In the Golden Oaks library, Twilight was busy stacking her various books on the coffee table. Spike was in the kitchen, preparing a batch of his famous nachos to make up for the half-lunch. Sombra passed the time looking for the magic-based books. As his eyes passed over another copy of the reference guide, a question came to mind.
"Twilight Sparkle," he said, turning to the mare. "You mentioned Princess Luna, correct?"
She looked up. "Yes, she's a good friend of mine."
"I thought she was banished to the moon by her sister." He took the book in his magic, holding it up for emphasis. "For roughly one thousand years, correct?"
"Yes, and could you please be careful with that?" She took the book in her own magic, returning it to the shelf. "She did return as Nightmare Moon on the Summer Solstice, but we used the Elements of Harmony to return her to normal."
He twitched. "Excuse me?"
She gave a small, nervous laugh. "Yeah, my friends and I are the new bearers-"
He slammed his hooves on the table, scattering the books. "Your friends? Who!?" Realizing what he was doing, he stepped down and cleared his throat. "I would like to thank you for your efforts."
She blushed. "It's okay, really. That was years ago."
Deciding that this gambit would be wasted on her, Sombra continued. "No, really, I insist. You've done a great thing for this country. Do you know where I can find your friends, that I may thank them as well?"
"Good luck with that," Spike said, emerging from the kitchen with a bowl larger than he was, filled to the brim with chips and toppings. With a grunt, he set the bowl on the already crowded table. "You'll probably just embarrass them. Especially Fluttershy." He grabbed a clawful and stuffed them into his mouth.
Sombra eyed the strange dish, slowly realizing that he hadn't eaten since his defeat. He took a cheese-smothered chip, inspecting it in midair. "Who?"
"She's a pegasus pony. She's super shy, and afraid of pretty much everything, but she's one of the kindest ponies you'll ever meet."
"So she would bear the Element of Kindness."
"Right." Licking his claws clean, he ran upstairs. Seconds later, he returned with a framed photo of six ponies, Twilight included. He went on, pointing to each one in turn. "This is Applejack, whose family runs Sweet Apple Acres; This is Pinkie Pie, the pony you turn to for a great time; Here's Rainbow Dash, the leader of the Weather Patrol team; This is Rarity, a clothing designer and one of the most beautiful ponies in Equestria-"
He tuned Spike out, believing that he had heard everything he needed to know. Instead, he focused on the food, taking an experimental bite of the chip. He froze. He knew that he had put the thing in his mouth, and yet...
I can't taste it! They tasted good enough, if the dragon's appetite was anything to go by. Even Twilight looked up from her reading to steal a chip or two. So what's wrong with me!? Slowly, it all came together. "That's the extent of the curse." The others looked at him, confused.
"What curse?" Spike asked.
Sombra wasn't listening, as his anger was reaching its boiling point. His horn glowed with a dark, roiling aura, and his eyes glowed green. The tree itself began to mutate, with twisted, black roots erupting from the floor, as well as large thorns bursting from the walls.
Shaking off her surprise, Twilight conjured a barrier around him, trying to contain the dark energy.The second it closed around him, a black bolt of magic fired from his horn, easily demolishing the barrier. The blast hit the wall, further spreading the mutation. "Spike, get out of here!"
"But-"
"NOW!"
Slipping past Cavalier, he ran to the door. Once it was open, he turned back. "I'll go get help! Be careful!"
With Spike gone, she had no reason to worry, firing beams of energy to destroy the corrupted roots and thorns. It was of little use, as more quickly took their place. Her only option was to remove the source. Summoning another barrier around herself, she marched to Cavalier, dodging stray blasts. Soon, she stood in front of the growling stallion. She eyed his horn, which was bubbling with magic. Raising a hoof, she gave it a light smack.
He recoiled, and the magic faded from his horn. Rubbing the appendage, he glared at her. "How dare you...!"
"I'm sorry, but you were out of control! Are you alright?" She looked around the library, inspecting the damage. "Um... you do know how to get rid of this, right?"
"No. I never learned any spells to fix this."
"I see."
An uncomfortable silence hung in the air. Sombra walked to one of the undamaged bookshelves, snatching copies of A Warrior's Guide to Witchcraft and Advancements in Magic. "I'm leaving."
"Hold it!" She blocked his way. "I need you to help me get rid of all this!"
"You're a bright girl. You'll figure something out." Without waiting for a response, he vanished in a flash of light, leaving Twilight alone to seethe.
