//------------------------------// // 128. The Midnight Dour - Part 8 // Story: Blaze the Pony Tale // by Wolven5 //------------------------------// Sombra narrowed his eyes and dropped into shadow, easily dodging Terror’s attack. The nightmarish stallion skidded to a halt and looked around, “Come out, Sombra! Don’t tell me you’re giving up already?” The sounds of something flying through the air caught his attention and he whirled about, releasing a jet stream of fire like a dragon, incinerating the crystal projectiles Sombra had fired at him. Sombra concentrated, crystallizing his mana into a sword and held it in his aura, baring it at Terror. He then charged with the sword raised to attack, only for Terror to unleash from his horn a plume of shadowy smoke that easily enveloped Sombra. The heat, stench, and thickness immediately stopped Sombra in his tracks as he began to suffocate. “SOMBRA!” everypony yelled. They remained trapped within Terror’s ring of fire, preventing them from running away. The pegasi had already tried to fly out, only for the flames to rise faster than they could flap, and the higher they went the hotter it would get, not to mention the smoke, forcing them back down to the ground. Twilight and Blueblood had both tried teleporting but every time they did, Terror’s magic somehow sucked them back into the ring of fire. “This is just awful!” Rarity despaired, “We can’t get out, we can’t help Sombra, whatever can we do?!” “What we can’t do is give up!” Thunderlane replied with furrowed brows. “Come on everypony, think! Every problem has a solution, we just have to figure out this one!” “You’re right, Thunder,” Twilight noted, “Flying won’t work, teleportation neither, and I don’t think we can just try going through the flames…” “Well then, everypony,” Blueblood spoke up, ignoring the mental warning that Rarity wasn’t going to like his idea, “if neither up and over or the direct approach will avail us, perhaps this situation calls for a little subterfuge… Spike, if you would be so kind?” Meanwhile, Sombra had managed to muster enough clarity to stamp his hoof and cause a pillar of crystal to lift him out of Terror’s smoke. Breaching the haze, Sombra gasped for breath and looked down around the area for Terror but the monster was nowhere in sight. Where’d he go?! The crackles of flames behind him made him flinch for but a split-second before instinct drove him to duck, and in the nick of time did he dodge a horn thrust from Terror. Sombra jumped down towards the smoke, prepared this time as he fell into shadow while Terror went after him, only to fall flat on his face when he fell through the smokescreen. Growling, he leapt to his hooves and willed the smoke to disperse, “Come out, you wuss! Or did you lose any spine you had when you lost the powers I gave you?!” “You gave me nothing!” Terror flinched and turned towards the source of the voice, only to get pummeled in a full-body tackle. Both stallions were tumbling in the dirt, punching the other with their hooves, trying to pin the other. Just when it seemed Terror would come out on top, Sombra smirked and sunk into Terror’s shadow, much to his surprise. He then felt the most unholiest of pain a stallion could suffer, specifically in his nether regions, as his rear end automatically flew up from Sombra’s upwards headbutt after he’d launched himself out of Terror’s shadow. Terror groaned in agony as he curled over in pain, his rump in the air, as he clutched his family jewels, tears welling up in his eyes. “As anypony should know,” Sombra smirked at the sorry sight of the monster, “in battle, always aim for your opponent’s weak spot.” Terror burned in outrage as he growled angrily and stood up, forcing himself to ignore his aching stallionhood as he glared hatefully at Sombra and snarled in a demonic voice, “I’ll geld you for THAT!!” Terror roared as he became wreathed in flame, as though he were a living fire of destruction condensed into a vaguely ponyish form. With the roar of a wildfire, Terror launched himself at Sombra again, and Sombra leapt up, casting his mana and solidifying it into a crystal platform, that kept him high in the air. “You won’t get far!” From Terror’s fiery form spread a pair of wings that flapped blistering waves of heat with every wing beat as he took flight after Sombra. Sombra levitated to get away and just barely managed to dodge a flaming arrow, but his heart sank as he saw the arrow strike a house, setting it ablaze. I have to end this quickly, before somepony gets hurt! Meanwhile, the ponies had just reached the library, and much to Rarity’s chagrin they were dirty. Blueblood got Spike to dig their way under the ring of fire, and it had taken no small amount of convincing Rarity that the fate of Midnight, Ponyville, and maybe even all of Equestria, mattered more at the moment than her nice, clean coat. Only after Blueblood promised Rarity all the pampering she wanted at the Ponyville Spa paid for by him did she finally consent. “Looks like Sombra’s having trouble,” Twilight had cast a camouflage spell on them all to hide them from Terror as they’d snuck to the library. “More like he’s holding back,” Blueblood corrected, everypony looking to him for an explanation. “Sombra’s trying to avoid damaging the town but Terror’s not holding back.” “He has to get serious if he’s gonna take that jerk down!” Rainbow all but shouted, spurring Soarin, Thunderlane, and