It was snowing.
For a normal pony, this would be a wonderful time of playing in the snow. Snowball fights, snowmen, snowangels, you name it. However, Sombra was not a normal pony. When Twilight lightly knocked on the door and opened it that morning, checking to see if Sombra was ok, she saw him frowning at the snow.
“What’s wrong?” Twilight saw Sombra turn, and then look back to the snow.
“Do you normally have snow here?” Sombra stepped away from the window, and walked to stand near Twilight as she nodded.
“Yeah, we get snow every winter. However it’s normally not this early. It might be a freak storm flew in from the Everfree, it happens sometimes. I’ll ask Dash about it later.” Twilight smiled warmly, and watched as Sombra shifted his scarf slightly, and stood silent. Twilight tilted her head, and bit her lip.
“Listen, about last night…” Twilight trailed off as Sombra’s expression quickly grew cold, and she sighed, turning and walking away with her head bowed.
“Nevermind, it’s not really any of my business.” Twilight realised Sombra was following her, and frowned.
“No, it isn’t.” Sombra followed her into the throne room, and she paused, turning around to glance at him.
“Are you following me?” Twilight saw the narrowed expression as Sombra pointed to the exit.
“No, you just happen to be in my way.” Sombra waited as Twilight stepped to the side, and then bowed his head slightly, and headed for the door, opening it and leaving. Twilight growled, but let it slide, leaving herself and heading for Rainbow Dash’s home.
“Hey Twi, did you cast any weather spells or something?” Fortunately, Dash found her. Twilight tilted her head, and frowned.
“No, why? Isn’t this just a freak storm from the Everfree?” Twilight waited as Dash landed, shaking the snow from her hair.
“Yeah, that’s what we thought at first. But intel says this storm came from another direction. And there’s more. This isn’t even the main part of the storm, just a second band of snow around it.” Dash bit her lip, looking toward the snow clouds above.
“That’s not good, I’ll send a message to Celestia and ask her if she knows anything. Any chance you can reduce the strength before it arrives?” Twilight pulled out a piece of paper and quickly wrote down a letter, and sent it using her magic.
“We’re trying, but these clouds seem pretty strong. We’ve actually sent a Pegasi to Cloudsdale to see if they can spare anypony to help.” Dash bit her lip and gulped, it was going to be a very large snowstorm.
“Keep me posted, I’ll tell the batponies that are living in the basement to come out and help too.” Twilight knew they were there training most of the time, and they should be able to help. Twilight turned and began to head back inside.
“You know, the funniest thing about this is not the size, but more where the clouds are coming from.” Dash scratched the back of her as Twilight paused, and turned.
“Oh? Where?” Twilight waited as Dash began to hover slightly, preparing to fly away.
“North,” she spoke, turning and heading up toward the clouds.
Sombra stood atop the now snow covered hill, and looked down upon the large rune he had drawn. Walking down the hill, he approached the edge of the circle. Lowering his horn, he touched it to the rune, and closed his eyes as his horn lit up. There was a brief pulse as the rune lit green for a moment, and then it vanished, turning into snow and removing the rune.
’Shoot, I was certain that would be large enough. I’ll have to use plan b’. Sombra turned his attention to the hill, and once more climbed it, turning to look toward the Everfree. Lowering his horn, Sombra began leaking purple mist as his eyes turned green, and breathed in. Closing his eyes, he breathed out, and touched his horn to the ground.
Crystals erupted in an almost perfect pattern, creating a portion of a circle that wasn’t hidden by the large forest. The crystal hugged the ground, and yet remained almost as smooth as ice. Lifting his head for a moment, Sombra lowered it once more. There was an even brighter flash, and it glowed, lasting much longer. As it dimmed, Sombra raised his head and watched it shatter, leaving no trace. Turning, he headed into Ponyville.
’The proper question is, do I have enough time left? Or maybe it is, how much time must I wait before I can act?’ Sombra marched past Applejack and Rarity talking over an apple cart, and both blinked, seeing the purple mist still leaking out his eyes.
’With the amount of calculation I will have to do on-site, and the work required to maintain a constant hold while harmony works against me, I should have enough time to prepare some items tonight, and leave in the morning. By then, it should be soon enough to act.’ Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie both watched Sombra pass. Fluttershy backed away a step and Pinkie Pie tilted her head, but neither made a move to stop Sombra.
’The train will be the biggest hindrance, I will have to cast a constant spell to move anywhere. Should I get the train at Canterlot, or here? It may be too late at Canterlot, not worth the risk.’ Sombra passed Twilight as she talked to some batponies outside, and headed straight for his desk. Sitting down, he began to write.
’A thousand years of waiting for this moment. I must leave nothing to chance. It is time to end this, once and for all.’ Sombra glanced out the window for a moment, looking toward the snow. Breathing in for a moment he spoke quietly under his breath.
“I am strong enough for this, nothing can stop me.” Sombra turned, returning to his writing with a fierce determination hidden behind his mask. This was it, the moment he had been waiting for. Live or die, this would be what all this waiting had be for.
Not even the elements could stop him.