He hadn't gone far, reappearing just outside the rear of the library. Holding the books close, he ran off, seeking solitude. Within minutes, he arrived at a lake on the outskirts of town. Laying the books down, he began to pace. This is bad. This is very, very bad. He pressed a hoof to his head. Calm down, Sombra. Yes, dark magic is rare. Yes, you've made Aurora's student wary of you;in fact, you've probably pissed her off. But look at the bright side: you've found the bearers! That's half of your plan already done. Now, how to get rid of them? He opened A Warrior's Guide to Witchcraft, looking over the table of contents.
"Let's see... disorientation, summoning, explosives, lasers, elemental offense, interrogation... Where to begin?"
"Come along, now! We're almost there!"
Sombra turned toward the voice, seeing a yellow pegasus leading a train of ducklings to the lake. As she got closer, he could see that it was the same one from the photograph-- the Bearer of Kindness, Fluttershy. He shut the book, covering it with the other. "Excuse me," he called, walking to the mare, "might I have a word?"
Fluttershy jumped, turning around to greet the stallion. She opened her mouth to speak, only to be drowned out by the ducklings' panicked quacking. Sombra's telekinesis silenced them.
After counting out each one, she tucked them under her wing. "I'm so sorry! I don't know what got into them. Ducklings are usually--"
"You're Fluttershy, correct?"
"Um, y-yes?" She raised an eyebrow, somewhat hoping that he was just a courier.
"I see. My name is Cavalier. I was looking or the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, so I can pay them back for their efforts in keeping Equestria safe. Do you need anything?"
"W-what? Um... I don't--"
"I insist! It sickens me when heroes don't get the recognition they deserve. Surely there must be something you'd want?"
She sighed in defeat; she couldn't turn down someone so eager. "Well, it gets really chilly at night..."
"So, a heater? Simple enough, I just need some feathers." He reached out with his magic, gripping the edge of her wing. With a sharp tug, he removed a large clump of feathers.
"Ouch!" Fluttershy hopped back, rubbing her sore wing. Once the throbbing subsided, she gave Cavalier a questioning glare. "Why did you do that?"
"I just said I needed your feathers." He carried them to the edge of the lake, burying them in the sand. He used his magic to ignite the area, turning it into glass. Lifting the transparent lump, he split it into five pieces, each containing bits of her wing. "I'm going to enchant these to react to your presence. When you get close to one, it should heat up. I should be done in about a day."
"Oh, thank you. I was getting so worried about my friends."
"And now there's no need."
Fluttershy nodded and looked at the ground, unsure of what to say next. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her ducklings, still frozen. Chiding herself for forgetting, she cleared her throat. "Um, excuse me... could you please release my ducklings?"
"Will they continue their incessant squawking?" he asked, idly twirling the glass in midair.
"I don't think so. I'm sure they were just excited is all."
He stared at her for a short while before releasing the birds. Immediately, they resumed their quacking, leaping up into Fluttershy's mane for safety. He stared again, clearly annoyed. She could only grin apologetically. Unable to handle the noise any longer, he gathered his books and the glass, and walked off.
He wandered aimlessly through the outskirts of Ponyville, grinning deviously at the glass shards before him. The feathers sealed within would be more than enough to track Fluttershy back to her home once the enchantments were in place. For that matter, how could he use these to kill her? Come on, think!
Of course, any attempt would hinge on where exactly she lived; hopefully she lived on the outskirts, where rescue would be slow to arrive. Even so, it couldn't hurt to come up with a backup plan. Maybe a few dozen, to be safe. After all, if it worked at the empire, it should work here.
Of course, for this to work, he couldn't afford any further distractions. Fortunately, he was already near the outskirts; if he could avoid wandering too far away from town, he should be fine. He tapped his chin. But then, what where the chances that I'll be discovered? And on another note, where would I spend the night? He tapped a little harder, noting that he still couldn't feel each hit.
Forcing that thought out of his head, he tried to remember what the dragon had said about the other bearers. So-and-so was a weather pony, such-and-such made clothing...
And one of them runs an orchard! It's a decent place to hide, surrounded by trees, and from what he knew about farmers, they probably took that "early to bed" saying to heart. Looking up, he judged that barely an hour had passed since he arrived in Ponyville.
After checking the area for any more possible distractions, he laid down on the grass and opened Advancements in Magic. "I've got some time. May as well practice some of these spells."
February 15, 698
I need to hurry. Yesterday, my mother decided to open our gates to tourists in honor of Hearts and Hooves Day. Over half of them were changelings! They attacked at night, making a beeline for the Crystal Heart. I need to prepare for battle... I may not return.
Sombra