//------------------------------//
// The Welcoming Party 
// Story: Stop Thinking For A Minute 
// by ThatBlueScreenGuy 
//------------------------------//

	We got off the train a few hours later.  Most of the conversation had livened up, after my depressing explanation.  The girls were trying to find a way to cope with the new truth they had learned.
Can’t say I blame them.
When we stepped off the train and onto the platform, we were hit with an arctic gust of wind.  The ponies had fur coats to protect from this, and I had my hoodie, but those could only go so far.  We all started to shiver in the cold, some of use more than others.
Rarity, when she got off the train, said, “Ha! And you all made fun of me for packing so many scarves.”
I glared at her.  “A-And you didn’t t-think to sh-share them with your f-friends?” I stuttered.  “H-How nice of y-you.”
Rarity blinked, then turned to Spike and said, “Spike, be a dear and pass some of those scarves around.  Our friends are surely getting cold.”
“Yes, ma’am!”  Spike said, like the good little kissass he is.  He popped open the suitcase with the scarves in them and went to grab a few, but they all started to fly away.  “Whoa! Hey! C'mere…”  He started to run around, chasing the scarves.
Twilight was on the edge of the platform, looking out into the tundra before us.
Inside of the gusting wind, I could make out a shape making its way towards us.
Twilight looked up at me, and pointed at it.  I nodded, confirming I saw it too.
Seconds later, Shining Armor made his way out of the blizzard, took off the goggles that were over his eyes, and said, “Twilight!”
Twilight’s eyes widened in surprised happiness, and she jumped off the platform, and glomped her brother. “Shining Armor!”
The rest of the gang followed Twilight to where she and her brother stood, so we could easily interplay ourselves in the conversation.
“Twily! You made it!”  Shining pushed his sister off of him, and gave her a serious look.  “We'd better get moving. There are things out here we really don't want to run into after dark.”
Fluttershy gulped nervously.  “What kind of things?”
Shining looked around us, as though trying to spot some unknown eavesdropper.  “Let's just say the Empire... isn't the only thing that's returned.”
I grimaced.  “Yeah, I was afraid of that.”
Shining looked at me, confused.
I sighed.  “Don’t have time to explain it here.  I’ll do it when we get somewhere safe.”
He nodded and motioned for us to follow him.
We had been walking for several minutes before Twilight asked, “So, what is going on here?”
“Something keeps trying to get in!”  Shining responded.  “We think it's the unicorn king who originally cursed the place.”
“You say ‘trying’!”  I shouted over the storm.  It seemed to be getting worse the more we walked.  “How are you keeping it out?”
“We have a shield surrounding the city!  It’s been able to keep him out so far!”	
That didn’t really tell me how they kept Sombra out.  I mean, it was an eldritch abomination from the nothingness in between existence.  If it wanted to get in the city, no mere magical construct would be able to stop it.
Twilight interjected.  “ But Princess Celestia said I was being sent here to find a way to protect the Empire! If King Sombra can't get in, then it must already be protected.”
Before Shining could respond, there was a large, hollow howl that pierced the air.
Fluttershy looked behind us, and stuttered, “Th-That's one of the things, isn't it?”
Shining’s head whipped around, looking for the source of the howl.  “We have to get to the Crystal Empire! Now!”
With that, he started to sprint in the direction that we had been walking.
“Go, go!”  Twilight shouted, and ran after her brother.  The rest of us followed suit.
We ran for the outskirts of the city, which was being visually blocked by some sort of sphere around the border.
The more we ran, the farther behind the main group that I got.  I mean, yeah, they have four legs, while I only have two, but that had never been a problem before.  You’d think that ponies, being made of dark matter, or something, would sink right into the snow.  But no, they barely left any footprints, while I was ankle deep in the stuff.
Twilight looked behind her to check up on me, and her eyes widened when she noticed how far back that I was.
I waved her forward.  “Go!”  I shouted.  “Get in the city!  I’ll catch up!”
She looked at me in surprise, but by the time that she would have responded, she was already inside the boundary of the city.
