Sombra gave a huff as he glared deeply, “Worthless scum.”
The giant beast let out a roar as he began to approach the two ponies.
“It’s too late…he already found you. We need to get out of here!” The black pony ordered the unicorn as she ran off into the distance.
“What…but…what is going on?!” Sombra yelled after the black pony, as he then glared back at the behemoth, now approaching the shore, prompting the unicorn to curse, “Shit. This day just keep on getting better and better…” He then noticed the behemoth pull something from his waist… “Bad day to be resurrected…”
The giant behemoth aimed the device, which is revealed to be a giant claw-like tool, and with a simple pull of a trigger, the claw part of the weapon flew right at the horse. The dark unicorn was barely fast enough to quickly jump to the side as the claw buzzed past him and tightly grasped the tree he had tried to climb.
“Whoa! Watch where you aim your filthy fucking claw!” Sombra roared back at the behemoth, not willing to be intimidated.
Unfortunately, the beast ignored the horse’s harsh words as with a tug of his claw-gun wielding arm, the tree he had unintentionally grabbed was immediately uprooted and sent hurtling towards the behemoth, sending dirt and rock flying everywhere as Sombra ducked under the flying tree.
As soon as he was safe, the dark horse looked at the behemoth as the beast reeled in the dead tree and with a simple lunge, severed the dead piece of wood in two, his face obviously dissatisfied with his catch.
“Hmph. Missed.” Sombra taunted.
The beast only growled in contempt as he slipped back into the lake, disappearing from view.
“That’s right, run like the insignificant spawn you are!” The horse boasted.
“Sombra!”
The dark stallion quickly looked behind past where the dead tree once stood as he saw the black pony again.
“Sombra! This way! We have to go!” The female bellowed, as she ran off into the distance.
“What?! Why?! He’s-” Sombra tried to reason, when suddenly, the ground behind him was smashed into flying rubble as Sombra looked back and saw the behemoth had fired his claw-gun once more, and again, with a pull of the beast’s arm, the ground began to cave behind the dark horse.
“Oh, son of a…” Sombra growled as he quickly galloped away from the collapsing ground, which was now turning into a small fissure.
Unfortunately, the said fissure was proving to be a rather quick one, as the ground in front of him began to collapse as well, prompting Sombra to quickly leap over the newfound voids. However, the fissures that were building had soon surrounded Sombra and it would be a matter of moments before the ground beneath him collapse entirely.
Sombra’s heart began to beat faster as the adrenaline began to kick in. Quickly, he looked ahead for a way to get out of the fissures that would soon trap him, as he soon found another dead tree, getting dragged down into the earth. Seeing his way out, the stallion quickly leapt atop the side of the tree and quickly ran up it as it got sucked into the ground, before doing a bigger leap from the top of it.
The dark unicorn panted, trying to catch his breath, before he heard the frustrated roar of the behemoth in the distance. He looked back and caught the glimpse of the beast, hanging off the side of one of the bigger trees in the forest, quite surprised that the piece of wood can support his weight.
“Crud, that woman was right when she called him a hunter…if only I can use my magic…” Sombra groaned inwardly, as he looked up at his horn, “Come on. I know you can still work. Please, give me something, anything to throw at him!”
The stallion winced his eyes shut as his horn began to glow red once more, flickering like a dying light bulb…however, unlike the last couple of times, the flickering had stopped as his horn’s glow became vibrant, and soon, two small blackish portals materializes, and Sombra’s eyes darted open, as he let out a roar. At the sound of the roar, a flurry of black crystal-like shards shot out of the two portals, flying directly at the behemoth’s face.
Unfortunately, these very sharp shards merely bounced off the behemoth’s face, as the beast gave a mocking grin, before leaping off the tree and into the depths of the forest, leaving the dark unicorn shocked and outraged by what he had done.
“Crystal shards?! Of all the magic I had in my repertoire, all I can muster up are crystal shards?!” Sombra snarled, as he turned away to continue running, “Why can’t I catch a break today?!”
