The Return of King Sombra

by Dragon-Master-31

A Shadow's Temptation

King Sombra’s Castle, the next morning…

The morning sun shone brightly across the beautiful land of Equestria. Everypony could agree that Equestria truly was a lovely place. However, not everywhere in Equestria was happy and peaceful. In one of Equestria’s forests, was a small castle, which harbored some of the evilest ponies and creatures imaginable.

Sombra greeted the morning with a dark chuckle as he knew that today was the day that he would continue to go through with his plan to take over Equestria. The next step on the list was to create himself and his team of villains their own army. Sombra had decided that his army would consist of the Storm Creatures that once belonged to the Storm King. They were big and strong, and they could deal some serious damage to the ponies of Equestria.

These days, the remaining Storm Creatures were being kept safely away from civilization in the Caves of Conundrum; being watched over by Tempest Shadow, a unicorn that used to work for the Storm King. This could prove to be an issue, but Sombra had already come up with two possible solutions to handle Tempest Shadow…

After thinking over his plan to deal with Tempest Shadow, Sombra decided it was time to let the Rogue know of his plan so he could set off for the Caves of Conundrum. Sombra walked over to the large table with the map of Equestria and with a smirk, slammed his hooves hard on the table, causing a loud banging sound to echo throughout the castle.

“Wake up, all of you! Come here now!” Sombra yelled, making sure his voice was loud enough for everypony to hear.

As expected, Sombra’s outburst had woken up the members of the Rogue that were still in the castle. One by one, they began to make their way to the table where Sombra was waiting for them. However, there were two things off about the Rogue: first, was that Discorded Whooves was not wearing the mechanical arms. The second, was that Iron Will and Professor Screw were nowhere to be seen. Sombra chuckled as he already had an idea as to where Iron Will and the Professor were, but he was rather curious as to why the Doctor did not have the arms with him.

“(Chuckle) So, Doctor, did you just forget your mechanical arms today? Or perhaps have realized that they make you look stupid?” Sombra asked with a mischievous grin.

“With all do respect, master, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mock me.” Discorded Whooves said as he shot Sombra a look. “I would still have my arms if that old fool didn’t insist on taking his time with implanting this supposed device.”

“(Chuckle) Whatever you say. Speaking of the Professor, I’m sure you’ve all noticed that Iron Will is not present here with us.” Sombra said, gesturing to the spot where the minotaur usually stood during their meetings. “Frankly I could care less about what the Professor does to him. Just understand that it is not wise to betray me. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, King Sombra.” The Rogue responded.

“Good. Now, I am off to the Caves of Conundrum where the remaining Storm Creatures are being kept; safely guarded by Tempest Shadow. I will offer her a deal and if all goes well, not only will we have our own army, but we will also have a new member to add to our little group.” Sombra said as he chuckled. “You will all wait here until I return. If the Professor is finished with his duties by then, I will send you on your next mission. Any questions?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a question.” Lightning Dust said as she raised her hoof in the air. “I get that we’re going to use those Storm Creatures for our army or whatever, but how do you know they’ll listen to you or any of us for that matter?”

“(Chuckle) Don’t you worry, Lightning Dust. They will listen.” Sombra said with a grin.

“Shouldn’t we come with you, boss?” Flim asked as he adjusted his hat nervously. “Y-You know, just in case this Tempest Shadow doesn’t see eye to eye with you?”

“Are you implying that I cannot handle Tempest Shadow on my own, Flim?” Sombra asked with a cold stare.

“What!? N-No! Of course not! What I meant was-!” Flim said before Flam covered his mouth and spoke for him.

“What my brother is trying to say, is that you told us Tempest Shadow was able to take down three princesses of Equestria quite easily.” Flam said, hoping to appease Sombra. “If that is indeed true, then wouldn’t it be better if you had some back-up, boss?”

“(Chuckle) While your concern is appreciated, it is also unnecessary. I assure you; I can handle a hornless unicorn.” Sombra said as he prepared himself to leave. “Now, if there are no other questions, I’m leaving. Behave yourselves.”

“Yes, King Sombra.” The Rogue responded as Sombra vanished into the shadows.

Once Sombra was gone, the Rogue were finally able to relax a bit. With Flim and Flam being extremely relieved that the evil tyrant had finally left. After a few moments of silence, Discorded Whooves excused himself as he was going to rest while he waited for the arms to be finished. Once the Doctor left, Lightning Dust scoffed.

“Wow, you two are stupid.” Lightning Dust said as she looked at the Flim Flam Brothers like they were idiots.

“Hey now, what’s up with that, huh!?” Flam asked as he gave the pegasus a look.

“Yeah! Who are you to insult us like that!?” Flim added as he pointed a hoof aggressively towards the pegasus.

“I’m somepony who isn’t dumb enough to think that King Sombra can’t take care of a unicorn that can’t even use magic.” Lightning Dust replied.

“Hey, it was just a simple question!” Flim snapped as he slammed his hoof on the table.

“Yeah, a question that could have gotten you both killed or sent to be fixed like Iron Will.” Lightning Dust said.

The mentioning of Iron Will’s name sent a shiver down the spines of the Flim Flam Brothers. No pony knew exactly what kind of torture the minotaur was going through, but considering the Professor talked about cutting Iron Will’s head open, they knew it wasn’t going to be pretty. The three members of the Rogue didn’t speak another word to each other as they decided to head back to their rooms and await the return of King Sombra.

Meanwhile, in Professor Screw’s Lab…

While Sombra had told the Rogue that he was going to the Caves of Conundrum, he first wanted to see how progress was going with Professor Screw. As Sombra emerged from the shadows and into the Professor’s lab, the first thing he saw was Iron Will, who was now strapped to a large chair rather than the worktable he had been strapped to the previous day. Iron Will was seemingly unconscious, which was probably for the better considering that the top of his head had been completely cut off, revealing his exposed brain, which was pulsing in a gross way.