I slid to a stop, and turned to face the demon that was gaining on me.
I faced it in a defensive pose, ready to cast it back into the tundra, to buy us some time to plan.  Hell, maybe I’d defeat him, and we could all go home.
The cloud of smoke stopped about twenty yards away from me, and we squared off against one another, sizing each other up.  It kinda reminded me of a Mexican Standoff.
“C’mon, big guy.  You chase after me, and now that I’m ready to fight back, you stop?”  I said, not even bothering to raise my voice over the howling of wind.
To my utter surprise, and complete dissatisfaction, the cloud spoke.  “Any of my kind aught to be wary of yours, Guardian.” Its voice was a raspy thing, covered in spiderwebs and rust.
I tried not to let it rattle me that that thing just spoke.  “Yeah?  Well, let me give you a warning then.  Leave now, and I won’t have to cast you back to that Hell you call a home.”
It laughed.  And it sounded completely inhuman, and utterly disgusting.   “You don’t truly think that Tartarus will be able to hold me, do you?  I am far too powerful for that petty rock these mortals call a prison.”
I shook my head.  “I’m not talking about Tartarus.  I’m talking about the Nothingness.  The place that you were born.  The place that you despise so much, that you wish to force all of existence into the Hell that you were put through.  I won’t send you back to Tartarus.”  I narrowed my eyes.  “I’ll send you back to Non-existence.”
The abomination howled in fury, and charged at me.
I tried to meet it half way, but I found that I couldn’t move my legs.
I looked down, and my eyes widened as I saw the black ice that had formed around my legs, going all the way up to my calfs. 
I called forth my power, and snapped my fingers, teleporting myself to the left of where I had stood before.
Apparently, when you teleport, it also takes anything that might be considered your clothes.
When I appeared when I had sent my magic, said magic must have thought that the ice on my legs was something that I wanted to bring with me.  It was still stuck to my legs, and I was just as stuck to the ground.
Sombra howled when its initial charge had missed, and it circled around, looking for me.
When it was that I was just as stuck as before, it let out a smug sound, and charged me again.
This time, I didn’t bother to teleport.
When it got close to me, I thrust out both of my hands, and cast a gout of magic fire at the cloud.
The fire collided with it, and held it back.  Where the fire and the abomination met, you could see where the cold of its presence was melted by the heat, creating a sheet of mist that soon surrounded me.
The mist would have been a good escape route, but my feet were still encased in ice.  Ice that seemed to be slowly climbing up my leg, despite the intense heat that it just went through, being near me.
I would have burned the ice off of me, but magic fire is still fire, and I would only end up burning myself in the process.  I have a pretty high pain threshold, but those kinds of burns would make me pass out.
My thoughts were interrupted when I noticed something about the mist around me.  It was slowly getting more and more dense, as though the mist on the edges was coming closer to the center.
My theory was confirmed, when all the mist suddenly shot straight at me.  I would have thought that it would burn, but the mist had cooled down at a faster rate that I thought would happen.  The mist gathered around the remainder of my legs, my lower torso, and my hands and forearms, and suddenly condensed into blocks of ice, preventing me from using the areas it covered.
I realised what had happened.  Sombra had used the mist to encase me in ice, trapping me even further.  I was stuck there, and, unless I found a quick way out, at Sombra’s mercy.  Of which, he had none.
A dark chuckle came from all around me, and I swiveled my head around to find the source.  The dark cloud that was Sombra had fallen all around me, preventing me from seeing into the snowy landscape.  At seemingly random points in the cloud, I could see a flash of red light, presumably the thing’s eyes.
“The child Guardian has fallen, in his first conflict no less.  How utterly predictable.”
I would have had a snappy comeback, but the cold of the ice on my body, and the whipping winds around me caught my breath in my throat.  I was simply too cold to do much of anything.
“How does it feel, little one?  To know that your fate is in the hands of someone else?  And that that someone has little to no sympathy toward any of your kind?  Does it frighten you?”  It did, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.  Not that I could.
