The shadow crept ominously around the borders of the Crystal Empire. True, the ponies within had managed to keep this darkness at bay, but that would not last forever. Sombra had returned from the Aether, and he had vowed to take what he believed to be rightfully his. The barrier keeping him from his prize would fall, the crystal ponies would be his slaves, and the interlopers who had dared to defy him would suffer terribly. Though he was at present without an actual throat, he still managed to get out a chuckle. He continued circling his prey, like a shark smelling blood, and he counted the moments, eagerly anticipating when he would see his chance and take it. But, his creepy solitude did not last, as he was distracted all of a sudden by a clearing of a throat, prompting the dark spirit to look downwards. There, looking up to him with irritation, was a comparatively diminutive human, the sight of which caused Sombra to sigh with exasperation.

"Yes, Kevin? Is there a problem?"

Kevin scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, can't help but notice that you're sort of just floating about and not doing anything, Boss. Is there actually a plan at work here?"

Sombra grinned.

"Oh, indeed. I wait. I wait until their strength has failed them, then I charge in and take what is mine."

Hearing that Kevin groaned, then stretched out his hand and took a swipe at his employer. Sadly, for the first time in his life, Kevin's blow did not land, instead passing through harmlessly with the mostly-smoke form of his leader. Looking to his hand for a moment, Kevin frowned.

"Ugh! I hate it when I can't slap people!"

Sombra raised an eyebrow.

"And why, may I ask, were you attempting to strike the Lord of Darkness?"

Kevin shrugged.

"Tradition mostly. But right now it's because there's a million things you could be doing! You could, oh, I dunno, go someplace else and take over?!"

Sombra cackled.

"Oh, and why would I want to do that?"

Kevin gestured to the magical barrier beside them.

"In case you haven't noticed, you can't really do anything here. Everywhere else in Equestria though? It's completely open season for you right now. Their biggest defenders are all tucked away inside this force-field thingy, so you've got pretty much no competition right now!"

Sombra pondered that.

"Hmmm...true..."

Then his resolve returned.

"No! I shall stay and claim my prize! The Empire! The ponies who live there! The Crystal Heart! All of it!"

Kevin groaned.

"Ah, yes, the Crystal Heart. Wanted to talk to you about that actually. You do know that...um...IT'S SOMETHING THAT CAN COMPLETELY OBLITERATE YOU, RIGHT?!?!"

Sombra waved him off.

"It is my property, and besides, the ponies can't use it. I've hidden it behind an impossible trap. Even if they do get to it, they'll never escape!"

His assistant was unconvinced.

"Hate to break it to ya, your Majesty, but heroes tend to be able to get around stuff like that. Trust me, I know. A trap won't stop them, and then you're gonna have to deal with yet another magical superweapon. Oh, and speaking of which..."

He cleared his throat, taking a moment to stay quiet and really get his thoughts together. When he did, he brought his face right up to Sombra's.

"WHY DID YOU KEEP THE MAGICAL SUPERWEAPON INSTEAD OF DESTROYING IT, YOU IDIOT?!?!"

Sombra, naturally, was taken aback, but quickly recomposed himself.

"Well...I wanted it as a prize. A symbol of my victory!"

Kevin slapped his own forehead.

"See, it's this kind of thing that's brought so many baddies down around here! If you have the crystal of ultimate goodness, or whatever it's called, break it! No ifs, ands or buts about it!"

Sombra frowned.

"You talk to me about going headlong towards a tool of my own destruction, but your plan is just as dangerous! Need I remind you that the rest of Equestria has those accursed Elements? What's to stop them from being used on me?"

Kevin smirked, and again gestured to the city nearby.

"The only ponies capable of using it are right here in this shield. They don't have the Elements with them, so boom, they're completely unprotected right now!"

Sombra stared at him, mouth agape, as he considered that.

"They...they left their most powerful weapon in their fight against evil? Even knowing they might have to fight against me?!. They...they did know I was probably going to be involved in all this, right?"

Kevin gave a shrug.

"Yeah, I don't really know why they did it either. But hey, it's an opening. So go, attack someplace else already!"

Sombra grinned wickedly, turning to do exactly that. But then, he stopped, considering one more issue.

"Although...there is the matter of the two Princesses. Celestia and Luna vanquished me before, so they may have the chance to do so again."

He narrowed his eyes at the assistant.

"What is your oh-so-clever plan to deal with them, Kevin?"

But Kevin simply kept up his smirk.

"Oh, don't worry about that, Boss. They're more into sending other ponies to fight bad guys these days."

Sombra raised an eyebrow.

"Truly?"

Kevin nodded, looking left and right, as if worried about being overheard, before leaning closer to his employer and whispering.

"Personally, I think management decided to just nerf them in-between millennia."

Sombra blinked.

"...I have no idea what that word means, but I'll just go along with it."

His grin returned as he looked south, to the undefended Equestrian lands beyond.

"Now, at long last, I shall have a kingdom of my own! All will bow to me, and the shadow of Sombra shall make even the mightiest of warriors quake with fear!"

Kevin folded his arms, nodding politely.

"Yes, yes, all very good," he said with a tone that made it obvious that he wasn't really that interested.

Sombra cackled.

"And then, I shall begin my master plan! The ultimate world-conquering scheme..."

He turned again to Kevin, and whipped out what appeared to be a small pile of goo, which he proudly presented to him.

"I'll re-introduce Gak to the toy market ad make an absolute killing!"

To that, Kevin looked like he was utterly enraged, and so finally managed to get in his desired slap as he brazenly knocked the Gak out of Sombra's ghost-like hooves.

"NO!!! THAT WASN'T FUNNY BACK THEN AND IT'S NOT FUNNY NOW!!!"

Sombra, recoiling again, stood in silence for a time, then muttered under his breath.

"Geez...and I thought I was supposed to be the scary one."

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