Next to Iron Will, Professor Screw was working on some sort of device that had a lot of wires coming out of it. Next to this device, there was a strange looking helmet that was designed to connect to the wired device the Professor was working on. Sensing Sombra’s presence, Professor Screw chuckled as he turned to great his king.

“(Chuckle) Ah, it pleases me to see you, my king.” Professor Screw said as he bowed to Sombra. “To what do I owe the pleasure of having you here?”

“I’ve come for a report on your progress with Iron Will as well as the device that will ensure that those mechanical arms don’t become an issue.” Sombra said as he walked over to the Professor.

“Well, as you can see, Iron Will’s procedure is not quite finished yet, however it should be finished later today. As for the arms…” Professor Screw said as he turned in the direction of the opposite end of the room.

Sombra followed the Professor’s gaze as his eyes landed on the mechanical arms, which were sprawled out on one of the worktables. Each arm was strapped to the table, ensuring that the arms would not cause any trouble. On the base of the harness, where the back of Discorded Whooves’s neck would be if he was wearing the arms, was a small device.

“I have completed installing the device on them.” Professor Screw said, finishing his earlier statement.

“Tell me about this new device.” Sombra said as he gestured to the new addition to the harness of the arms.

“Ah yes, I’ve taken the liberty of installing an inhibitor chip in the arms. I embedded a special code into the chip, rewiring the programming of the arms. In short, the chip will restrict the arms’ ability to function on their own accord. They will now fully listen to whoever is wearing the mechanism.” Professor Screw explained confidently. “There are still a few glitches present, but they shouldn’t be too much of an issue.”

Sombra’s initial amusement at the Professor’s progress immediately vanished as he heard Professor Screw mention these supposed glitches.

“What exactly are these glitches, Professor?” Sombra asked.

“Well, the intelligence in the arms is still present in their programming. Thus, the arms will still try to fight for control, but the inhibitor chip should keep them at bay. If not, I’ve worked out a solution of using this remote.” Professor Screw explained as he pulled out the remote that he used on the arms the previous day. “As I told Princess Twilight and her friends, this remote was designed to remotely call the arms to come to whoever pressed the button. However, since I added the intelligence to the arms, when the remote is used, it will cause a critical error to occur in the arms’ programming. This will result in a powerful shock to be emitted to both the arms and the one wearing the arms.”

“I see. And this will convince the arms to obey their orders?” Sombra asked.

“Correct. I will give the remote to the Doctor so he can use it whenever the arms try to fight his control.” Professor Screw said.

“Good. Carry on with your work.” Sombra said as he prepared to leave once again.

“Oh? But don’t you wish to know about Iron Will’s procedure?” Professor Screw asked curiously.

“I do not care what you do with him. Just make sure that when you’re finished, he will never even think about betraying me again. Do not fail me, Professor.” Sombra said as he once again vanished into the shadows.

“(Chuckle) I would never fail you, my king.” Professor Screw said as he watched Sombra sink into the shadows. “Now, Iron Will, where were we?” Professor Screw asked as he approached the sleeping minotaur with a huge sadistic grin on his face.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Bone-Dry Desert…

The Caves of Conundrum were located in the far south of Equestria, just past the Forbidden Jungle, in a harsh desert land known as the Bone-Dry Desert. This wasn’t the first place anypony would want to go and visit as the land was barren, seemingly devoid of any life. During the day, the harsh light from the hot sun covered the entire area, leaving almost no spot for shade and comfort. The desert sand would capture the sun’s heat and become scorching hot to the touch. When night came, the temperatures would drop severely, and the desert would become a winter wasteland. The animals that lived in this area had years to adapt to the harsh environment; any newcomers to the area were doomed to face the brutal weather conditions.

Somewhere off to the east of the Caves of Conundrum, if you were lucky enough to make it through the Bone-Dry Desert, you would find yourself arriving in a small desert town named Klugetown. Klugetown was one of the more… interesting places you could find beyond the borders of Equestria, mostly due to the strange folk that inhabited the town. Klugetowners primarily consisted of lizard-like creatures, pig-like creatures, fish-like creatures, turtle-like creatures, bird-like creatures, and other kinds of animals. Aside from the rather odd creatures that made up the town’s population, there was nothing else really notable about Klugetown.

It was in the Caves of Conundrum, where Tempest Shadow was staying. The unicorn had been staying here for quite sometime now. Ever since the fall of the Storm King, Tempest Shadow had spent most of her time traveling throughout Equestria, helping other ponies, and spreading the teachings of friendship that Twilight Sparkle had taught her. Whenever Tempest Shadow wasn’t traveling and spreading friendship to others, she would stay in the Caves of Conundrum, where she would keep watch over the Storm Creatures that remained from the Storm King’s attack. With their leader gone, they were no real threat anymore. They essentially became harmless animals with no purpose or motivation. Despite this however, Tempest Shadow and Twilight Sparkle agreed that for everypony’s safety, it would be best to move the Storm Creatures to a place where they couldn’t harm anypony.

Twilight and her friends all helped Tempest Shadow gather up the Storm Creatures that remained in Canterlot, where they would be safely transported to the Caves of Conundrum. However, there was also the issue of the other Storm Creatures that were still back in the Storm King’s Realm. Thankfully Tempest Shadow’s little friend, Grubber, agreed to use one of the Storm King’s airships to travel back to the Storm King’s Realm and gather up the remaining Storm Creatures.

At first, Tempest Shadow had been reluctant to leave them alone in the Caves of Conundrum without her supervision while she traveled throughout Equestria. Especially given the number of Storm Creatures left, which was well over two hundred. However, the Storm Creatures never tried to escape or even rebel against her. They stayed in the caves unless Tempest Shadow told them to leave.

