I'm a Lich and I know it!

by Dream Seeker

Murder

Sombra grimaced as he barely dodged Light Storm's last shot, and quickly teleported to yet another location and erected a reflecting crystal. Light Storm, in his crazed rage, either didn't notice or care, shooting another blast with a remarkably fast reaction time. The blast deflected, impacting Light Storm head on, only making him even angrier.

"Come out here and FIGHT ME you COWARD!" he roared. "I will avenge this city!"

Sombra's eye twitched and he wasted a precious second breathing deeply as he kept his insanity and rage bottled up. It was difficult, and he probably could have won the battle within seconds if he unleashed it, but he fought for Winter. He had to set a good example. He had to be a good pony, for her. Sombra smiled as the next bolt of magic curved around his deflection crystal and impacted his side, stinging his flank. It was time to play the hero, for once.

"No. I will avenge this city," Sombra stated calmly as he stepped out into the street.

Light Storm only let out a roar of fury as he galloped towards Sombra, horn down. His horn lit with a mixed aura of purple, green and his natural golden magic as he prepared to unleash a powerful spell. Sombra lit his own horn in defense, mentally making predictions as to what was about to happen. In a flash, Light Storm released his magic. Sombra closed his eyes, seeing the powerful light spell even through his eyelids. He'd have to fight this one blind. His face turned from serious to a cocky smirk as he prepared for the coming onslaught. First, he released his magic, teleporting himself just a meter upwards. He landed heavily on Light Storm, who let out a startled grunt. He got one blow off before rolling away, barely dodging the magical blast aimed towards his face- just as predicted. Eyes still closed, Sombra let out a laugh.

"I can beat you without opening my eyes. Just watch," Sombra grinned at his own joke. Light Storm let out another roar of fury, but far from being intimidated, Sombra just smiled more.

3...2...1... Sombra counted down in his head. It's action time!

Sombra stepped lightly to one side, holding out one hoof, feeling Light Storm's hoof catch on his. An instant later, he teleported to Light Storm's other side, dealing a heavy blow to his head while Light was still grasping at the air that Sombra formerly occupied. As Light turned and rammed his horn towards Sombra's chest, a dark crystal rose out of the ground between them, making Light scream in pain as his horn collided with the obstacle, unable to stop. Sombra gave yet another light laugh.

"Haven't opened my eyes yet!"

"Stop saying that!" Light screamed. "I hate you! I hate you! I HATE YOU!"

Sombra frowned. That wasn't what he had expected. He cast a darkening spell on Light's artificial light source, and opened his eyes to find Light gathering power for a massive beam. Sombra quickly raised a shield, but as the beam struck it he could feel the power behind it and knew that it wasn't going to last long.

"I tried, Winter..." he whispered, closing his eyes as he felt his barrier weaken. A moment later, it fell completely. Sombra stood still, expecting the beam to impact his body painfully, but blinked his eyes open when he felt nothing. The sight was startling: Replacing his own shield was one of purple magic. He turned, to find Twilight Sparkle, her friends, Winter Aurora and two other ponies, one an adult and one a filly, standing behind him.

"Winter? How did you get here? What happened? Why is Twilight helping me?" Sombra was astonished.

"Don't worry about that now, we can catch up later!" Winter smiled brightly, her new friends by her side. "Twilight's with us now!"

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Light Storm screamed. "he's corrupted you innocents, too? I cannot let this happen! Even at the cost of my own life!"

Light Storm's body glowed red as he began to focus a deadly magic across his entire body. Sombra and Twilight exchanged glances of horror as they simultaneously spoke.

"Blood magic, Town-Razing class."

---

Winter stared in terror as Light Storm charged a spell that caused even Sombra to flinch in fear.

I can't let Sombra be killed, or any of my new friends!

An even worse panic grew as she heard Twilight and Sombra call this spell 'Town-Razing class'.

No... I REFUSE!

Winter raced forwards, flapping her wings for increased speed as she sprinted in the way of the spell as it was cast. Time seemed to slow down, and she closed her eyes, opened her wings, summoned her staff and proclaimed quietly.

"Do not allow my friends to be injured."

