dragonofruin

👀 !!

aaaa you could probably jump in whenever now if you want @SteelEagle O:

One of his ears flicked as Luna bid him to continue. He didn't favor her with any bows or dips of his head for letting him speak and went on with what he had planned to say. "I don't suppose you've heard of Hou Shuren have you? She's claimed she's had run-ins with Princess Celestia over the centuries, and ah.." He trailed off, searching for the exact right way to say it. It would be quite the heavy bit of information to just drop on Luna like this, and he wanted to make sure he phrased it properly. There were so many variations to how he'd wanted to reveal this information that he wanted it to be just right.

"I had an encounter with her in the White-Tail Woods. While there was so much she had to say to me and revealing so little.. she's admitted to me that she's stolen something from Canterlot. It happened a few weeks ago during that rather big event with all of Equestria against a few goons." Sombra snorted softly. Tongue Twister told him that Discord was behind his imposter- he wondered if he was somehow behind the others, too. It wouldn't be much of a surprise he was, and to what end, the king didn't have a clue yet. He was sure he'd get any answers he might want about that particular problem later- if Luna was feeling chatty enough to tell him once he made himself truly known.

Sombra was just looking for the right time.

Foxxy's up for it! @ steel

Also ooh, 👀

Princess Luna O:

Here's the thread~ http://www.canterlot.com/topic/24656-seeking-an-audience-invite-only-rainbowfoxxy/

You probably could join- it'd be more fun~™️

I kinda decided to message Rainbowfoxxy since I wasn't sure if this would get seen by anyone and got something started 👀

I guess the basic tldr; that i'll copy paste is: after a fight between Hou and Sombra, she mentioned she'd stolen something from Canterlot, and Sombra's sort of following a wild impulse to finally reveal himself to not only be petty in response to Hou, but to correct his image following his doppleganger's shenanigans. I think maybe it also mentions some above too. o:

A guard had lead him to the throne room doors, where he was informed that his request was granted. Of course. Sombra supposed he shouldn't have thought it would be difficult, if he was pretending to be just another pony. However, as the throne room doors were opened for him and his eyes landed on the sole princess sitting on one of two thrones, something in his stomach dropped. He was already starting to second guess some parts of his plan, and whether he ought to- especially when there were a few guards about. Not that they were a match for him, they would just complicate things.

Sombra strode inside under the guise of a normal unicorn, although he hadn't done much to hide his height. His mane remained black, with a light tawny coat, and green eyes. Green seemed fitting considering it was how they used to look.

He strode confidently enough up the rug that ran up the middle of the large room, his eyes locked on the princess. It'd been over a thousand years since he'd ever seen the princesses in person again, and it was.. strange. Maybe revealing himself wouldn't be a good idea. He'd hate to be imprisoned again, or worse- destroyed. He didn't want to be on the wrong end of their Elements and whatever they'd do to him. The Crystal Heart's effect on him was bad enough.

"Good.. afternoon, Princess Luna," Sombra broke the silence as he came up a short distance from the ramp leading up to the two thrones. They were more extravagant than the old, broken ones in the old castle he'd briefly visited with a pony some months ago, and the throne room itself was.. interestingly large with tall, stained glass windows. He'd gotten a look at them on the way in. "I was hoping to bring up an important matter to.. one of you." His voice wasn't boastful and over-the-top; it was actually much deeper, and could almost be silky without the growl that sometimes edged it. More recognizable, as he hadn't tried to disguise that either; he'd wanted to drop hints rather than hide himself altogether. If he could make her suspect something before he made any reveal, then.. maybe this would be easier.

yee sure

Sombra had no particular spells or knowledge of basilisks to help the poor filly, and it seemed most of the others didn't have a clue either in the face of a hurt child- save one. He was surprised by the shy mare's initiative as she took to rifling through Apple Bloom's bags for an antidote, and seemingly found one. The former tyrant stepped over, only to pause and look back over at the captain with a raised eyebrow.