Farther and farther away from the lake Sombra ran, desperately trying to find a way out of this hellish forest and away from that beast, while dealing with the looming threat that the beast could jump out at him at any moment. He would not admit that he was afraid, no way in Tartarus he would ever do that, but the suspense building up and the adrenaline still coursing through his system was putting his mind through a living hell.
The horse’s red eyes kept veering left and right as Sombra kept on running, keeping a vigilant look out for where the beast would strike next. But alas, it was like he trapped in a gigantic labyrinth, stuck in the treacherous game of cat and mouse, the cat being the behemoth. If only he could find someone to-
“Sombra!”
Sombra quickly snarled and rear up his haunches, surprising none other than the black female pony from earlier.
“Whoa! Take it easy, it’s me!” The female tried to sooth, failing miserably as the unicorn glared profusely.
“Just who the hell are you?! Why the fuck is that ‘thing’ after me?!” Sombra roared, both out of shock and anger of the situation he was in.
The black pony sighed, as she ran a hoof through her mane, “My name is Chrysalis. Don’t worry, like you had said earlier, I am from ‘Wendigo May Cry’. I am here to help you.”
“Well, forgive me if I do not feel the least relieved!” Sombra growled.
“Look, I do not have time to explain why the hunter is after you. All I know is that you cannot let him catch you!” Chrysalis explained.
“Geez, thanks for stating the obvious!” Sombra snarled, panting from all the galloping he was doing, “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now!”
Chrysalis went silent for a moment, before answering, “I can’t…Sombra…I am only trying to help you.”
Sombra let out a huff as he looked away from her, as he continued walking ahead, “I don’t need any commoner’s help.”
“Look, the hunter won’t stop till he catches you. I can lead you to safety!” Chrysalis steps in front of him.
“Please, I am a master of dark magic! I may have not faced a behemoth before, but once I get warmed up, I will smite anything that stands in my way.” Sombra assured, although a part of him felt uncertain of the fact.
“Take it from someone who was as cocky as you once.” Chrysalis closed in, her eyes becoming more serious, “The behemoth is nothing like you had faced back at the Empire.” Sombra was about to rebut, but the black pony only ordered, “Follow me. Now!”
The black pony ran off into the distance as the dark unicorn let out a heavy sigh…but knowing that she was possibly her only hope of not getting killed by the hunter, who is he to look a gift horse in the mouth?
Sombra took off and galloped with all his might to catch up with Chrysalis, who gave a minor look to see if he was following her, only to be relieved. However, Sombra asked, “So, where exactly are we going?!”
“There should be an emergency gate hatch hidden not far from here!” Chrysalis shouted back, not bothering to look back, “We should be in the clear by then, just as long as nothing else happens!”
Unfortunately, as a perfect example of a jinx, Sombra and Chrysalis felt the ground shake under them as from behind them, bashing every tree aside was the behemoth on all four legs.
“You just had to say it, didn’t you?!” Sombra groaned, as he looked back.
The behemoth, seeing his target in front of him, quickly rose on his back legs as he then grabbed a dead tree right next to him, and using his heavily-scarred but well-built muscles, he easily uprooted the tree with both arms.
“Oh crud!” Chrysalis growled as the two continued running.
The beast glanced at the two equines as confirmation and with a heave, the dead tree was now barreling through the forest, descending in altitude, directly at the two ponies.
Sombra and Chrysalis both gasped as they quickly split apart from each other, just as the tree made an explosive contact with the ground…
Meanwhile
A crystal screen was shown as an bird’s eyes view of the entire Everfree Forest was being shown, trees within the giant forest being knocked down by the tree that was thrown earlier by the behemoth. However, the said behemoth seemed to appear as a blurry shadow as it clearly disappeared into the forest. Suddenly, the voice of a certain newspony spoke as the image played.
“Breaking news, we go to our pegasi reporter Bird Eyes. I am not believing what I am seeing.” Honest Truth stated, quite shocked with the scene.
“So you mean that I am not hallucinating?!” The reporter spoke, keeping a camera on the scene.
Back to the ground…
Sombra was low to the ground as dirt rain all over him, watching as the thrown tree skidded along the ground, knocking trees and kicking up dirt.
