IDW just keeps going back to this guy
Also just makes me angry with the finale we did get for Gen 4

Cyclonus: But he’s a ghost! Wait a minute. Since when do ghosts appeared out of black smoke?

I think the Autobots and the Mane Six teaming up against King Sombra is an interesting premise.

Don’t worry, this person will stop King Sombra!  
YOU GOT THE TOUCH! YOU GOT THE POWER!!! YEAHH!!!  

The Mane 6 to sombra  

megatron I said unicron not unicorn

@Evil Emperor Proteus  
My point was it could be found in every living thing, and those trained in it could manipulate it to achieve special abilities
 
 
Keep in mind in Equestrian Magic as a life-force and it’s reality changing properties are intertwined, both in the living and the land itself.

@Macaroni C-Pony  
Ki and Magic are different things in Dragon Ball. Piccolo, Babidi, Majin Buu and Moro, for example, are capable of using magic which is distinct from Ki based techniques.

@Phoenixflambe
 
Ironically, yes and no. I find Aesop’ Amnesia to be perfectly fitting, given that Sombra seems to be the only one learning from his mistakes while our “Guardians of Harmony” just stand around and wait for death.

@Macaroni C-Pony  
Learning from your mistakes is poor writing? The one thing plaguing this show for so long is Aesop Amnesia. It not only creates continuity errors we have to fix with some explanation, it also makes the characters seem like they learnt nothing. Although the argument here could be we also can get Aesop amnesia too. Why do you think we make mistakes today?

@Background Pony #0206  
I also don’t think magic is cross series comparable.
 
Different things work in differently among different properties universe especially when if the Toon Force is involved as it is in MLP.
 
 
You make it sound like Death Battle when they said Dr Doom can ignore the rules of the Force through sheer willpower
 
Equestrian magic is kinda like a life force-esque type energy on its own, like a Ki works in Dragon Ball, or Chaos Force in Sonic. Actual spells and abilities, or “hax”, vary across the What we consider the strongest characters, like Twilight and Discord.
 
Cozy Glow confirmed this in “Frenimies” among many other example of evidence.

@Background Pony #0206  
The point is Sombra stated that the most powerful magic in the universe only dispelled him, at a point where the mane 6 and their friendship are the the strongest and most experienced they’ve ever been.
 
 
They know him, they know what he’s capable of, and they whooped his ass last time.
 
Now suddenly not only does it not work, but Sombra can “bypass” it by controlling HALF of the Mane 6.
 
Basically “I can’t hurt you when your together because the Elements protect you from harm, so I’ll mind control you into harming each other even though you were together!”
 
That’s poor writing, my friend, at least by THIS point. They could fix it but they better pull something unexpected

@Macaroni C-Pony  

 
McCarthy did a slightly too good job with Sombra, who after all has “Evil Overlord of Equestria”, a title that the evil tyrant will keep throughout the history of MLP. There’s a bit of a Darth Vader-like vibe around this unicorn who’s at the top of the most notorious MLP villains based on the offenses, he’s even far worse than Tirek - and just Grogar’s atrocities from the legends that have never been part of the background should be worse. This makes him a “cool” villain who can not die, as he is the ultimate evil pony in the entire MLP universe.
 
We’ve never seen the harmony magic used to kill intelligent beings, only the very old rainbow magic that Megan had in G1 is capable of killing - and it’s probably a latent force that can only be used as when the Mane 6 destroyed Sombra in S9. Celestia would not have used the elements of harmony against her sister no matter how evil she had become, if the magic in these is deadly. There are very surprisingly few “true” kill spells in the entire entertainment industry, as one kills by using magic to create secondary effects such as drilling through a human body. The rainbow magic from G1 and the Killing Curse from Harry Potter are the best known examples. From Fred Perry’s “Gold Digger” comics there is also nothing about “kill spells”, current magic users in his universe with few exceptions could not fight, and could not use direct magic even at H-bomb level to kill and annihilate, then one must trigger secondary effects such as plasma and gravity for example. Something that the heroine, Gina Digger, demonstrated by showing that the laws of physical nature are more deadly than magic. Repeatedly.
 
Sombra was destroyed not because he was struck with the harmony magic that proved to have little noticeable effect on him in S9, but because the inner magic of all six ponies had been united into a formidable force that was more than harmony magic. More like the old rainbow magic. In fact, many had pointed this out after “The Beginning at the End” - because in the show and the comics, such fatal effects were not seen early. Besides … has it not been said canon that harmony magic works best against disharmony?
 