Sometime ago, Tempest Shadow had decided that if she was able to confirm that the Storm Creatures would never snap or cause any harm and be able to live on their own, she would release them into the wild. At the end of the day, they were a living species just like every other animal that lived in Equestria. Overtime, Tempest Shadow had observed that the Storm Creatures would spend most of their time wandering around and communicating to each other, even though she couldn’t understand what they were saying. They would also get into little fights here and there, but they were more playful tussles rather than full on scuffles.

At this time, Tempest Shadow had just returned to the caves after making a quick trip to Klugetown, carrying a wagon of food and water for herself as well as the Storm Creatures. Even though these creatures had caused a lot of harm to the ponies of Equestria, Tempest Shadow didn’t think it would be fair to treat them like they were pure evil beasts. After all, they were created solely for the purpose of serving the Storm King. In their minds, they had no other reason to live other than obey their master’s orders.

As Tempest Shadow began to feed the Storm Creatures, she took notice of how the Storm Creatures always seemed to get eager and excited whenever it was their feeding time. It was rather amusing watching how they would gather around her or allow her to fill their large barrels of food and water. It wasn’t easy unloading the wagon or filling the Storm Creatures’ barrels since Tempest Shadow couldn’t use magic. However, she still managed to take care of herself as well as the Storm Creatures.

Meanwhile, off in the distance, Sombra had emerged from the shadows. The brutal heat from the sun did nothing to phase the king as he spotted the Caves of Conundrum in the distance.

“(Evil Chuckle) You certainly picked a good spot to keep those Storm Creatures, Tempest Shadow.” Sombra said as he looked at the surrounding desert sands. “No pony would ever think to look here. Which means… (Evil Chuckle) there will be no pony here to help you.”

After letting out another dark chuckle, Sombra began to slowly make his way towards the Caves of Conundrum, purposefully taking his time as he mentally prepared himself for whatever was about to occur between him and the hornless unicorn.

Back with Tempest Shadow, the unicorn was currently filling up one of the Storm Creatures’ barrels with food, consisting of fish and other meats that were sold at the markets in the shopping center of Klugetown.

“There you go. This should do.” Tempest Shadow said as she carefully placed some food into a barrel.

As the Storm Creatures continued to eat their food, Tempest Shadow sat back and wiped her brow before sitting down and enjoying some of the delicious hay meals that she had got from Klugetown.

“I’m confident that soon enough, you’ll all be ready to live out in the wild freely. Able to live your own lives without the shackles of having to serve somepony.” Tempest Shadow said to the Storm Creatures as they looked up at her curiously. “Yes, that would be very nice for all of you…”

As Tempest Shadow continued to watch over the Storm Creatures, she suddenly felt an odd disturbance; like something bad was about to happen. With this sense of danger getting stronger, Tempest Shadow decided to figure out what was going on. Tempest Shadow got up and as she was about to leave the creatures, she turned to look at them. Having noticed the unicorn’s distress, the Storm Creatures stopped eating as they all turned to look at her, confused as to why she looked uneasy.

“All of you stay here and don’t come out unless I say so.” Tempest Shadow said, her voice filled with concern. “I’ll be right back.”

Before leaving the cave, Tempest Shadow walked over to an old chest which contained her old uniform and armor that she used to wear back when she was still the Storm King’s lieutenant. Inside the chest, there was also a special utility belt which was built by Grubber as a parting gift for Tempest Shadow when they went their separate ways after the Storm King’s defeat. The belt was designed to be useful for tough situations in a battle. The belt had a multitude of gadgets on it, including a few smoke bombs, a couple stun pellets, and a single flashbang. Each gadget was designed to be held and easily equipped by a pony’s hoof.

Once Tempest Shadow had put her old uniform on and equipped her utility belt, she immediately headed for the entrance of the cave, ready to face whatever was causing her to feel so concerned.

By now a sandstorm had begun, making it very hard to see through the sand being kicked up by the wind. However, even with the poor visibility, Tempest Shadow didn’t back down as she kept walking ahead for a bit. She would have kept going if she hadn’t started to hear a peculiar sound. Even with the howling of the winds, Tempest Shadow was able to hear the sounds of footsteps coming towards her. The pace of the footsteps was slow and deliberate. The fact that anypony would be out here just calmly strolling through a sandstorm was quite unsettling.

As the sound of the footsteps became louder, something started to appear past the dusty winds of the sandstorm. In the storm, Tempest Shadow started to see a pair of glowing green eyes slowly come into view. These eyes were cold and looked menacing. Now, Tempest Shadow was certain that whoever this was had no good intentions. Putting on a straight and almost emotionless face, Tempest Shadow stood her ground as she watched the mysterious newcomer emerge from the storm.

In front of her, a dark menacing looking unicorn stallion stepped out into view, stopping once he and Tempest Shadow were in each other’s sights. The appearance of this unicorn immediately gave off bad vibes. The unicorn wore silver armor on his legs and neck, a royal looking red cape, and on top of his head, was a dark crown fit for an evil king. For a few moments, neither of the two ponies said anything as they just observed each other, with the dark unicorn chuckling.

“Who are you and why have you come here?” Tempest Shadow asked, keeping her posture straight and her voice steady.

“(Evil Chuckle) Hello, Tempest Shadow, I am King Sombra; the true ruler of the Crystal Empire and soon to be Equestria’s one true king.” Sombra said as he introduced himself with a grin.

