"Come out!" Sweetie Belle shouted into the air with a large grin upon her face. At once her shadow moved and peeled itself off the floor and into the air before beginning to take the form of a stallion. Landing softly on the ground, a dark being was revealed as the darkness washed off of his coat.
King Sombra laid down on his stomach as he glared at the filly who had summoned him...again. With a grunt, he looked away as the filly came close to speak with the stoic stallion.
"It really works!" Sweetie Belle shouted as she ran around him.
"I thought you would have understood that by the fifth time..." Sombra muttered as he glanced down at her.
"Twilight said you need to test things out a lot to make sure something is true and not just coincidence." Sweetie Belle justified herself. "Besides, it's really cool to see you come out of my shadow like that!"
Again he grunted. The adrenaline of being brought back from the dead and seeing one of the mares who had presumably killed him had wore off. More calm and able to think things through, Sombra studied the small filly as she continued to mess with his features, mostly his long mane. Try as he did, he just could not hurt her. Some strange force would stop him each time he tried and send a wave of pain across his body.
"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity shouted out as she entered the room. "I told you not to do that!" She finished as she ran over to her sister and pulled her away from him.
"But why? It's not like he's gonna hurt me." Sweetie replied as she gazed up at Rarity in a pouting face.
"Oh my Celestia..." Another voice called out from the door way. Twilight, whom had been brought over by her friend, was shocked to see that Rarity was telling the truth about the events of the morning. Eyeing him up and down, she got ever closer to him as if he was some sort of strange specimen to be studied.
"See? It's King Sombra." Rarity said as she and Twilight both looked at the dark stallion.
"Ohh ohh, and watch this!" The filly of the group called out as she once again broke free of her sister's embrace. "Become my shadow!" She cried out with a smile.
Sombra sighed as he felt his body begin to shift densities. Slowly pulled apart to become a thick black smoke, he levitated into the air before diving down at Sweetie Belle's hooves and taking the place of her shadow. Twilight was in awe at the sight and kneeled down to see the shade the filly created before poking it with her hoof.
"How did you do that?" Twilight asked out as she looked down at the ever so happy filly.
"I have no idea!" She responded with a grin. The 'whys' or 'hows' mattered little to her, all she cared about was the fact that it worked and it happened. "Come back out!" She shouted again.
For the seventh time, Sweetie Belle's shadow lifted from the ground and shot away from her. Hitting the ground it generated into Sombra's figure and solidified. An annoyed grimace upon his face, he stared blankly at the trio who eyed him. Though something caught his eye. A smirk spread across his face as he noticed Twilight.
"Well well well..." He said in softly. The sound of his voice made the skin all the mares crawl as they slowly turn to see his devilish smile.
"W-What is it?"
Quickly he pounced from his laying position onto Twilight as he shot out dark bolts of magic. Evading to the side, The purple mare slid across the floor as her hooves struggled to maintain her in balance.
"It seems that I can attack you." His voice echoed as his eyes began to burn in purple flames.
"I thought you said he couldn't hurt us!" Twilight shouted out at her friend as she took a defensive pose.
"H-He can't!" Rarity replied, though not truly believing herself as she saw Sombra perform his attacks. Last time, he couldn't even begin the motion. This time he might be able to seriously hurt them, though he seemed to be fixated on Twilight alone.
"Stop it!" Sweetie Belle shouted out as she got between the two fighting ponies.
"Move out of the way!" The young alicorn said as she pulled the filly away, though was surprised that she didn't need to do that. Sombra seemed to actually be listening to her, or at least was forced to.
Quivering in place, it was easy to see how much Sombra was being strained to stay in place. His bravado from before was all but gone as he growled out. All of them remained still as he finally stopped struggling and backed away, his muscles released of tension.
"Damn it all. What sort of curse have you placed on me?" Sombra asked out in a loud voice to the filly. She, however, seemed to ignore the question all together.
"Why did you begin fighting? We were all getting along just fine!" She screamed out, scolding the stallion who was not very amused by the fact that some pony the fifth of his size was opposing him so easily.
"Sweetie Belle." Twilight began as she leaned down to speak to her. "Tell Sombra to do something again."
The request left the child confused as she turned to look at the mare. "Huh? Why?"
"Just do it please."
"Umm...okay." She replied before turning her gaze back at Sombra who was glaring at her. "Say you're sorry!"
"This again?!" He asked as he felt his body begin to force into place like last time. Again he gritted his teeth as he did his best to keep his mouth shut.
Twilight was left in awe as she looked over at the dark stallion who's veins were popping out of his forehead. The strain on his body was intense as it soon became apparent he was in a lot of pain. Still, he refused to do as the filly told him to.
"Say it!"
"No!"
"It's rude to attack ponies"
"I care not for what is rude and what is not!"
"King Sombra!" Sweetie Belle shouted out. As she did, a purple light appeared all around them as both she and Sombra seemed to grow strange tattoos on their bodies. They were identical, though they had the sense of shackles. The tattoos that glowed on Sombra were especially bright as he was forced into a formal stance. "Say you're sorry!" She once again shouted out.
"Forgive my rude behavior." He finally said as his tattoo shackles forced him to move in an apologetic gesture. Once the action was complete, the glowing markings on both of them faded away, allowing Sombra to move freely now.
Falling to the floor, the stallion was once again left exhausted from struggling against what force drove him to obey. Sweetie Belle, who had been head strong up until now, showed a face of concern now that she noticed just how hurt he looked. Rushing over to him she kneeled down by his head.
"A-Are you alright?" She asked.