"Unfortunately, I don't. I have ways of putting myself back together if need be, but I doubt it'd work for normal ponies. Dark magic doesn't work that way," he replied with a wrinkle of his nose. He had no idea how he could save her, as.. bad as it felt. She was a foal, and it bothered him to see her in pain while Fluttershy struggled to get her to drink the antidote. Alizarin was helping, while he could only stand there and watch with a troubled frown on his face. It was interesting to see how Alizarin's guard cracked just enough to show she cared.

As the farm pony turned back to snap at them, Sombra's upper lip curled with a narrowing of his eyes. It was an effort to reign back his flash of anger in retaliation to her own, but it still edged his voice. "Nopony just let her. We were all so busy trying to save you- I doubt you would've liked it if we ran off after Apple Bloom to drag her flank back just to leave you to drown. In a dire moment like that, our minds were likely focused on only one pony. The foal chose to slip off while we were distracted, as I believe I mentioned before when you asked," Sombra replied, a soft growl following his answer.

bumps this

😬

The fight with Hou Shuren followed Sombra on his way back across Equestria to its capital, some of the events and what the sorceress said replaying themselves over in his mind in an effort to understand, to look for details of her plan that she might have unwittingly given away, or intentionally hinted. So far, nothing sprang to mind, and he refused to contemplate on the possibilities so that none of them could muddy what he was hoping to find in the memories.

A few weeks had been allowed to pass since he last saw Hou Shuren and that distant explosion of rainbow light in the sky, in order to allow the events Tongue Twister had spoken of to calm down. The last thing he wanted was for any panic he might cause to be bigger than it should be when he finally showed up, although it was already a part of his plan that he wasn't going to let anypony know it was him until he was right where he wanted to be.

At the moment, he sat on a train heading up Canterlot's mountain in disguise, and his excitement only mounted the closer he got to the capital city. All thoughts were temporarily put on hold while he struggled to keep himself still as the train came pulling up to the station. Soon enough, Sombra was disembarking with the crowd and heading straight towards the castle, breezing through the streets of ponies off on their daily errands. It didn't take him long to reach the castle itself, which was easy to spot over the buildings of the city with its tall towers. There was evidence of damage and reconstruction still in progress, but likely not as bad as whatever it might've looked like initially- perhaps his imposter had caused such damage? Sombra wouldn't have been surprised if that were true- he knew he was a destructive individual, but he didn't destroy as wantonly as some might believe. Every action he carried out usually had a reason behind it.

Now that he was so close, some doubt began to creep up from the back of his mind. It was a crazy idea, and a stupidly crazy one at that. What gain would there be for him if he went through with this, other than what he already feared? He wanted to at least be a thorn in Hou's side, she was the one who'd pushed him to do this.. He also wanted to find out what might've gone missing. It was all a gamble.

He headed to the castle gates, intent on getting inside and requesting an audience with the princesses. He wouldn't drop his disguise until he could find one.

[i couldn't think of a good title for the rp sry]

❌

Some of the events in the list Tongue Twister gave him were what he'd already read about, the major ones being in the Equestrian history books, like Discord's brief reign over Equestria, Tirek's imprisonment, and Luna's descent, although the word return meant that it'd happened again. He already knew enough about Luna's situation from what he'd managed to figure out, and the others.. It explained why Discord was still around, perhaps to make an imposter of himself to terrorize the empire again and Canterlot, as for Tirek.. Sombra snorted softly, his eyes flicking to the wing she'd held up.

With each thing she'd listed, another feather seemed to appear, and it was both a grotesque and fascinating thing to watch. Sombra stared at it, perturbed, until she shook her wing back into normalcy. He suppressed a shiver. Some of it definitely had been what he'd heard of, though this Starlight Glimmer and Tirek's return, were not. The mention of Cozy Glow's attempt certainly explained why his magic had been on the fritz when he was still out and about in Equestria, forced to hide until it returned on its own; it was something he figured was just a strange result of his body's reformation, however delayed it was. His snout wrinkled.