“Okay, this whole tree uprooting scheme of his is getting real old right now!” Sombra snarled.
“You can complain about the behemoth’s method of capture when he is not chasing you!” Chrysalis snapped, as she was on the other side of the big divot the tree made when it collided with the ground. She quickly rose to her feet, and gestured to her right, “Come on! We have to keep moving!”
“No! I am not going to be the mouse of that beast’s deluded game of cat and mouse!” Sombra growled, as he then stomped forward in the direction of the thrown tree, “Come on! If you want me, come and get it!”
“Sombra! Are you crazy?!” The black pony snapped, “Quicksilver is counting on you being alive! If you are dead then-”
“Then Equestria is doomed? Please, I rather die to this behemoth then die being a coward! If this behemoth is truly as powerful as you claim, why doesn’t he prove it?!” Sombra shouted out to the woods.
The woods went silent for a second, as Sombra waited for the behemoth to make his appearance…but only the sounds of the woodland creatures echoed throughout the foggy air. The dark unicorn only smiled smugly at the black pony, whose eyes and head was shifting left and right on watch out for the beast.
“Hmph. Cowardly beast don’t know how to face me like a stalli-” Sombra’s ears picked up on something, and the unicorn quickly stepped back as out of nowhere, a giant twirling blade, about the length of Sombra, spun right past him, cleaving through even more trees than lumberjacks do on a normal day.
Sombra glared back at the direction of which the hurled blade originated, as the behemoth made his way towards the dark equine once more…but oddly enough, his horn was missing.
However, that did not matter, as the unicorn roared, “There you are! You want a piece of me?! Then take this!” His horn glowed red once more as the two familiar dark portals materialized and fired more crystal shards at the behemoth, but like it did before, no effect was made on the beast, bouncing off his face as it did before. However, it seemed to piss off the beast if anything.
“You realize that won’t work, right?!” Chrysalis shouted, as she ran to Sombra’s side.
“Why not?” Sombra rebutted.
“He’s magicproof!” The mare snapped.
“Magicproof?! How in Tartarus does a brute like that make himself magicproof?!” Sombra stated in shock, ‘In fact, how does anypony make themselves magicproof?!”
“Demon charms.” Chrysalis stated, “Very powerful stuff. Right now with you being at your weakest, fighting him is probably not a wise choice!”
Sombra gave a huff as he glared at the behemoth…only to see that the beast had vanished once more. “Damn it, he’s gone!”
“Forget about him! We need to get to the emergency hatch right now!” Chrysalis stated as she began to run in the opposite direction.
“Forget about him? But doesn’t Wendigo May Cry deal with beasts like that?!” Sombra asked as he turned to follow Chrysalis, still confused with the organization’s actual purpose.
“We’ll deal with him later! Come on!” The black pony explained briefly.
The two equines once again ran through the forest, weaving between trees and ducking under branches in hopes of eluding the beast. Sombra could not comprehend how anyone could find their way through such a place such as this, let alone his companion, who claims to be a member of the same organization that he had just turned down an hour or so earlier.
In fact, as he thought about it, what was this pony? At first glance, one would think that she was an alicorn, a breed he had grown to distaste…but he had never seen an alicorn looked as odd as her. It was like she was caught in some merging magic with a giant insect, and someone had poked holes into her hooves. It was a troubling thought, a thought that he should probably follow up once he got out of this mess. Correction. If he ever got out of this mess.
It was not long however before the two of them arrived in a very large clearing, void of any trees…with the exception of one tree stump, conspicuously placed at the opposite end of where Chrysalis and Sombra were.
“Oh…good. There’s the hatch.” Chrysalis panted, slowing down to a trot, as she pointed towards the stump, “We’re almost home free!”
“For your sake…” Sombra huffed, “And for my hooves’ sake…” He thought, “I hope you are right.”
Chrysalis and Sombra homed in on the broken stump, as the horn of Chrysalis glowed a light green. When it did, the stump suddenly flipped open, as if it was a trapdoor, revealing a stone passage.