For a single moment, Tempest Shadow’s eye twitched, not only shocked that Sombra knew her name, but the fact that it really was King Sombra standing before her. During that brief time Tempest Shadow had spent in Equestria with Twilight and her friends, she had learned a bit about their history as well as the big events that had taken place in Equestria. One of these events involved King Sombra returning after one thousand years as he tried to take over the Crystal Empire. Thankfully, Twilight and her friends were able to defeat him. But if that was true, then how was King Sombra here now?

Despite her initial shock, Tempest Shadow refused to show any signs of suspicion as she continued to question Sombra, hoping that she could buy herself time to figure out a strategy in case things went wrong.

“Why have you come here? If you haven’t noticed, this place is not exactly a welcoming environment.” Tempest Shadow said.

“Straight to business, I like that.” Sombra said as he let out another chuckle. “I know that you’ve been keeping watch over the remaining Storm Creatures from the Storm King’s army.”

“So, what if I am? What is it to you?” Tempest Shadow asked, hiding her confusion as to how Sombra even knew this.

“Well, if you must know… I was unfortunately defeated by a group of ponies led by Twilight Sparkle. Now, I’m back and I plan to get revenge on her as well as take over all of Equestria. To do that however, I am going to need to borrow those Storm Creatures for my army.” Sombra explained with a dark smile on his face.

“You’re a fool if you believe that I’m going to let you take these Storm Creatures.” Tempest Shadow said, narrowing her eyes at Sombra.

“(Evil Chuckle) I suppose you’re right… which is why I have a deal to offer you.” Sombra said.

“Out with it.” Tempest Shadow said, curious to hear how Sombra could possibly try to convince her to give him what he wanted.

“Give me the Storm Creatures, and in return you will not only be spared, but I will also offer you a position in my group as we take over Equestria and rule it together.” Sombra said with a grin.

“That’s it? What if I want more?” Tempest Shadow asked, egging Sombra on.

“(Evil Chuckle) What more could you want?” Sombra asked with a curious expression.

“My horn. My ability to use proper unicorn magic. Can you give me that?” Tempest Shadow asked, hoping to trick Sombra into thinking that she was actually considering his offer.

“Of course. With my powers and dark magic, I’m sure you’d have your horn restored in no time.” Sombra replied.

“Hmm…” Tempest Shadow said, making it look like she was pondering the decision. “And if I refuse this offer?”

“Then I kill you. Simple as that.” Sombra replied as his grin faded away, being replaced by a serious look.

After Sombra had said this, everything went quiet. Tempest Shadow and Sombra only looked into each other’s eyes as they waited for somepony to say something. Finally, after a few moments of tense silence, Tempest Shadow spoke up.

“You certainly know how to make an offering sound tempting, King Sombra.” Tempest Shadow began. “However, Twilight Sparkle is my friend. Anypony who is an enemy of Twilight, is an enemy of mine. I will not allow you to take these Storm Creatures from here. I’m giving you one chance to leave this place and consider giving up on your foolish plan to take over Equestria. Leave now, or there will be consequences.”

As Tempest Shadow said this, there was once again silence as no pony uttered a single word. Eventually, Sombra started to chuckle.

“(Evil Chuckle) I see… It’s rather unfortunate that we could not come to an agreement, Tempest Shadow. You’ve made your decision and now I shall make mine.” Sombra said as a dark aura began to emerge from his body.

Then, as if a switch had been flipped, Sombra suddenly morphed into a dark cloud of smoke and shadows, charging towards Tempest Shadow. Just before Sombra could reach her, Tempest Shadow lunged forward and did a flip kick, bucking Sombra right in the face and knocking him out of his shadow form. As Sombra hit the floor, he looked up at Tempest Shadow and grinned, he was pleasantly surprised that she’d actually landed a hit on him. Sombra then fired a beam of magic at Tempest Shadow, who used her incredible speed and agility to dodge it. This is what Sombra wanted however as when Tempest Shadow’s hooves landed on the floor, he used his magic to cause a shadowy hand to come out of the ground and fling Tempest Shadow into the air.

With Tempest Shadow airborne, Sombra leaped into the air, using his shadow form to fly up to her and tackled the unicorn out of the air and down towards the ground. After slamming Tempest Shadow to the ground, Sombra quickly jumped away from her. It was a good thing he did because if he hadn’t, he would have gotten kicked. As Tempest Shadow quickly got back on her hooves, Sombra tried to tackle her, but she was able to jump out of the way. Tempest Shadow then grabbed ahold of Sombra’s back leg and flung him into some nearby rocks. Sombra roared as he got back up, using his magic to lift the rocks out of the ground before throwing them at Tempest Shadow. Reacting fast, Tempest Shadow ran towards the oncoming rocks and jumped in between them. Tempest Shadow then used her power to summon one of her obsidian orbs, launching it at Sombra, who quickly dodged the attack.

“(Chuckle) I was wondering when you were going to try and use those fancy little orbs on me.” Sombra said with a grin. “The very same orbs that can turn a pony to stone.”

Tempest Shadow didn’t respond as she just charged forward, jumping into the air to perform another flip kick. The attack didn’t work as Sombra used his magic to keep Tempest Shadow suspended in the air. Using his telekinesis, Sombra threw Tempest Shadow to the side. However, as she was thrown, Tempest Shadow managed to reach one of her stun pellets and tossed it at Sombra. Thanks to her quickness, the pellet reached Sombra and exploded, causing Sombra to stumble a bit. With Sombra stunned, Tempest Shadow quickly ran towards Sombra, slamming into him and knocking him down on the floor.