"I see," he muttered, giving Tongue Twister's question a distracted nod. "You'd think they would've learned by now to properly dispatch their enemies."

This conversation was wrapping up, if her intent was anything to go by. As much as he might like to continue for a little longer, he hadn't much else to say, or ask, as Tongue Twister had freely given him some useful information to keep in mind and mull over the next few days on the way to Canterlot.

"I suppose I'll see you in Canterlot, then," Sombra announced, his eyes dropping to his helm. He didn't have anywhere to stash it- he had pockets sewn into the inside of his cape, but none of them were big enough to fit it even if he did enchant them or make them the entrance to a pocket realm. He sat there considering it for a moment between his two hooves before he turned it around and slipped it back onto his head. It fit as it always did, and some part of him did feel some comfort in having it back in place, even if the rest of his armor was long gone and destroyed (or so he believed). With a quick illusion spell, he hid it, making it appear as if it was never there. No need to frighten ponies, or make himself any more recognizable than he already was. If Tongue Twister had nothing more to add, then.. it'd be back on the road for him.

"I have an idea," Sombra began and fell quiet at the mere mention of it being tabled for later. Tongue Twister was the last to have stuck around after the situation with Hou, if only because she'd dealt with the sorceress with him, and he hadn't expected their little meeting to end so soon. He straightened with a frown.

"I didn't think this path would be that well traveled that I'd have to hide soon. How many ponies often go wandering through the woods?" His ears flicked back and he turned his frown towards the earth he stood on. Maybe some did, but.. it was a stupid question he regretted asking immediately.

The king looked back up towards the sky, in the direction he'd seen the earlier multi-colored glare of light. The Elements of Harmony in use, he assumed. He never wanted to have to actually deal with that, as he was certain it was light magic of some sort. Like the Crystal Heart, though that particular relic had failed to kill him in any way that mattered. His tail flicked and Sombra stepped away to pick up his crown with a flicker of his dark magic. "Part.. ten?" he turned to look at Tongue Twister, confusion on his dark features.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that." The most he understood was that Equestria was frequently nearly conquered many times, and he understood this from both the kingdom's history books, its newspapers (when he read them when a particular headline caught his eye), and her statement.

"Regardless, I think I will head to Canterlot. At least, once whatever that was calms down a bit," Sombra stated, jerking his head in the direction of the earlier lightshow. Maybe it was the fight he had with Hou and the excitement it'd stirred up that had him so tempted to commit a wild, and impulsive idea, or perhaps because he'd just fallen into a routine too generic for his liking as of late.

Sombra relaxed ever so slightly to give the unicorn his attention again once he remembered who he was forgetting, his ears turning towards the stallion's voice. Finally, he had a name to match to the pony. Magnus. The king was silent for a few minutes as he took in Magnus's appearance fully, committing it to memory so that when he ran across him again in Canterlot, he'd recognize him.

"I'll keep that in mind, then, Magnus. I'm sure we'll meet soon enough in Canterlot," Sombra replied, giving the slightest nod of his head. He blinked when Magnus abruptly vanished, and it didn't look as if he'd teleported- there was usually that signature flash of light when one teleported. His tail twitched behind him and Sombra's mouth bunched up at one side in thought. Something else, then, perhaps Magnus wasn't really here- or perhaps close by? It didn't matter to him, really. They still talked, and came to an agreement.

His attention was quick to center entirely upon Tongue Twister now that they were the only two creatures in the clearing.

The news that she gave him, of an imposter taking over the Crystal Empire, being defeated, and next trying to conquer Canterlot..

His face darkened to something thunderous, an unsettling air rising from him. An imposter, wearing HIS face. But, perhaps just a puppet? A fake of some sort? If Tongue Twister was to be believed, Discord had been behind it and his chaos magic could do so much more than unicorn magic. It was very much possible. In that case, he at least knew who to be angry with- he just wasn't sure if there was anything he, or really any being, could do about the lord of chaos himself. Not even Hou.