The black pony smirked, “Excellent! Now let’s get out of-“
A loud ripping sound was made as suddenly, another tree crashed down in front of the two horses, effectively burying the hidden passageway in tree and dirt rubble.
“Oh come on!” Sombra snarled in exasperation.
“Dammit!” Chrysalis growled, “That was our only hope of getting out of here!”
“Well, what do we do now?!” The dark unicorn demanded.
His desperate question was answered by a loud roar, as Sombra and Chrysalis about-face to see the behemoth once more, lunging out into the middle of the open field, his horn mysteriously back in place, giving a wicked grin as he closed in on his target.
“SOOOoooOOOMBRA!” The behemoth bellowed.
“Looks like you have no choice. You will have to fight him after all!” Chrysalis stated fearfully.
“Me? What about you?!” Sombra snapped.
“My magic won’t do much against him! And as much as I hate to admit it, I am more of a lover, not much of a fighter.” Chrysalis shrugged.
Sombra only snorted in anger, “Typical female! In case you hadn’t noticed, my magic was no good against him either!”
“Let’s change that, shall we?!” Chrysalis smarmed, as she stepped forward. Before Sombra could ask what she was doing, her horn glowed once more and suddenly, a giant black orb formed at the tip, and with a simple flick of her head, the orb was flung at the beast, hitting him straight in the face. Immediately, his face got ablaze, the behemoth shaking his head in pain as he tried to put out the flame.
“Aha! It worked!” Chrysalis smirked, although she winced a bit, clutching her forehead, “His demon charms are rendered powerless. You can fight him now!”
“And you couldn’t had done that before…because?” Sombra asked, his eyes twitching.
“It’s a resistance-breaking charm, and a strong one at that. So strong in fact that it renders the user incapable of performing magic for a while. Kind of a ‘in case of emergency’ kind of magic if you think about it.” The black pony explained, her head aching.
“Well, at least the odds will be more in my favor.” Sombra muttered, as he took battle stance.
“Yes, but do be careful, Sombra. Behemoths are brutal in battle.” Chrysalis warned, as she quickly hid behind the tree that blocked the hatch.
The behemoth manages to put out the fire on his face, leaving the beast heavily scarred in the face, and even more pissed than ever, as he let out a vicious roar.
Sombra scraped his hoof along the ground, getting into a charging position, and gave a cocky smirk, “Guess what? So am I.”
The behemoth and Sombra, as if in sync, let out a battle cry as the dark unicorn charged at the beast, his horn glowing a brighter red, as portals of darkness appeared aside him once more. The behemoth reached and grabbed his horn as he ran, much to Sombra’s confusion, when suddenly, the behemoth pulled it straight off his head, revealing a giant cleaver-like sword.
“What in the name of-“ Sombra gasped, but did not have the chance to finish, as the behemoth then swung the heavy blade in a wide arc with ease, prompting Sombra to quickly duck and darted between the beast’s lower legs.
The hunter quickly about-face as he swung his giant cleaver again, only to meet nothing but air once again as Sombra quickly rolled out of the way.
In retaliation, Sombra gave a growl as his horn glowed bright red once more (having lost concentration at the initial surprise of the behemoth’s horn-made-sword), and black crystal shards fired at the behemoth’s face. But this time, without the ‘demon charm’ to protect his body, the shards dug into the beast’s already-burned face, causing the beast to growl in pain as he gripped his face.
“Oh, you feel it now, don’t you?!” Sombra chuckled darkly.
The behemoth didn’t take kindly to the taunt, as he lunged at the horse, attempting to stab the equine, but Sombra was too quick for him, as he quickly side-stepped the attack, following up with even more crystal shards. The beast only grew madder and madder as he attempts to slice Sombra in two with his lumbering sword, but the dark unicorn managed to duck, side-step, and even flip over each of his swings and jabs.
Watching from the sidelines, Chrysalis only gaped at the skills Sombra was showcasing.
“Celestia…for a guy who was just brought back from the dead, he is handling himself like a true fighter.” Chrysalis mused, “…Ganon wasn’t kidding when he said that he would be of use to us.”