A moment later, the spell impacted, fire coursing through Winter's body. She turned, shocked, towards her friends, raising a hoof only to watch it turn to dust in front of her eyes and blow away on the soft wind. A second passed, then the rest of her body dissolved and blew away as well, her staff and Phoenix pendant clattering gently on the cobblestone street as all parties looked on with shock.

"No... I failed..." Light Storm whispered as he, too, blew away on the wind; the cost of casting a spell with a power requirement greater than his body could hold.

---

"Winter!" Twilight cried in horror, sprinting towards the spot where she once stood. Her ears flopped backwards. "Oh, nonononono! This is very, very bad!"

Sombra smiled as he walked towards Twilight, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "It's not nearly as bad as you might think. She's a Lich, remember? She'll be fine in a few years, or even a few days if we put some effort into regrowing her body for her."

Twilight blinked. "Oh..."

"Of course, I'm not sure she remembered that, so her brave act of sacrifice was quite unexpected and more than a little telling of how high regards she holds for all of us."

"Winter's gonna be alwight!" Bright Spark cheered, clapping her hooves together. Shining Sea smiled at her daughter's antics.

"Yes, Winter's going to come back. We'll wait with these nice ponies until she can, okay?"

"That sounds weally fun!" Bright Spark smiled.

"Ah don' know 'bout this..." Applejack seemed unsure. "It's a kinda creepy feelin', knowin' tha somepony ya just saw die can come back like that."

"I... I don't think I'll ever be able to recover from watching that," Fluttershy whispered. "she was just a filly, and I w-watched... h-h-her... die!"

Fluttershy's speech devolved into sobs, and Rainbow Dash comforted her.

"Don't think of it like that!" Rainbow Dash said. "I just think of it like, Winter just destroyed an expensive statue to save all of us! After all, she's not really dead, as long as she can come back, right?" she looked to Sombra for conformation.

Sombra chuckled. "That's certainly a healthier approach than some I've seen, but not entirely true. While the fact that she's not really dead is completely true, thinking her body as an expensive statue is not quite right. Although it may be true in practice, and may become more true later in Winter's Lichhood, at the moment she's not ready to think that way about her own body in that way, and know that a Lich dying in front of anything living shows a great deal of trust. After all, there are ways to kill a Lich permanently using their phylactery. Also, the first few deaths for a Lich can be traumatizing if not talked about. I myself would qualify for a degree in Lich-Consuling, if such a degree existed, so Winter Aurora will be perfectly fine in time. However, do not downplay the sacrifice she made for all of us."

"I noticed, but why did you say that the sacrifice was for all of us?" Rainbow Dash asked, curious. "How could you know which ones she wanted to save, and which ones she didn't care about? Just asking..." Rainbow Dash mumbled at the looks she was getting from Applejack and Fluttershy.

"That's actually a great question!" Twilight perked up. "It's also one I know the answer to! The spell that was being cast was a Town-Razing class, meaning it had the ability to kill everypony it encountered within the radius of about a town. It has a very long history of uses, each one documented and studied vigorously, and-"

Twilight was interrupted by Rainbow Dash tapping a hoof impatiently.

"Sorry, I was getting carried away," Twilight blushed. "The point is, regardless of weather or not Winter jumped in front of us, it wouldn't have made a difference in the spell's eyes. However, she used the Staff of Averum Aquaestinitum to redirect the entirety of the spell into herself, saving all of us! If she hadn't wanted to save somepony, she wouldn't have absorbed all of it, only most of it, and whoever she didn't like would be dead."

The winds began to blow harder, and snow fell once more.

"A storm is starting," Sombra commented. "We should probably head to Calypsion for safety," Sombra scooped up Winter's Phylactery and staff. "when we get there, I have to explain the situation to the leaders of the city, and then Twilight can work with me to help repair Winter's body. If I'm lucky, I'll find somebody at Calypsion who knows enough pony anatomy to help."

Twilight's face morphed to confusion. "SomeBODY?"

Sombra grinned. "Just wait and see, Twilight. I have the feeling you're going to have the time of your life."

Comments

[Brony God]

I wonder who is this Somebody that Sombra knows

[Pixel_Spark]

Eee...i wanna read more!

[Brony God]

Why did Dream Seeker deleted his reply to me?

[Dream Seeker]

6338902 because I made a mistake- the comment was wrong. That's why I should have checked the story before commenting...

[Brony God]

6339269 Oh okay