Sombra snorted softly, trying to shed his burst of fury with a shake of his mane, fluffing it out.

"I'm sure they'll have an even lower opinion of me after an awful impersonation, not that it could ever be high enough to begin with." He snorted. "I just hate that that happened. It at least explains something," Sombra added with a mutter, flopping back down on his rear.

"I just can't help but wonder if we could tell Celestia. It might not hinder Hou in any way, but.." he trailed off and shrugged. That wild impulse was still in the back of his mind, and when he could try to straighten that situation out to boot.

The mere mention of authorities left Sombra with a wild urge to present himself to Celestia directly and tell her just to spite Hou Shuren, despite the consequences of making himself known to start with. The risk of banishment, or another attempt to murder him.. Would it matter? For each mistake he made, he only learned and grew stronger from it- or at the very least, cleverer. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Tongue Twister's inquiries, his ears alert and his eyes wide.

In a moment, Sombra was on his hooves and inches away from the pegasus mare.

"What do you know? Hou hinted to something about Canterlot, and my being there despite having never set foot in the castle itself- but she never told me much more than that. Only accused me of playing dumb." His brow furrowed, and the red of his eyes blazed beneath them with the hope that Tongue Twister could give him more information about this imposter who was possibly tarnishing his name- not that he hadn't done that plenty enough on his own.

"What is it about Discord? What exactly happened in Canterlot, and why are others claiming I was there?" His tone was insistent, and the stallion himself was visibly agitated. His tail was sweeping behind him, his gaze trained solely on her as he waited.

"Mm, I had the same thought," Sombra muttered, running his tongue over a fang. His eyes had drifted downward to the grass, and soon flicked back up as Tongue Twister recited what Hou said- word for word, which was rather impressive for a pony to have remembered that in so stressful a situation. "Hm."

"I might wonder if she's bent on destroying everything, but even then that feels like a stretch." A heavy sigh escaped the king and he glanced over at the unnamed pony, a small frown on his face. His tail idly lashed in the grass next to his flank, twitching like an irritated cat's. It was too bad there wasn't something he could've done to learn even a little bit about what Hou was going for, and what she might've stolen. Could it have been his helm, something that might have actually survived and was found out in the Frozen Wastes to be stored away in Canterlot? Or was there some artifact he'd yet to know of? There were so many, the sisters had likely hidden some from the public completely.

"Really," Sombra mused. The thought was almost entertaining- dealing with a few unicorns who might actually know what they were doing with their magic. The reason this stallion was cast out was for such a silly reason, and yet.. it'd be something for Sombra to focus on. To vent his frustrations, and maybe find his way closer to an answer on the side, if it lead him anywhere near Canterlot. His thoughts wandered over the royal sisters, and what could be done.

"Fine, then," he spoke up abruptly, straightening up. "Maybe I can assist you."

Sombra wiggled his jaw in thought, digesting what Tongue Twister had to say about the 'hide to live another day' method. In a way, she did have a point, even if he'd rather stick to that method for the sole reason of avoiding the mess she'd ended up in. Or something worse. Hou could've easily decided to take Tongue's soul, and Sombra never wanted to know what that might be like. His snout wrinkled.

"I get it, but we still don't know what her plan is. What is her goal? Absorb more souls? Conquering Equestria? Slay the royal pony sisters?" There were quite a few more possibilities Sombra didn't bother to name, but most of it seemed too.. petty for Hou. Maybe he could be right about one of them, maybe not- he'd have to wait and see what unfolded.