Sombra gave a smug grin as he dodged another stab by the behemoth, as he rushed up to the behemoth’s face, and reared up his right front hoof, a bit of darkness raveling around it and…
SMACK!
Swung it right into the behemoth’s badly scratched face, sending the behemoth flying back a few steps, as the beast dug his claws into the ground to catch itself, his right claw hanging tight onto his sword. The weariness in the beast was apparent, as the giant monster’s breathing was becoming slow and erratic.
“Is that the best you got?! Honestly, I was running from you?! You are pathetic!” Sombra taunted.
Chrysalis’s impressed face turn to a bit of disappointment, “He’s a bit on the cocky side, not to mention an asshole…he’s just lucky that he’s quite a looker.” She stifled a chuckle to herself.
The behemoth glared at Sombra with the utmost hate. He was not going to let his master down, especially to a pony who was supposedly just brought back from the dead! Damn that wretched freak and that charm that broke his immunity! However, if he was going to get his mark, he will have to resort to a dastardly old trick of his…
Sombra gave a grin as he approached the behemoth, ready to unleash another two salvos of crystalline bullets, “Ready to give up, you foul beast? Or will the powerful King Sombra have to put you down?!”
Much to Sombra’s surprise, the beast gave a smile...even more surprising, something black and liquid-like began to leak through the jagged teeth of the beast. Before the dark unicorn could react, the behemoth opened his maw and out of it came a black-like fog, cloaking the entire clearing in darkness.
Chrysalis’s blood froze as the clearing and Sombra disappeared in the cloak of darkness, “What the-SOMBRA?!“
The dark unicorn stood still as he looked around, unable to see anything except for himself. He had never seen this kind of magic before, let alone magic performed by a non-equine being. Sombra gave a dark glare as he tried to pinpoint where the behemoth was, but given how the beast managed to sneak attack him and Chrysalis three times now and manages to appear out of nowhere instantly, he would probably fail in doing so. This beast was all about ‘guerilla warfare’, striking the foe when they least expect it and running when they do expect it.
“Where are you?! Show yourself!” Sombra demanded.
A loud growling sound was the only response Sombra got. Then suddenly, glowing a fiery orange, the same spinning blade that nearly cleaved him earlier (and was probably the sword of the behemoth’s, no doubt) flew at him in a vertical manner. Sombra let out a yelp as he quickly veered to the left and charging up his horn once more, he fired more crystal shards at where the sword come from…however, they hit nothing.
Then, Sombra looked to his right to see the same blade spinning at him, now horizontally. The dark unicorn fired more crystal shards at the blade, hoping to stop the blade, but the spinning buzzsaw of a sword reflected each of the miniscule crystals, and Sombra quickly side-stepped it once more…however, he barely made it, as the tip of the sword grazed the unicorn’s left side, leaving a bad cut.
“Grr, damn it!” Sombra growled, gingerly placing his front right hoof on his injured side, wincing as he felt warm blood stain the hoof. Despite the adrenaline that was surging through him, his entire body began hurting, making moving a rather hard task.
A demonic laugh echoed throughout the fog, much to Sombra’s dismay, as he heard the telltale sound of the spinning sword coming right at him once again, the steel blade flying at him in a vertical manner once more.
Sombra growled as the sword flew at him faster than before, giving him no time to dodge at all (even if he could, his body would refuse to obey his command). The dark unicorn only watched in horror as the sword approached it’s target, mere seconds from hitting its mark. Sombra’s horn glowed once again, the horse’s teeth clenched in frustration.
“No…I can’t lose…not again…not again…” Sombra panted, his mind as tired as his body, and in anger, his mind roared, “NOT AGAIN!”
Suddenly, at the tip of Sombra’s horn, a small shadow crystal appeared above it…but just as the sword was about to make contact, the crystal instantly shifted into a long and jagged black javelin and collided with the spinning blade.
The dark unicorn immediately felt a bit of weight shifted towards him as Sombra found himself wielding (via the magic of his horn) the spear in a parry, holding off the still spinning sword, sparks flying everywhere as the sword tries to break through the spear, but to no avail.