Sombra tried to use his magic to hit Tempest Shadow, but she had already thrown one of her smoke bombs at him, clouding his visibility. Using the smoke as cover, Tempest Shadow blasted a burst of electricity from her broken horn at Sombra, shocking him. Tempest Shadow tried to use one of her obsidian orbs to turn Sombra to stone, however Sombra used his magic to raise a large stone from the ground, shielding him from the attack. Sombra then sunk into the shadows and jumped out from behind Tempest Shadow, blasting her in the back with magic. Tempest Shadow quickly got back up as she ran towards Sombra again. Sombra laughed as he fired a beam of magic at the oncoming unicorn, however, Tempest Shadow jumped to the side, avoiding the beam, and slamming into Sombra.

With Sombra stunned from the impact, Tempest Shadow began to repeatedly punch and kick Sombra over and over again. After getting in a few good hits, Tempest Shadow landed a powerful roundhouse kick on Sombra, knocking him to the floor. While Sombra was down, Tempest Shadow charged up another electric burst. Unfortunately, Sombra used his magic to summon a large crystal that shielded him from the blast. Because Tempest Shadow was so close to Sombra when she blasted her electrical burst, the impact caused her to fly back. Sombra grinned as he then telekinetically broke the crystal into smaller sharper pieces, sending them towards Tempest Shadow. Seeing the sharp crystal shards coming towards her, Tempest Shadow took a deep breath and then used her agility to kick away every single shard that came at her.

Sombra chuckled as he saw that even though Tempest Shadow had managed to kick away the crystal shards he’d thrown at her, it still caused her pain in her hooves. Even so, Sombra had to admit, he was impressed. Since he spent most of his time watching over Twilight and her other friends, Sombra went into this fight not really knowing too much of Tempest Shadow’s fighting strategy.

Once he saw Tempest Shadow shake off the pain in her hooves, Sombra stomped his hoof on the ground, causing large and long crystal spikes to come out of the ground in the direction of Tempest Shadow. Despite the pain in her hooves, Tempest Shadow charged ahead, using her agility and strength to leap over the crystal spikes and jump out of their way. After avoiding all of the spikes, Tempest Shadow leapt into the air and kicked another one of her smoke bombs at Sombra, covering him in a cloud of smoke. As Sombra tried to jump out of the smoke, Tempest Shadow landed right in front of him and kicked him in the chest. Sombra didn’t let this stun him however as he fired his magic at Tempest Shadow, causing her to fly back due to being so close to him when he had blasted her.

As Tempest Shadow quickly got back up after the blast, Sombra morphed back into his shadow form and charged towards her. Tempest Shadow also charged towards Sombra as she took out her flashbang. She was waiting for just the right moment when she was nearly inches from Sombra. When the chance came, Tempest Shadow threw her flashbang onto the ground right in front of Sombra, stopping him in his tracks as he was once again stunned. Once again, Tempest Shadow proceeded to punch and kick Sombra multiple times. After landing a kick to Sombra’s chest, Tempest Shadow immediately took out another stun pellet and slammed it in Sombra’s face, dealing some real damage. Sombra tried to teleport away but before he could, Tempest Shadow kicked his front hooves, causing him to fall to the ground.

Tempest Shadow refused to let Sombra even have a moment to recover as she kicked him in the face while he was down before yanking him back up and kicking him in the chest. After the kick, Sombra finally found a small opening as he headbutted Tempest Shadow in the face, knocking her back a bit. Sombra then landed a powerful swing, hitting Tempest Shadow hard in the face. The attack was so strong that a few of Tempest Shadow’s teeth flew out of her mouth. Sombra then lifted Tempest Shadow into the air with his magic before slamming her right back down to the floor. As Sombra walked over to Tempest Shadow so he could stomp on her neck, Tempest Shadow took another stun pellet and tossed it at Sombra’s chest, once again stunning him.

Tempest Shadow then blasted another one of her obsidian orbs at Sombra, but even though Sombra was stunned, he somehow managed to force his body to fall down, causing the orb to just barely miss him. While he was down, Sombra used his magic to make a shadow hand emerge from underneath Tempest Shadow, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her down. As Sombra stood back up, Tempest Shadow threw another smoke bomb down, surrounding herself in a cloud of smoke.

Sombra just scoffed as he waited for a few moments before using his magic to clear away the smoke, revealing that Tempest Shadow didn’t even move. Tempest Shadow and Sombra charged at each other once again and just as they were about to make contact, Tempest Shadow tried to swing at Sombra. However, Sombra had seen this coming as he quickly stopped and leaned back, avoiding Tempest Shadow’s swing. With Tempest Shadow being thrown out of balance by missing her attack, Sombra raised a large stone out of the ground behind Tempest Shadow. Sombra then slammed into Tempest Shadow, pinning her against the stone, with his hoof firmly pressed into her throat.

“(Evil Chuckle) You fought well. But you’re no match for me, Tempest Shadow.” Sombra said as he smiled at her.

“I’m not finished yet, tyrant!” Tempest Shadow yelled as she kicked Sombra in the stomach with her lower leg.

The attack hurt Sombra a lot as earlier when Tempest Shadow used that smoke bomb on herself, she used the smoke to hide her while she quickly placed her last stun pellet on her lower hoof. Stunned from the surprise stun pellet attack, Tempest Shadow shoved Sombra off of her and pounced on him, pinning him to the ground with her hoof firmly planted on his neck. Before Sombra could do anything else, Tempest Shadow blasted him with her most powerful burst of electricity. Sombra yelled in pain as he was being electrocuted by Tempest Shadow’s electrical attack. After electrocuting Sombra for a good thirty seconds, Tempest Shadow finally deactivated her horn’s power before stepping a few feet away from Sombra.

As Tempest Shadow backed off of Sombra, she looked down at him. Sombra looked absolutely drained and worn out from the fight. Tempest Shadow then summoned one of her obsidian orbs, ready to throw it at Sombra and turn him into stone forever. However, just as Tempest Shadow was about to throw her obsidian orb, she suddenly remembered back to when Twilight had saved her from the darkness that had consumed her and brought her back to the light. This caused Tempest Shadow to get rid of her obsidian orb as she decided to try and stop Sombra from continuing down this path that wouldn’t lead him anywhere.