An eyebrow arched back up. So there were more involved? Sombra turned more fully towards the other stallion and sat down, curling his tail around one flank. His magic draped his helm around one upraised foreleg, leaving it off to the side of his thoughts for now. "How powerful is your family? Are they mere ponies, unicorns, or do they actually have some skill in magic to make them a challenge?" The king cocked his head, inequine red eyes focused on the other stallion's face. It would certainly be something fun to do on the side, while he worked to figure out what Hou was up to and how in Equestria she got a hold of his helm- how it was even still in one piece when he thought it destroyed for good.

What Tongue Twister, what she introduced herself as, mentioned sounded terribly familiar. Sombra was sure he'd read something of the sort during his reading sessions in various libraries, but the name for it escaped him for the moment among many other things floating around in his memories. It almost sounded like some sort of split personality, but it didn't seem like it developed from any usual causes. He made a thoughtful sound in his throat as he contemplated it for a moment and eventually had to set it aside for now- it'd come to him later, it always did.

The mention of STAR, if he was hearing her emphasis correctly, was enough to make his lip curl. He'd been invited to join that organization, and.. eventually chose not to be a part of it. Sombra looked at Tongue Twister and tried to recall if he'd seen her there at that initial invite-meeting; he hadn't paid much attention to most of the other present, beyond a few that stood out to him or were familiar to him, and couldn't be sure. Maybe she could've been.

"Considering what she's done to you now, you probably should've fled while you still had the chance. Hou Shuren has gone far with her practice in dark magic, as well as.. whatever the rest of it was, so I can't be sure what can be done about.. this.." Sombra gestured to her with a hoof, indicating her altered coloration and the earlier, fluid strangeness of her wing.

His attention switched back to the stallion to hear him out, annoyance flashing across his grey face. That was.. it? "All that for his own stupidity? I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to go back and simply destroy him for such a petty overreaction to his foolishness. Really. Doesn't Equestria teach its foals each generation not to stare at bright lights? Like the sun?" Sombra scoffed, tossing his mane back. "Were I to give you any lessons, I would tell you: find yourself a nice knife or sword and catch them by surprise." He shrugged. Unless this stallion's, whose name he hadn't learned yet, father was some sort of expert spellcaster that the pony couldn't hope to best, Sombra didn't think it'd be much of a challenge.

The former tyrant had little idea what was going on in the mare's head, only that she was a chatty one, willing to detail all that she'd seen and that she'd stayed to watch the fight. A soft, amused snort escaped him as he looked back down at the crown he held in his magic, a frown crossing his muzzle again at the sight of it. "I am a danger to Equestria- at least, I would be, if I bothered to do anything," he replied, his eyes dropping to the strange notes that the mare chose to show him them, doing something with her wing that he knew wasn't normal. If he'd been the average pony, it might've made his skin crawl- well, perhaps it did a little, but he was so used to being able to shift into shadow and alter his shape however in that particular state that it wasn't much to him.

His attention was quick to return to the other newcomer at the sound of their voice. There was something about it, but.. Sombra shrugged to himself and heard the stallion out. "I'm sure," he agreed. He did understand that desire, and while he could teach this complete stranger 'something useful', he wasn't feeling particularly inclined to unless there was something he could get out of it. For the moment, the only thing that'd decided to rear its head and change what had become so standard for him was Hou Shuren. There was something to be done about that sorceress, although what Sombra wasn't sure. She'd been completely unreasonable, and had a mysterious goal in mind- while Sombra didn't care what it could be, there was the potential that it could become a pain in his flank regardless.

The crown he held felt like it was a piece to something, he just wasn't sure what yet. She'd mentioned he was 'sighted' in Canterlot's throne room, so did that mean somepony was pretending to be him? Was Hou behind that, if she had this?

Sombra jumped from the shout of the pony mare, whose name he still hadn't learned, and he watched her following freak-out over what Hou had done to her. His lips peeled back from his teeth in distaste.

"Y..Yourselves?" Sombra queried, confusion flitting across his features, softening the scowl he'd fallen into. He glanced over at the stallion. "What are these.. unjust wrongs, by the way?"