Feeling in control once more, Sombra gritted his teeth as he threw his horn forward, and in unison, the javelin, effectively flinging the flying sword back at whence it had come.
Due to the winds the spinning of the blade generated, the fog that surrounded the battlefield cleared away, revealing none other than the surprised and agonized face of the behemoth, as his own powerful weapon buzzed right into him without warning. A bit of blood splattered around the beast as the blade bounced off the strong muscular frame of the beast, but leaving in it’s wake, a shredded chest.
The behemoth let out a giant roar of pain and agony as he fell to his knees, clutching his wounds with his left front claw, and then collapsing altogether against the ground, making no more sounds except that of heavy breathing, as blood seeped onto the ground, staining the grass.
Chrysalis’s mouth was left gaping as soon as the rest of the fog cleared up, the sight of one of the deadliest creatures she had ever heard about reduced to a bloody heap, all because of a singular pony…if she should even call him such. She looked at Sombra, the dark unicorn letting out heavy pants as he tried to catch his breath. “Just what kind of being are you, King Sombra? You are not a monster as they described…yet you are not a pony…a true enigma if I say so myself.” Chrysalis mused to herself.
After managing to regulate the exercise that his heart was being put through, Sombra gave a glance at the defeated beast before him, secretly relishing in the pain he had inflicted upon the beast that had dared tried to ‘hunt him down’, and with the dark crystalline javelin still within his magical grasp, he approached the behemoth, an evil grin growing on his face…
The behemoth could not comprehend the surge of pain he was feeling. Never in his lifetime had any being that he had hunted had bested him in battle, let alone a measly pony that ‘his master’ wanted dead…then again, he was told that this ‘pony’ that he was to hunt was unique and wasn’t to be taken lightly; the way he fought and how he had managed to survive his ultimate technique he usually reserved for the greatest of marks was proof of that.
A few clops of hooves caused his ears to perk as the beast’s eyes open, only to turn into a fierce glare as his ‘mark’ had a hoof rested on his bloodied horn-blade and a dark spear, encased in a red aura, pointed at him, as Sombra looked down at him with eyes that he knew meant one thing…death.
Sombra gave a cocky smirk as he sneered, “Game…over…”
The hunter let out a pained growl. Deep down, despite how high and mighty he had become, he knew that this day would come…but if there was one thing that a demon like him abided by…it was to never give their foe the satisfaction of victory.
“The son of Shadow…” The behemoth murmured.
“The son of who?” Sombra asked, his cocky grin turning to that of confusion.
The beast smirked, having wiped the smirk off his face, “You had been found…you…are dead…” An even wider grin appeared on the behemoth’s snout, “Just like your whore mother…”
All sense of victory that Sombra felt immediately faded away as he heard the mention of the word ‘mother’…and to take its place, a sense of sheer bitterness and anger had arisen.
“Whore mother?” Sombra asked, giving a sadistic grin, “I don’t know who my mother, but if you are calling me a son of a bitch…” The dark unicorn raised his crystalline javelin, his eyes now turning to complete fury, “YOU WOULDN’T BE THE FIRST!”
His spear went down like a ton of bricks, and a sickening sound of a life ending sent crows perched in the trees flying off into the distance.
Sombra glared upon the now-dead body of the behemoth, as a part of the javelin embedded itself into the beast’s skull, and gave a spit as the remains of his spear dissipated into nothing. The dark stallion let out a huff of anger as he turned away from the corpse, and began to walk away…but as he did so, his cold glare turned into that of sadness, as he gave a glance at a spot he hadn’t looked at in a long time.
The dark unicorn had long ago decreed to himself that a cutie mark (the term itself summoned bile into his mouth) was pointless. It shouldn’t be the mark that decided the destiny, but rather the pony himself. Because of this thought, he had always concealed the mark he had on his flank under his red cloak he wore as king, and to this day, no one had ever known what his mark truly was (although there was rumors that he had a mark of stairs…honestly, because he happened to have a lot of them in his old palace and everyone thinks he has a stairs fetish, the nerves of some ponies…).
