Midnight Terror smiled like a happy colt as throngs of screaming ponies fled before him. He trotted merrily as he flared up spheres of cursed fire from his horn and launched them randomly at any nearby buildings, causing them to burst into flames.
The screams of panic, the crackle of fire, the hissing of smoke, “Ahh, music to my ears… and this is but a prelude of what is to come! I’ll burn this worthless village to the ground and from their ashes I will rise… I’ll storm Canterlot, dethrone the Sisters, and see everypony piss themselves at the very mention of my name! AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”
The ponies who were hiding watched in horror of this barking mad creature in pony’s skin as the flames upon the surrounding buildings made his oily-black coat shimmer an eerie beauty, his flaming mane and tail blazing in his happy madness.
“With the powers I’ll command I could rule the whole world!” Terror sneered horrifically before his manner turned stoic, his flaming mane and tail simmering down to an intense yet steady purple, green and blue.
“But first things first… The Elements of Harmony.”
He walked as though pondering the mysteries of the universe.
“It’s a given those annoying artefacts pose a threat to me, but then… that waste of flesh Midnight Blaze isn’t exactly up for using his own, so why am I worried…? Hmm, even if all the Elements’ bearers are needed to power `em up, I suppose it would pay to be on the safe side by destroying the elements themselves…! Heh-heh-heh!”
Terror Flamed himself away towards the library, reforming before it as he smirked.
“Heh, just me setting hoof into this place could ruin it all. Not that I care, but there are some interesting spellbooks in here that might prove useful…”
Terror concentrated, his horn glowing red and he reached in with his power, feeling wards Twilight Sparkle had placed upon her home, presumably for security. He scoffed at her wastes of effort as he easily breezed through the wards, all of them breaking at the mere touch of his power.
He found it!
“AUGH!!!” Terror felt a splitting headache as he instantly jerked his aura away from his target, and rubbed his horn. “Ergh, how?! A part of me is Midnight Blaze, so why can’t I touch those infernal-”
A memory crossed his mind as Terror recalled Princess Celestia saying she had placed a protective spell on the Elements so Discord-turned-Eris could not steal them before she left them in Twilight Sparkle’s keeping.
Hmm, perhaps this spell isn’t just meant for that idiot trickster… If miss sunny cheeks made the Elements untouchable to any undesirables that would explain why I can’t steal them…
“RRRRGGGHH! All this power and I can’t even touch the one threat to me!” Terror’s mane and tail blazed furiously before he took a deep breath.
“Okay, I’m fine, I’m cool, fine… Hmm, this presents a dilemma… but if I can’t get to the Elements, I could always get to the bearers!”
Terror smiled deviously as a murderous plot began to fester in his foul little mind.
Everypony was shocked at the destruction around them. The weather ponies were hopping up n’ down on rainclouds to put out fires, the firefighter ponies were pumping their hoses at other buildings, some ponies were working together to remove debris and wreckage.
“This is terrible!” Blueblood proclaimed as they looked upon this atrocity.
“Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy flew over to a crying filly.
“I want my mommy!” the terrified filly sobbed, giving Fluttershy a heartbreaking look.
“There, there, little one,” Fluttershy’s maternal instincts compelled her to comfort the little one with a hug, “we’ll find your mommy.”
“Somepony help!” cried a voice and the filly gasped.
“That’s my daddy!” she cried and pointed towards the clocktower.
Everypony rushed over and found the door to the clocktower open but a beam was barring somepony inside from getting out.
“Please, somepony! Help me!”
They saw a brown hoof reaching out through a gap and the filly held her little hooves towards the trapped stallion, crying, “Daddy!”
“Dinky? Is that you, sweetheart?”
“Time Turner!” Twilight finally recognized him as she hurried up. “Help is here, but you have to stand back!”
“Allow me,” Sombra offered and with ease he telekinetically cleared the doorway, allowing a dusty Time turner to get out and Fluttershy released little Dinky. Father and daughter happily embraced and everypony smiled.
Time Turner looked to his saviors and said, “Thank you, for helping us.”
“You should find safety until all of this is over,” Sombra suggested.