“I am going to enjoy breaking you.  You will be my first meal in ages, and I wish to savor it.”
I slowly looked up at the cloud, wondering just how the Hell I was going to get out of this one.
“Let us begin, shall we?  I am ever so hungry, and your pain will be very satisfying.”
And then that dark cloud shot toward me, on all sides, surrounding me in a blanket of black hatred.
The shadow started to seep into my skin, and I could feel the weight of its rage when it did.  It had to carry a burden so heavy, that it physically harmed me to touch, as though I was getting burned by a raging inferno.  Or perhaps, more accurately, dry ice.
The cloud dug deeper into me, and the icy sensation that surrounded my lower body suddenly became a simple background feeling.  For when the shadow had fully entered my body, it started to tear its way out again, slowly and agonizingly.
I don’t know when, but at some point, I had started to scream.
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Twilight stared at the shield around the city in surprise.
Connor had just stayed behind, for some reason.  It didn’t make any sense to her.  If the city was protected, then why try to fight Sombra off?  It would only be an unwarranted danger, and pretty much pointless.  At least, that’s what it seemed to Twilight, and Twilight wasn’t stupid, generally speaking.
Twilight spun around to face her friends.  If she was going to help Connor, she would have to make sure that her other friends were ready too.
“Everypony ok?”  she asked.  There was a chorus of nods and affirmatives.
“Yeah, everypony looks fine, Twily.  Now, we just need to make our way to the-”  Shining cut himself off, as he looked around at the ponies around him.  Ponies, but no human.  
“Hey, Twi,”  he asked.  “Where’s Connor?”
Twilight shook her head.  “He stayed behind to hold off Sombra, or something.  All that I know is that he’s still out there, with that monster.  We have to go get him!”
There was a shout of agreement from the girls, but Shining shook his head.  “No, we can’t.  It’s too dangerous for us out there.  Connor is a big boy, he can take care of himself.  We need to get to the castle as soon as we can.  If Connor holds Sombra off long enough, maybe we have a chance to finish this before it escalates.”
Twilight looked at her brother, shocked about what he just said.  “Are you saying that we should just leave him there?!  Something that we were just running from?!  What if he needs our help?!  What if he got hurt, and can’t make it back here?!  What are we going to do then?!  Just leave him to the windigos?!”
Shining shook his head, dismay evident on his face.  “I’m saying that the best way to help him would be to finish preparations, and defeat Sombra as soon as we can.  The longer we wait here, the weaker the shield around the city gets.  Connor can take care of himself, like I said, and we need to think of the bigger picture here.”
Applejack walked up next to Twilight.  “He’s right, sugarcube.  Do ya think Con would want us here bickering, when we could be out there helpin’ ponies that need it?”
Rainbow Dash flew in front of them.  “AJ!  Are you seriously suggesting that we leave Connor there?!  I know that I’m not the friendliest to him all the time, but I wouldn’t just leave him to somepony like Sombra!”
This claim escalated the argument even further, where everyone took a side.  Shining, AJ, and Rarity were adamant that Connor didn’t need any help, and that their time would be better spent looking for a solution.  Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Spike, however, were determined to get their friend out of harms way. 
The arguing continued as each pony shouted at another, trying to convince each other.  Their shouts were interrupted by a loud, shrill noise.
Screaming.
The fighting stopped as they heard the piercing sound.  The voice sounded as if in true agony.  And it was a familiar voice.
Connor was in trouble.
Twilight turned wild eyes to her brother, who nodded, and ran for the edge of the shield.
They would get their friend back, one way or the other.
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The searing agony that the abomination had caused in me stopped suddenly, and it felt as though I could finally breath again.  My throat felt raw, as though I spent the last few minutes tearing out my vocal chords with a pair of plyers.  Frankly, I might as well have.
I was dimly aware that the shadow that had tormented me seemed to be focused on something else, something in the blizzard.  It’s gaseous body still prevented me from seeing out, however, so I had no idea what was so distracting to it.  To be perfectly honest, I was too busy trying to not pass out to care. 