“Why do you continue to lead yourself down this path of darkness?” Tempest Shadow asked as she looked down at Sombra. “You can be so much more than this.”

Hearing this, Sombra just looked up at Tempest Shadow and scoffed at her.

“(Chuckle) Are you really trying to reform me? You think you can change me with your empty words?” Sombra asked with a mocking grin.

“I know what it’s like to be on the path of darkness. I know it can seem like it is the right way, but it’s not. Following this path will only lead to your downfall.” Tempest Shadow said.

“You seem to be implying that I’ve even had a choice in the first place.” Sombra said as he suddenly glared at Tempest Shadow. “And are you saying that you can relate to me? You know nothing about what I’ve been through!”

“You’re right; I don’t know what you’ve been through. But I do know that you can’t let the past haunt you. You still have a choice. Whatever happened to you in the past doesn’t matter anymore. The only thing that matters now, is what you choose to do with your future.” Tempest Shadow said as she held out her hoof to Sombra.

As Sombra looked at Tempest Shadow’s extended hoof, his expression slowly started to soften, and he started to look like he was actually considering accepting Tempest Shadow’s words. After a few moments of silence, Sombra began to slowly nod as he looked down at the ground before he began speaking in a soft, even gentle, tone.

“You’re… You’re right.” Sombra began to say, as Tempest Shadow was filled with hope. “In that case… I choose THIS!” Sombra yelled as he suddenly got up and punched Tempest Shadow in the face.

Sombra didn’t give Tempest Shadow any time to recover as he headbutted her, breaking her nose. Sombra then kicked her hard in the chest before he grabbed Tempest Shadow by the sides of her head, forcing her to stare into his eyes.

“(Evil Chuckle) You think you could reform me!? Don’t make me laugh! Now, FACE YOUR FEARS!” Sombra yelled as his eyes glowed green, ready to trap Tempest Shadow with her fears.

“NO!” Tempest Shadow cried as she headbutted Sombra so hard in the face, that she ended up breaking his nose.

Sombra yelled out in pain as he let go of Tempest Shadow, his blood spewing out all over her face. Tempest Shadow didn’t care about this as she blasted Sombra with another powerful electrical burst from her horn. Tempest Shadow then kicked Sombra a couple of times in the face before she gave him one final kick to the chest, causing him to stumble back. Tempest Shadow then took out her obsidian orb and hurled it at Sombra, landing a direct hit and turning him to stone.

“(Pant) (Pant) It’s… over…” Tempest Shadow said as she turned to walk back to the caves.

“Is it really over… Tempest Shadow?”

A horrible chill shivered down Tempest Shadow’s spine as she heard the voice of Sombra come from behind her. She turned around fast to see that Sombra was indeed still reduced to a stone statue. For a few seconds, Tempest Shadow just stared at the statue of Sombra, confused and terrified as to where the voice could have come from. She got an answer soon enough as the head of the stone statue of Sombra slowly turned to look at her, its eyes glowed green and a malicious grin was plastered on its face. This couldn’t be happening; no pony had ever managed to power through the effects of Tempest Shadow’s obsidian orbs; it just wasn’t possible.

“Wh-What? But… h-how?” Tempest Shadow asked, her voice quivering with fear; her confidence completely shattered.

“(Evil Chuckle) You really thought you had escaped my power? (Evil Chuckle) Oh, I don’t think so. Now… Tempest Shadow… let’s see what you’re really afraid of…”

Tempest Shadow trembled as she realized that she had already been pulled into Sombra’s fear realm. Suddenly the stone statue of Sombra started to melt like ice cream on a hot summer day, turning into a muddy puddle on the ground. The skies above Tempest Shadow turned to dark storm clouds, with thunder and lightning blasting from above. Then Tempest Shadow heard the sound of a familiar laughter as something started to rise out of the puddle. Tempest Shadow watched in horror as the Storm King himself emerged from the puddle. The Storm King let out a mighty roar as he then looked down at Tempest Shadow, grinning at her.

“(Chuckle) Well hello there, Tempest. Fancy seeing you here.” The Storm King said as he bared his teeth at the unicorn.

“Y-You!? B-But… it can’t be! You were-!” Tempest Shadow stuttered out as the Storm King interrupted her.

“Turned to stone? Shattered to bits? Killed? You’re right, I was! But now, I’m back!” The Storm King yelled as he raised his hand in the air.

A bolt of lightning suddenly struck the Storm King’s hand, only it didn’t seem to cause him any sort of pain whatsoever. Instead, the Storm King seemingly took pleasure from getting struck by lightning. After the bolt of lightning had struck the Storm King, something appeared in his hand; it was the Staff of Sacanas. With his powerful weapon back in his possession, the Storm King laughed as he raised the staff high into the air as the thunder roared in alignment with his actions.

“No! I won’t let you harm Equestria again!” Tempest Shadow yelled as she sent an obsidian orb flying towards the Storm King.

However, when the orb hit the Storm King, not only did it not turn him to stone, but the orb had seemingly been absorbed by his body. Tempest Shadow was shocked to see this as her attack did absolutely nothing. The Storm King laughed as he looked back at the confused unicorn.

“(Laughs) You think that is going to work on me!? Not this time!” The Storm King yelled as he aimed his staff at Tempest Shadow.

Suddenly, five large bolts of lightning shot out of the staff and hit Tempest Shadow, electrocuting her badly. Tempest Shadow screamed in pain as she felt the bolts of lightning flow throughout her entire body. After the long and brutal electrocution was finished, Tempest Shadow fell to the floor.