A low growl rumbled out his throat, shaking the air. Perhaps he may have lost to them twice, but one had been a pyrrhic victory for the royal pony sisters. He'd still taken the Crystal Empire away with him. He remained quiet about it, however, deciding that there was no longer a point trying to point out his justifications or what he'd experienced first-hoof and that she likely only heard about. Unless she somehow happened to witness it in one way or another..

It didn't matter to him now. A scowl would meet Hou the next time her attention shifted back to him from the madly cackling pony; he was sure he recognized corruption when he saw it. He just didn't quite know what was wrong with this pony. As the bonds around them disappeared, he hit the ground, barely managing to keep on his hooves; he stumbled a little to ensure he did.

"You've got that right," Sombra growled out, his eye twitching as she tossed the item she'd summoned at his hooves, but he didn't dare look at it yet just in case it happened to be a distraction. He was stubborn, and just as determined, and he had a reason to remain so detached to all but the world itself; ponies, companions, meant nothing to him. It remained to be seen if that, and he, would ever change. Perhaps in little ways, he would, he was adaptable enough.

His upper lip twitched as, after her tirade, Hou disappeared behind an abrupt flock of ravens who he had no doubt were magical. Sombra leaned away from them, holding a hoof by his face to protect it.. and soon enough they were gone, leaving him with the mad pony and an unknown fourth he hadn't noticed yet amidst all the chaos of his fight with Hou and her speeches.

His gaze finally dropped, and it was there he finally saw the item she tossed him for what it was: his old crown. All this time he thought it'd been destroyed, broken with the rest of his armor, and yet here it was, still whole. Sombra picked it up, catching part of his reflection in the iron band of the crown itself. He tilted his head and looked up, his attention briefly caught by the glare of rainbow light in the sky, far from here, disturbing the clouds.

Grunting, Sombra sidestepped towards the mad pony, eying her. "How long had you been watching us?" was all he could think to ask, while daring to glance around the area for any other possible surprises, and through the slowly dissipating fog, he was sure he could see a figure standing just short of the clearing.. His red eyes narrowed. "Who's there?"

Sombra could only lean his head back and roll his eyes with great exaggeration. "You really are trying too hard to act as if you're on top of everything when you're not. No, I don't owe any obligation to anypony. I never would. I owe nothing. I am allied with nothing. As for the newspapers?" The umbrum barked out a laugh. "I don't even read it. I've long since found Equestrian news dull. I'm sure it's 'interesting' sometimes whenever some fool tries to conquer it again, but," he shrugged, indicating that he had no interest regardless. If he wanted to deal with some pony's view or retelling of events he could just ask the next pony he ran into on the road.

The tyrant's struggling ceased the longer his mind worked on potential solutions to his current predicament, trying not to let Hou aggravate him more than she had been. Dark magic was slowly bubbling and sparking up around his curved horn, preparing himself; his magic would feel, thus far, aimless, its purpose unshaped. Hou could yammer as long as she wanted about her assumptions about him- and that was all they really were, assumptions. He wasn't in any form of denial, no matter how he looked at it or how he tried to pry apart what she'd told him and what he'd seen.

All he knew was that something was falling apart within Equestria for some time, the way ponies had been acting towards each other, those not of their species. Something happened in Canterlot, certainly, it's just that Sombra never looked at any newspapers when he had better things to read and do on his curious way through the country. His brow furrowed. Maybe he did 'live under a rock', though that wasn't quite right.

Regardless of Hou's interference, he'd find out exactly what happened sooner or later. Why she insisted he was in Canterlot's throne room when he'd never set foot there.. "I could almost wonder if it isn't you who's delusional here," he idly put in, his attention shifting from the silvery liquid to his glowing bonds. "A few hazy memories are one thing, and this isn't it." His magic sparked and he focused it onto one of the glowing strands, wrenching at it. If he could get free, he wasn't sure if he might try freeing the pegasus too for the hell of it- one less soul for Hou to take.