Pinkie to shut her mouth and collectively hiss, “SSHHH!!!” “Never mind them for the moment,” Twilight opened the library door, “We have to get the Elements!” *SHA-KRACSHK* Terror’s fireball blew apart the entire second floor of a home away in an infernal tempest, and he glared angrily at Sombra. His mane flared up, forming into a flaming claw that reached over and grabbed the remains of a chimneystack before throwing it at Sombra. Sombra concentrated and managed to stop the soaring stack in mid-air before dropping it into an open area. “Whatsamatter, Sombra?!” Sombra returned his gaze to Terror, who was sneering, “Afraid to go all-out? Don’t wanna catch any innocent bystanders in the crossfire?” Sombra answered with an unflinching glare, Terror snickering, “Losing the dark powers I gave you has made you weak!” “I said it before, you gave me nothing!” Sombra reaffirmed, “And because of you I lost everything I cared about! …But then, a stallion found it in his heart to offer me a second chance, me of all ponies! That is a debt I will never be able to repay... But putting an end to you and restoring him will be an excellent way to start!” Sombra’s eyes and horn flared with power as he conjured his obsidian scythe and leapt at Terror, who blocked it with a crescent blade that had appeared from his flaming tail. It looked similar to the one Midnight used against Sombra before, but it was slimmer, colored black like charred wood, the outer edge was serrated, and the jewel in the middle was flaming red. Because of the serrated edge, Terror’s crescent blade and Sombra’s obsidian scythe met in a shower of sparks as the weapons scraped against each other, and the two dark unicorns glared into the other’s eyes. They traded more blows and the sheer power in each of their swings made shockwaves that pulsed against any nearby structures. Terror jumped back and then manipulated his crescent blade to spin like a disk before he set it ablaze, turning it into a flaming wheel of death as he launched it at Sombra. Sombra just barely managed to dodge it, the flaming wheel slicing and incinerating through the top of Sugarcube Corner. But then it started to circle back and Sombra knew he had to do something to stop it! He stood his ground, and closed his eyes, Terror sneering, Finally accepted his fate, eh? Any moment now, his weapon would cleave this reject in two, the flames would set those two pieces ablaze and nothing would be left but ashes that would scatter to the winds and the very name Sombra would be erased from the history books and memories of all Equestria! The flaming wheel of death blazed right for Sombra… only for the unicorn stallion to raise his scythe and slam the pommel onto the ground, creating a wave of shadow that engulfed the weapon before it quickly solidified into crystal! Sombra panted a little, the shadow wave-turned-crystal having taken some effort but there was no time to rest as Terror approached, looking oddly amused. “I still intend to make the rest of your miserable life a living hell… but I gotta admit that was impressive, not to mention I’m actually a little grateful. Besides the princesses and that douche Shining Armor, I can’t think of anypony who could give me such a challenge, coinciding with the opportunity to test my powers…” "I can think of a couple,” Sombra countered, “Twilight Sparkle and Midnight Blaze!” “Those runts? They don’t scare me!” scoffed Terror. “Poor little Twilight just wouldn’t have it in her to fight me, and my weaker half, are you kidding? Not that it matters, I can’t imagine he has much longer…” Then Sombra noticed something past Terror and smirked. “Smiling in the face of your demise? I admire that…” mocked Terror. “Not quite…” Sombra gestured behind him and Terror suddenly flinched as he looked over his shoulder. The bearers had their Elements! Impossible! My ring of fire should’ve- Terror shook off the ‘how’ and refocused on the ‘what’ as he felt his fury build up until he erupted. “AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!” He roared as he launched himself at the bearers and stallions, all of whom stood their ground (even though Fluttershy hid behind Big Mac), but Terror was so blinded with rage he didn’t sense Sombra build up another spell and cast it! A glimmering star of mana shot from his horn and hit Terror smack in his plot, making him yelp as he stumbled face-first into the dirt and skidded to a perfect halt in front of the bearers. But they had nothing to fear as Sombra’s spell quickly began its work, the mana spreading and crystallizing! Already Terror’s entire backside was encased! He struggled like a wild animal, raging and raving, trying to cast another spell, but Sombra’s crystal spell was designed to leach off the victim’s own mana to not only speed up the spell but reinforce it! Terror’s attempts were only cementing his fate! “No! This can’t be! The Reign of Terror begins now!” he screamed, the crystal now encasing his barrel and front hooves. The bearers and stallions watched in horror at the sight before them as Sombra stepped up, “So long as we have anything to say about it, your evil will never again plague Equestria.” “You haven’t seen the last of me! I will haunt your nightmares, I will curse your children, I will have vengeance!!! I WILL-” The crystal finally enveloped Terror completely, leaving him inside a large prismatic prison. “Finally! Something to shut him up!” Rainbow groaned.