“(Evil Chuckle) You know Tempest, as much as I’d love to keep playing this little game, I have to move on. But first, a little parting gift, from me to you. YAH!” The Storm King yelled as he fired a bright glowing beam of magic at Tempest Shadow.

As the magic beam hit Tempest Shadow, she screamed in pain. This was unlike any magic spell she’d ever seen before. Tempest Shadow suddenly began to shrink and even started to age back to when she was a filly. She could feel her bones getting smaller and she felt great pain as her legs became shorter. When Tempest Shadow was completely turned back into a filly, she looked up at the Storm King, who was smiling down at her with a nightmarish grin.

“(Evil Laugh) Look at you! So small and weak! I can’t believe there was a time I actually saw potential in you!” The Storm King yelled as he laughed at the small unicorn.

“I don’t care what happens to me! I won’t let you hurt anypony! I will stop you no matter what!” Tempest Shadow yelled up at the hulking creature before her.

“HA! You make me laugh! You could never-GAH!” The Storm King yelled as he suddenly gripped his chest.

Suddenly, the Storm King looked as if he was in a lot of pain. He started coughing violently so much to the point that even blood began to come out of his mouth. The Storm King dropped his staff and fell to his knees, clawing at his chest.

“GAHHH! WHAT’S HAPPENING TO ME!?” The Storm King cried as more and more blood began to pour out of his mouth and now his eyes.

Tempest Shadow could do nothing but watch as she saw that something was seemingly trying to come out of the Storm King’s chest. His coughing became more bloody and painful and the sounds he was making was so sickening. Then, the most shocking and horrifying thing happened. The Storm King let out one final roar of pain as the head of an Ursa Minor burst out of his chest. Tempest Shadow screamed as she watched the beast begin to claw and bite its way out of the Storm King, tearing him to shreds from the inside. Eventually, the Ursa Minor fully emerged from the Storm King’s body, causing him to fall back, dead and with a huge gaping hole in his chest.

Due to Tempest Shadow’s tragic incident when she was a filly, where an Ursa Minor attacked her and left her scarred and without a horn, Tempest Shadow had since developed a fear of Ursa Minors. Every time she saw or heard one of those monsters, her mind would force her to mentally relive those tragic moments and she would freeze. Now, here she was, trapped in Sombra’s fear realm, in the body of a filly, standing before a large Ursa Minor.

Tempest Shadow attempted to use her power, but she then found out that she was incapable of doing anything. The rest of her gear was gone, she could no longer summon any more of the obsidian orbs, and not a single spark would come out of her broken horn. Realizing that there was nothing she could do, tears began to pour from Tempest Shadow’s face as she slowly started to back away from the Ursa Minor. The beast growled at Tempest Shadow and began to slowly creep towards her.

“N-NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME! GET AWAY!” Tempest Shadow screamed as she continuously tried to use her powers, but to no avail.

The Ursa Minor roared at Tempest Shadow before it raised its claws high in the air, ready to swipe at her. As the beast’s claws came down, Tempest Shadow jumped out of the way just in time. However, this was only a temporary victory as the Ursa Minor swiped at Tempest Shadow again, this time slashing her across her side. Tempest Shadow screamed in pain as she felt the claws slice her flesh. The beast didn’t stop there as it then bit down on Tempest Shadow’s back legs, lifting her up in the air before throwing her into the sands. The bit was so powerful that Tempest Shadow could feel that the bones in her back legs were completely shattered. She couldn’t run away. Despite this, Tempest Shadow still tried to flee by crawling with her front legs.

Attracted to the smell of Tempest Shadow’s blood, the Ursa Minor rushed over to the helpless unicorn and slashed at her back, causing Tempest Shadow to cry out again in pain. The Ursa Minor then bit Tempest Shadow’s ear before tearing half of it off. Tempest Shadow let out another scream as she then felt the Ursa Minor slash at her back once again. The Ursa Minor then flipped Tempest Shadow onto her back, forcing her to look up at the beast which was now towering over her. As the beast roared at Tempest Shadow, she closed her eyes, bracing herself for death.

However, before the Ursa Minor could sink its teeth into Tempest Shadow’s face, she heard the sound of a familiar voice.

“Fizzlepop Berrytwist! How could you do this to us!?”

Hearing that this voice was the voice of Twilight Sparkle, Tempest Shadow immediately opened her eyes, only to immediately wish she hadn’t. The Ursa Minor was still towering over her, but its entire head had suddenly morphed into the head of Twilight Sparkle. Her face was all bloody and she looked like she had been brutally beaten for hours. Probably the most tragic thing about this Twilight, was the fact that she too was missing her horn.

“Tw-Twilight!?” Tempest Shadow cried as she stared into the alicorn’s eyes.

“You doomed all of us! Because you didn’t stop King Sombra, he’s destroyed all of Equestria!” Twilight yelled as she glared at Tempest Shadow.

“Wh-What!? N-No! Twilight, please!” Tempest Shadow cried before Twilight continued to yell at her.

“Because of you, all of my friends are dead! My brother, my mother, my father, they’re all dead! Everypony is dead! You’ve killed us all, Tempest Shadow!” Twilight screamed as her face suddenly morphed back to the head of the Ursa Minor.

“TWILIGHT! NOOO!!!!” Tempest Shadow screamed as the Ursa Minor reared its head back, ready to clamp its jaws around Tempest Shadow’s face.

Then, just as the Ursa Minor was about to deliver a fatal bite to the face, Tempest Shadow was suddenly struck in the face by Sombra’s armored hoof.

When Tempest Shadow was punched in the face by Sombra, she was knocked out of his realm of fear. It was then, that Tempest Shadow realized that everything she had just experienced was all in her head. But it felt so real, like it had really happened. Tempest Shadow could still feel pain in the places where the Ursa Minor had slashed and bit her.