“Good idea, hop on, sweetie,” Time Turner lowered his backside for Dinky to get on his back, and galloped off, but little Dinky looked back to Sombra smiling, “Thank you, mister!”
Sombra couldn’t help but smile, a warmth in his chest making him feel happy to see that little filly safe and sound with her father.
“That was very nice of you, Sombra.”
Sombra looked to the bearers and stallions, Twilight smiling at him. But then he cleared his throat, “Come, we must collect your Elements before Terror strikes again.”
“You’re right, we should-” Twilight gasped as she sensed her home was being encroached. “Terror’s at my library, he’s broken through my wards!”
“We gotta get over there and get the Elements!” Rainbow zipped up.
Sombra nodded as he said, “We’ll get there quicker my way. Rainbow Dash, please join us on the ground.”
“What’re ya gonna do?” Big Mac asked while Rainbow obliged.
“Buckle up…” Sombra smirked as he tapped his hoof, and all of a sudden, his shadow spread and everypony yelped as they fell into it!
It felt like falling through a windy tunnel that was completely black but they quickly found themselves falling upwards a bit and finding themselves in proximity of the library, and flopping into a heap of tangle limbs.
“What a ride!”
“Get your butt outta my face!”
“What was that?!”
“It was creepy!”
“My apologies,” Sombra chuckled as he rose up from a shadow and kindly helped Twilight Sparkle get up.
“The first time can be quite disorienting.”
“There’s the library,” Spike pointed it out, the library across the way.
“Well, let’s get the Elements already!” Thunderlane spurred only for Blueblood to envelop him in his aura and force him down. “What?!”
“Something’s up,” Blueblood looked to the library, and Twilight and Sombra felt it too.
“Terror was definitely here,” Twilight noted, “and he broke all my security wards like they were nothing! But where is he…?”
“He is here…” Sombra tensed up, and sure enough, he was proven right when Terror Flamed to the front of the library.
The heroes all raised their guard as their adversary sneered at them and smugly asked, “Did you miss me?”
Everypony (except Fluttershy who hid behind Big Mac) answered with lowering their horns, stamping their hooves, or raising their wings, indicating they were ready for a fight, and Terror smirked, “I guess not!”
Then he got all stoic and broody, “Now you've all gotta ask yourselves one question – ‘Do I feel lucky?’ …Well?”
Terror’s mane blazed like a bonfire as fireballs ignited, orbiting around him as he sneered like a maniac, “Do ya, punks?!”
“I wouldn’t say I’m feeling lucky,” Sombra stepped up, “but if you’re looking for trouble, why not lock horns with me? Whisperer!”
“Oh-ho-ho-ho, Sombra?!” Terror laughed incredulously, snuffing out his fireballs. “Well, I gotta say, I certainly wasn’t expecting you to crash this party.”
“Party?” Pinkie perked, only for Rainbow Dash to cuff her on the back of the head.
“Focus!” she hissed.
“I see you’ve been busy ruining lives, again, demon!” Sombra glared at the abomination.
“D'aw, feeling left out, Sombra?” Terror mocked. “Well, there’s plenty of havoc to go around! In fact, you’re welcome to serve me by helping me destroy the bearers of the Elements of Harmony!”
“Buck you…” Sombra answered unflinchingly.
“I’m flattered but my barndoor don’t swing that way,” Terror cracked while shrugging before eyeing Sombra in a creepy way, "Though... I'm always up to new experiences..."
“Twilight Sparkle,” Sombra addressed, “I will hold him off for as long as possible while you and the others get the elements. I sense they’re still in the library but Terror can’t touch them thanks to Celestia’s spell.”
“Will you be okay?” Twilight asked.
“Don’t worry about me,” Sombra gave her a confident smirk. “I’ve got this one.”
He then faced Terror again, “If you’re so powerful, Terror, prove it…”
“Well, I could go for a little exercise,” Terror shrugged but then he fired a flaming arrow that struck the ground between Sombra and the others, igniting a ring of fire to contain them.
“But let’s make this one-on-one, not to mention I do love a captive audience…”
Sombra growled, realizing Terror was onto them as the demon in pony’s skin lowered his horn, smiling viciously as he growled, “Let’s dance…!”
He was wreathed in flame and launched himself at Sombra with murderous intent!