The explosive sound of crystal shattering pulled Sombra's attention from the thing that'd been bearing down on him to Hou, now bloody and pricked with many shards of his shattered crystal. Perhaps, if given the chance, he could've done something creative with those little shards and Hou's flesh, but he never had that chance when she started to perform blood magic, creating an orb of her own blood which she then used for a spell.

He found himself suddenly ensnared by glowing threads of red light, his body caught up in them and his hooves off of the ground in a way that Sombra found uncomfortable, and because it was made of her blood too. He immediately began to writhe in his bonds, snarling with dark magic sparking around his horn again in an effort to get free despite Hou's speech filling the quiet and fading energy of their fight seconds ago. Just listening to her was beginning to infuriate him, and he was only distracted long enough by that pull of something dark far away in the general direction of Canterlot.

His teeth bared and he turned blazing eyes up towards Hou. "What does your plan matter to me? Do you think I was just going to stumble in and stop it because.. what? Because I might like to play the hero?" His tone was sneering and harsh laughter bubbled up his throat. "What do I care?"

There was a lapse in his verbal retaliation, taking in that accusation again that he had been in Canterlot in the.. throne room? He'd never even set foot in that castle much less the throne room. "I TOLD YOU! I was never there!" Sombra roared, his fury spilling out with the frustration that'd been building ever since Hou engaged him in this pointless fight. A display of power was one thing, but what she'd been attempting to do? He snarled and squirmed in his bonds, before briefly falling still as Hou's attention turned skyward.

There had been another! Sombra knew he had to have seen the shadow of something up above, over the fog.. His head snapped up to spy the helpless pegasus Hou had snared, just as she had with him, and Hou's following thoughts on something Sombra was unaware of with the unknown pony. His brow furrowed and he took the moment Hou was distracted to try to start working on how he could free himself, if he might still be able to use his magic to do.. something. He wasn't sure if he was any sort to care that she had her magic on another, and he'd likely not make any effort to free this pegasus unless it served a purpose for him.

"Have I really lost when I never even cared to start with? Whatever your plans might be, or when I had no goal myself?" Sombra asked her, his lips lifted in a sneer. "You're doing a lot of showing off for an audience that has no interest. If anything, you're wasting your time and mine!"

Sombra scoffed behind his cover of crystals. His dislike for Hou was slowly growing the longer this fight went on, if he could call it one. With Hou's magic and new tricks, it seemed possible it would be more his slaughter, but that was a line of thinking he never followed. Either he'd win, or he'd be forced to flee to live another day. There was already so much going on. He hardly had any concentration to spare to even respond to the sorceress.

He peeked between two of the crystals he shifted to get a good look at Hou and her defenses, his ears splayed back against his dark, swept back mane that had taken on its trademark shadowy appearance. He was forced to quickly retreat as more of her skull-shaped bolts came flying his way, his magic holding the floating, sharpened crystals in place against their onslaught. One shattered and he grew another in its place, disturbing the soil with its emergence. The stallion twitched and moved again, advancing towards Hou, after a lightning struck too close for his liking; he imagined it might've singed him some. It was something he couldn't check while everything else was taking up his attention, like the disappearance of Hou's barriers. Another peek out through the gaps showed him as much and he tensed against another lightning strike, dancing away as something slipped through and grazed his shoulders.

Sombra shook himself and stole a few minutes to finish working the crystals he'd lifted into points, taking his cue from the next of Hou's tricks to take action: the mass of silvery liquid gathering behind him and coming his way.

He moved then, lifting and flinging the crystals towards Hou. Her maneuverability with the help of the silvery liquid made it hard to take a proper aim at her with so much putting pressure on him, but he made his efforts, guessing where she might be next until he expended what he had. Sombra was left with no defense to hide behind, for the time being, but it had gotten him moving for the sake of avoiding the tearing mass bent on ripping him apart.