Nevertheless, Sombra looked at his tattooed flank. The cutie mark that was branded onto his flank was a rather peculiar one, as it was like a black sun, with three evenly-spaced spiked prongs pointing upwards, and another three pointing downwards. In-between the two pairs of prongs, outlined by the black circle, was a red eye, making the mark in itself ominous.
Sombra had never once understood what this cutie mark meant. All other ponies had marks that clearly signify their natural talents and purposes, yet he of all ponies had no idea whatsoever what his talent was…and at that point and time, he had decided to not lose any sleep over it. But now…as he looked at the mark now…he felt something flickered into his mind.
His mark…the black sun with the red eye…then suddenly, he remembered an image…a young gray-coated unicorn colt with an odd red horn…cuddling with a much older unicorn, female, black mane, coat of the lightest silver and eyes of ruby red…and wrapped around the child…were wings? Sombra couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
“My mother…I barely remember her…who was she?” Sombra thought to himself.
The dark unicorn however just snapped out of his thoughts. The hunter behemoth had kept him so distracted that he forgot what he was doing in the first place: trying to find a way out of the woods. Much to his relief, with all the damage the behemoth done trying to kill him, a part of the woods was nothing more than broken and leveled stumps, making his trek a lot easier.
However, before he could get much farther, he heard a familiar voice called out to him.
“Sombra!”
Sombra let out a sigh, completely forgetting about the black insect-like pony, as Chrysalis ran up to his side.
“Sombra, are you all right?” Chrysalis asked with concern in her voice.
“I’ll live.” Sombra muttered, not bothering to look at her.
“Are you sure? You got a nasty cut on your side that says otherwise.” Chrysalis pointed out, noticing the still-bleeding scratch on the stallion’s side.
“Look, I don’t care what Quicksilver wants from me. I’m still not going to play his little war game.” Sombra growled.
“Oh come on, Sombra!” Chrysalis pouted, “Aren’t you the least bit interested as in why the hunter wanted you dead? And let’s not forget that I helped you back there!”
“I did not ask for your help.” Sombra coldly rebutted as he looked at the black pony.
Chrysalis only stared at the dark unicorn, looking at him fiercely. Her voice, oddly calm, stated, “Sombra. Please come with me. Not just for Equestria’s sake, and not for ours…but for the sake of you not getting your flank killed after all the efforts we put into bringing you back…please.”
Nearly every fiber of Sombra’s mindset wanted to say no to her and leave her there, a smaller amount wanted to kill her for interfering and annoying him (and with a part of his magic back, he could do so)…but despite all the hostility within his mind…there was something in him, and he did not know how dominant that ‘thing’ was, that wanted to follow her.
The image of that young colt and her mother…his mark…what the behemoth had said to him before he died. Somehow, he felt that the only way he was going to get answers for all the questions that had resurfaced after so long was to return to ‘Wendigo May Cry’ with this mare…and maybe Quicksilver might hold some answers.
The dark unicorn took a deep breath as he glanced at Chrysalis with a half-glaring, half-indifferent expression, and nodded, “Fine. I will go with you.”
Instantly, Chrysalis’s face light up, “Excellent.” The female walked past him, heading back into the woods, “Just follow me. Another entrance to the hideout shouldn’t be far from here.”
Sombra merely rolled his eyes as he did so. Deep in his mind, he hoped that he knew what it was that he was getting himself into…
Meanwhile…
A crystal screen had risen up once more, showing the chubby figure of Honest Truth sitting at his desk, as he gave the news.
“We are just receiving reports of a possible terrorist attack that had taken place deep within the Everfree Forest not far from Ponyville. The Royal Guard and police departments of the surrounding area are asking the public to remain vigilant, as further terror attacks could take place anywhere, any time, and when you least expect it.”
Watching the news anchor read on a particularly big monitor amongst all the smaller ones was the black unicorn with the jagged horn, sitting at his desk, with his female companion leaning against it, both watching it with intrigue.
“We have your scent, son of Shadow. Now it’s just a matter of time…” The unicorn stated as an evil grin spread across his face.