"Am I alright? Funny coming from the one responsible for my ails..." Sombra replied as he struggled to his hooves, no doubt his pride wouldn't allow him to remain on the ground for very long.
"I caused this?" The filly asked as a wave of guilt fell over her. Her eyes opened wide in regret for shouting at him, she was gently pulled away as Twilight took her place in front of Sombra.
"King Sombra, what exactly did you do to Sweetie Belle?" The mare asked, beginning an interrogation.
"What I did? It was this insufferable child that did something to me!" He responded as he glared to Sweetie Belle. Her only response was to hide behind her sister's legs as she felt horrible for what had happened.
"You mean you didn't plan to do something evil now that you brought yourself back to life?"
"I didn't bring myself back to life. I was forced back. That filly is a necromancer of some sort. She seemed to have put some strange spell over me, cursing me to do as she says."
"Is that true Sweetie?" Rarity asked as she turned around and crouched to her younger sister's side.
"No! I was just reading off of Twilight's spell book that was supposed to cure me!"
"Cure you of what?" The white mare asked.
"Talking in front of my class..." She replied, almost too embarrassed to say what it was about.
"She came to me asking for a way to get over public speaking." Twilight said as she walked over to the sisters side of the room. "I told her I had a book that could help her, but it was just a book with instructions on how to overcome your fears, not a spell book that would make them go away." She finished with a downed look. "I have no idea how she would be able to get a necromancy spell out of that."
"Chee, you're speaking to us right now. That mean's you're not afraid to talk in front of other ponies." Sombra uttered, not really comprehending the strange phobia the filly possessed.
"Talking in front of ponies I know and talking in front of all my classmates are two different things!" The filly responded as she jumped out towards Sombra. With an eye brow raised he chuckled to himself as he stepped towards the filly.
"Well you clearly don't lack courage." Sombra spoke as he and Sweetie Belle locked eyes in what seemed like a stand off. The air around them tensed for a bit as the mares began to look at each other in a worried expression.
"Ahem." Rarity said as she stepped up between the two of them. "Sweetie, darling, I think it's about time you get going. You'll be late to school otherwise."
"Oh! You're right!" The filly replied as she glanced over at the clock on the wall nearby.
"Come, I'll walk you out." The white mare said a she and her sister made their way out, though she threw her friend a troubled glance before shutting the door behind them.
A moment of silence occurred as Sombra and Twilight were left alone in the boutique.
"Well this is awkward." The dark stallion said as he looked over at one of his...'killers'.
Clearing her throat as she placed a hoof to her mouth, Twilight looked for the right words to say. She certainly didn't expect to ever see Sombra again, let alone have a moment for them to talk. "So, King Sombra. I am going to have to question you some more. Even if this isn't your fault, we can't have you running around with Sweetie Belle and...Sombra?"
Twilight looked over at her companion in surprised as she heard him pant in exhaustion.
"A-Are you alright?" She asked the dead pan stallion as he began to stagger in place. Slowly looking up to the mare, his dull eyes struggled to keep in focus as her words began to disorientation him.
"That...in insufferable filly..." He said between pants.
"What? What about Sweetie Belle?!"
"She's...she's too fa-" His speech was interrupted as he felt himself disappear. Melting into the floor, Sombra became a shadow that quickly slid across the ground and under the door. Twilight was dumbfounded as her mouth opened in surprise. She remained in that state for a good minute before she realized what he had meant to say.
"Oh Celestia damn it!" She shouted out as she ran out the door.
The shadow Sombra had become forced itself to move quickly along the ground as it glided through the hallways of the boutique. Moving to the wall as it reached the stairs, the shade continued to make its way around to the the front door where the sisters were speaking to each other.
"Is King Sombra going to be alright?" The filly asked.
"I'm not sure. We have to see what Twilight and the other princesses say about this entire ordeal. But don't you worry, I'm sure everything will be fine by the time you get back from school." Rarity said with a reassuring smile.
"Do you think maybe I can use this as an excuse to skip out on school today?" Sweetie Belle asked with pleading eyes and an exaggerated grin.
"None sense! You have that very important presentation today." The mare said as she pushed her sister out the door with her muzzle.
Walking away with her head down in a frown, Sweetie Belle waved bye half heartedly. Her sister, on the other hoof, held a smile as she began to feel better now that she was no longer with a dangerous stallion. Just as she turned around to close the door, the shadow moved under her and avoided the mare's gaze before connecting with the walking filly. Again in it's place, the shade took the shape of Sweetie Belle as it mimicked her movements.
"Jeez..." She said to herself as she walked oblivious to the fact that her shadow had returned to her. "I still haven't made any progress with talking in public at all! I am sooo gonna blow this."
"Sweetie Belle!" A familiar voice called out her to. Turning to look at who was shouting, her face brightened up when she saw a small orange pegasus waiting for her up ahead.
"Oh hi Scoots!"
"Ready for the presentation today?" Her friend asked as she began to walk beside her.
"Arrgh. Don't remind me..."
"Aww, what's wrong? It's just a speech over your role model."
"Yeah, well I don't like speaking in front of other ponies!"
"What? But you sing in front of other ponies. Isn't that like the same thing?"
"No it's not!" Sweetie Belle whined. Though her pouting expression disappeared as a chuckle was heard in her head. Turning around to see who it was that laughed, she tilted her head in confusion.
"Something wrong?" Scootaloo asked.
"I just thought I heard some pony laugh."
Must be your imagination." She replied. Though as she did, a bell was heard ringing in the distance. "Oh no! We're late!" The pegasus shouted as she began to run as fast as she could.
"Hey wait for me!"