Then before Tempest Shadow could do anything else, Sombra raised four crystal spikes from the ground and drove them right into Tempest Shadow’s hooves. Tempest Shadow screamed in pain as she felt the spikes pierce through her flesh, rendering her legs completely useless. Sombra then used his magic to crystalize whatever was left of Tempest Shadow’s horn, just to make sure she couldn’t use her electrical attacks anymore. Sombra then walked over to Tempest Shadow and pinned her down.

“(Evil Chuckle) My, what interesting fears you have, Tempest Shadow. Or should I say, Fizzlepop Berrytwist?” Sombra asked as he chuckled.

“NO! I WON’T LET YOU WIN!” Tempest Shadow screamed as she tried to use her power, once again to no avail.

“You’re not afraid of the Storm King, are you? No, you’re afraid of what he would do if he somehow managed to come back from the grave. As for the Ursa Minor… (Evil Chuckle) my, I never knew one could be so afraid of one of those creatures.” Sombra said as he grinned.

“You’ll never win! You will be stopped!” Tempest Shadow yelled as she spit in Sombra’s face.

“(Evil Chuckle) Are you sure about that? Because your fears told a different story. You’re afraid that I’m going to win. And when I do, you’ll know that it’s all your fault.” Sombra said.

“Twilight and her friends will stop you. They stopped you before and they’ll do it again; I know they will. Evil never lasts long here in Equestria.” Tempest Shadow said as she smiled confidently at Sombra, accepting the fact that it was almost over.

“(Evil Chuckle) Not this time, Tempest Shadow.” Sombra said as he grabbed the sides of her head with his hooves. “You fought well, Tempest Shadow. Even though Equestria will suffer slowly, I grant you a quick death.”

Tempest Shadow only continued to smile as she closed her eyes. This was it; this was the end. Even so, Tempest Shadow was happy. She was happy that she had met Twilight Sparkle and all of her friends. She knew that they would defeat King Sombra. After all, the magic of friendship could never be defeated. Tempest Shadow nodded to herself as she knew that everything would be okay. As they say here in Equestria:

“Friendship is Magic…”

Then, Sombra snapped Tempest Shadow’s neck…

As Tempest Shadow went completely limp in Sombra’s hooves, he chuckled. Then, his chuckles turned into a dark and victorious laughter. Sombra stepped away from Tempest Shadow’s body and looked down at her.

“(Evil Chuckle) A pity that you could not join us, Tempest Shadow. We would have loved to have you in our group.” Sombra said as he turned to look towards the entrance of the caves. “No matter, it’s time I collect what I came for.”

With that Sombra began to make his way over to the Caves of Conundrum. Once inside, Sombra was immediately greeted by the sight of all of the Storm Creatures that had been kept hidden away in these caves. Sombra chuckled, getting the attention of the Storm Creatures as they all turned to look at him. Based on the way Sombra looked and the fact that their caretaker, Tempest Shadow was not there, the Storm Creatures knew that something was wrong.

“Do not fret, Storm Creatures, you are all under my care now.” Sombra announced to them.

Hearing this and the way Sombra said it, told the Storm Creatures that something bad had happened to Tempest Shadow and Sombra was directly responsible. Sombra was surprised when some of the Storm Creatures started to show signs of aggression towards him. It looked like they were about to attack him. Sombra only grinned as he waited for one of them to strike.

Two of the Storm Creatures, which just so happened to be Tempest Shadow’s personal Storm Creature guards, suddenly leapt towards Sombra, ready to slash him with their claws. Sombra dodged and avoided their claws and used his magic to blast them both back down to the ground. Then, before the two Storm Creatures could get back up, Sombra used his magic to raise two long crystals out from underneath the Storm Creatures, impaling both of them and killing them. In response to this, the other Storm Creatures stumbled back and seemingly lost their will to fight.

“(Evil Chuckle) You’re all mine!” Sombra yelled as his eyes glowed green, capturing all of the Storm Creatures in his stare.

As Sombra used his power on the Storm Creatures, their eyes glowed green and they all immediately lost any urge to resist or fight against him. Sombra had placed all of the Storm Creatures under his control.

“(Evil Chuckle) All of you, listen up! Equestria’s time is almost up! You will all help me take over! When I give the order, you will all rise from the ground and attack everypony in your path! But do not kill any of them! Wait for my orders! Now, go! DIG! DIG UNDERGROUND AND SPREAD THROUGHOUT ALL OF EQUESTRIA!” Sombra roared as all of the Storm Creatures started to dig into the ground.

The Storm Creatures began to dig their way to every single major landmark and city in Equestria. They had split into groups, making sure that when they would rise, every group would have the same amount of Strom Creatures. Their brute strength allowed them to dig at such a fast speed that it would make even the Diamond Dogs green with jealousy. Once all of the Storm Creatures were gone, Sombra laughed as he looked at the dead bodies of the two Storm Creatures that tried to take him down.

“(Evil Chuckle) I’m sure with a little dark magic, the Professor can put you to good use. Yes… I’m sure of it.” Sombra said as he used his magic to warp the two bodies to Professor Screw’s lab.

Sombra then exited the cave and walked over to Tempest Shadow’s body. He looked down at her with an emotionless expression on his face. If there was one thing he had to admit, Tempest Shadow had skill and was not to be underestimated. Sombra would never forget the unicorn who had no horn, Tempest Shadow…

Author's Note:

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It was certainly dark and brutal! The fight Sombra had with Tempest Shadow was originally going to be shorter, but I decided that Tempest Shadow should give Sombra a bit of a struggle before she went down. Next chapter, Sombra will add some an extra step to his ultimate plan and then we will see what Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow have been up to. Thank you again for the support!