You ever get that kind of hurt that just stick with you?  It usually is associated with small injuries, like a bruise, stubbed toe, maybe hitting your funny bone.  That’s what it felt like to me, a constant ache that wouldn’t let you get any rest, and is only there to remind you that you fucked up at some point in the day.  Except for me, that ache, is more like feeling my bones being set on fire and my blood being sucked out through my pores.  It was a heavy, agonizing pain, and it just wouldn’t go away, no matter how much I wished it to.
Not only was that pain constant, but it was also expanding.  I don’t mean that in the sense that I was feeling more pain.  It was the same amount of pain, it just spread itself out, like food colouring in a glass of water.  The same quantity, just spread out.  It made the pain lessen in the more concentrated areas, but that also meant that new spots were starting to hurt.  But I’ll take what I can get.
My self-pitying thoughts were drawn back to reality, when I heard a bellow of rage come from all around me.  The shadow had become angry at something.
A second later, and I saw a beam of purple magic shoot through the cloud barrier that surrounded me.  In the hole that was created, I saw Shining Armour running toward me.
“Connor!”  he shouted.  “Are you ok?”
I tried to respond to him, but my voice was broke.  I must have destroyed my voice when I was screaming.
“Connor?  Can you talk?  You must have blown your voice.”  I nodded dully.  “OK! Come on, we need to get out of here!”
I gave him as best an even look as I could manage, and looked down at my half frozen self.
His mouth opened in an ‘oh’ kind of gesture, and he zapped me with some magic.  I was released from the ice, and fell flat on my face, into the snow.
Shining looked at me worriedly, but didn’t say anything as I picked myself up.  I motioned toward the opening in the cloud he had made, and he nodded, making his way over to it.
The opening, however, started to seal shut.  Shining ran toward it, trying to do something to stop it, but it closed before he could get there.
A maniacal laugh was heard from the cloud, it taunting us.  The swirling cloud that surrounded us seemed to take on a movement of contempt and smugness, as though it’s satisfied with itself.
Shining looked around us, nervous tension playing across his face.  He was doing a good job trying to control it, but only so much can be done when facing a eldritch monster from the nether regions of creation.
I grunted at him.  He turned to me.  I tilted my head at the edge of the cloud barrier, trying to put a sense of inquiry to the gesture.  Shining seemed to get it.
“I don’t know,” he said.  “I could try the same spell that got me in again, but there is no telling if Sombra has already adapted to it.  It might not even work.”  I snorted, and jerked my head at the shadow.  Shining shook his head, and said, “This isn’t a smart idea,”  but did it anyway.
The magic beam shot out toward the cloud, and when it hit, the purple seemed to merge with the shadow, and then cut out a neat hole, rimmed with purple, for us to fit through.  We both smiled, and ran for the exit.
We shot out of the hole, like a bat out of Hell.  We sprinted (well he sprinted, I more of hobbled) toward the edge of the Crystal Empire’s shield, and were about to make it, when I got a prickly feeling on the back of my neck.
I ducked down on pure instinct, and saw a blast of blackish purple magic shoot past me, and toward Shining.  I tried to shout a warning, but it just came out a garbled mess that was drowned out by the sound of the rushing blizzard winds.  The magical bolt struck Shining in the back of the head, and he tumbled forward, through the shield, and into safety.
I got up from my crouch, and hobbled forward.  I don’t know why, but I felt compelled to look behind me as I went.  I did, and saw the shadowy form of Sombra, dancing in the arctic breeze.  When my eyes landed on it, I saw a flash of eyes, a vicious smile, and then it was gone, back to its lair, or whatever.
I stumbled through the shield, and collapsed onto grass.  How grass was in the middle of this storm, I have no idea.  But I didn’t care.  I was too tired to care.  To worn to care.  The pain that that thing put me through had drained any bits of energy that I might of had, and I could feel the crash coming on.
The last thing that I thought before I reached blissful unconsciousness, was ‘If I can’t talk, how am I going to be a wiseass?’