There are not that many comic creators, lone artists like Fred Perry or comic / animation crews, who permanently kill their villains when it comes to entertainment aimed at children and teenagers. The first example is Doyle’s professor Moriarty from “Sherlock Holmes” who was only featured twice in Doyle`s books, who have since formed the pattern for immortal villains who are either arch-enemies or very challenging opponents of the heroes.
 
So it’s not “poor writing”.

@Background Pony #0206  
See the problem is we can only speculate until it is confirmed or at least explained. But the end result is that Sombra simply can’t be destroyed by th most powerful form of magic in existence then that’s just poor writing.
 
I also disagree with that last bit. Unlike DC and Marvel, no one truly dies because they will literally milk those characters to death, given that these characters are literally decades old
 
. MLP, or at least G4, on the other hand, was never really in the same level of demand, and while Death is an iffy subject, MLP has found a way around this by reforming characters rather than straight up killing them, (with exceptions)
 
Even with the comics, I have no guarantee MLP will eventually shut its doors, but I wouldn’t say Sombra can’t die because solely because he’s popular when he’s had like what, 5 major appearances?

@Evil Emperor Proteus  

 
No magic, no horcruxes. Voldemort’s magic was what made him who he had become, and his horcruxes were magically created when he split his soul so as not to die. Harry knew he had to destroy the magic that made Voldemort immortal, and thus had to destroy the horcruxes - and sacrificed himself. Harry’s scar had to be erased, so he died and returned to life, to Voldemort’s great shock. Voldemort killed himself when his wand turned towards him in the middle of the duel, the magic that was important to him was no more. Thus, nothing could prevent his death. The magic had to be destroyed to guarantee such an outcome.
 
Yet only Voldemort’s physical shell was dead, his soul has ended up in the limbo, doomed to be there forever. That’s what would have been Sombra’s fate - either true death or the limbo (the Shadow pony is there), but as with Voldemort, SOMEONE prevented this every time he died.

@Background Pony #0206  
Voldemort was being sustained by the Horcruxes, not necessarily his magic in general. Or was that what you meant?

Magical creatures can not be killed, they can only be destroyed with all that entails. As with Voldemort from Harry Potter, it was not enough to kill him - his magic had to be destroyed.
 
Moreover, MLP is not alone in practicing censorship of everything that concerns the word “kill” in both wording and action unless it is meant innocently. These are very common in European comics meant for children and younger teenagers as teenagers. A good example is Duck Avenger / Papernik from Italy, who fights evil aliens who are the only ones who can in truth rival the changelings. (If Emperor Evron and Queen Chrysalis had met, they would immediately conclude the galaxy is not big enough for both of them.) Together with Xadhoom, Disney’s own “Celestia” in that she is a living star - he would have contributed to mass deaths and act of extermination that ended with the alien people ceasing to exist. And throughout the process, the word “kill” was banned. “Destroy” was the only thing that mattered, the artists did their utmost to avoid actions that show easily identified death. There are even horror comics from Disney in Italy that do not show death or an indication of a possible fatal outcome!
 
So MLP is no exception in this. Moreover, it is often seen that the magic user, especially if the person in question consists wholly or partly of magical essence, can not be killed without destroying what makes him / her dangerous. It is the magic of Sombra that allows him to survive death repeatedly, even for hands on more fatal magic that could end him. Since his ashes came to the Crystal Mountains - exactly where he was found by the crystal ponies after being left by the umbrum according to the “Siege” Arc from IDW, it may indicate that he has linked his soul or magic to this very place . Did it mean the Shadow realm or the limbo?
 
In any case, Sombra is immortal because he is a “cool villain” who can not die as easily, as with the many villains as with Superman’s Lex Luthor and Batman’s Joker.

@Scintilla Aquila  
You’re right, Nightmare Moon died not only once but twice two times in a row. No wonder how Celestia could kill or vaporize both The evil versions of the Royal Sisters.

@Background Pony #7F3E  
MLP has been using “destroy” pretty consistently in place of “kill” for years now (the first example that comes to mind is Daybreaker in “A Royal Problem” talking about Nightmare Moon). I mean, has Twilight ever said “kill” in canon, outside of “… even if it kills me” in “Winter Wrap-Up”?

Fact: Airachnid and Shadowstriker scanning the mysterious Dark Energon.  
But, how did the blood of Unicron crashed on Equestria to bring Sombra’s back to life?

@Background Pony #7F3E  
why are you asking me i’m not a purple horse

@horses are fuckin weird  
Hoe come Twilight said “destroyed” instead of “killed”?

@horses are fuckin weird  
Then how come she didn’t say “kill”?

Twilight’s too afraid to say she “killed” someone so she goes with “destroyed” instead.
 
smooth move twilight, real smooth

@Macaroni C-Pony  
ok