“What do you mean Princess Amore has been killed and the Crystal Empire has been taken over?!” Luna snarled at the poor messengers. “That’s impossible!”
Celestia gasped in shock. It wasn’t too long ago when the empire began, and things were just fine. Who could’ve done this so quickly?
Meanwhile, in said empire, the newly made King Sombra was imposing a reign of terror, dragging families off the streets and killing those who did not swear loyalty to him and his corrupt guard.
“Kill that whole family,” The mad king told 2 warriors, pointing to a screaming lot of terrified ponies. “Never liked them.”
A mare growled at him. “You will not lay a single hoof on my family!”
King Sombra didn’t even blink as the warriors sent a storm of bullets into the mare and her relatives. The blood splattered everywhere, some getting on his coat. He turned to his closest adviser.
“How long until this whole place gets cleaned? He asked Sunstorm with a hint of glee edging his voice.
“Not long, your highness.” Sunstorm stated, looking at the dead ponies up ahead.
“Very good!” Sombra let out an evil laugh. “The next part of the plan will be dethroning the royal sisters. Those bumbling fools will soon fall to me, and all of Equestria will be mine!”
When the sisters heard about this, to say they were shocked was an understatement.
“I’ve never even heard of Sombra! I knew his species has been long gone, but...how did he return?” Celestia wondered.
Luna growled. “However he did it, he must be stopped as soon as possible! We may be next!” She was growing more hot headed and short tempered, and her relationship with her sister was starting to strain.
“I know.” Celestia headed towards the spell room. “So what should we use for this-”
“We should banish him!” Luna interrupted. “Banish him for as long as we can!”
“Coming up with a plan and strategy might work better in our favor.” Celestia elaborated
A hoof stomped, tail lashing and eyes narrowing. “But don’t you see?! If we do not take action soon, Sombra will not doubt start taking over the areas surrounding the empire was well!” The ruler of the night started pacing almost violently, eyes wild. “He may even try to usurp our thrones!”
“But we can't just rush into danger with no plan! That’ll lead us to our doom sooner!” Celestia stomped her hoof too, face close to her sister.
Luna sneered. “Lives are getting destroyed as we speak! Don’t you want to stop that as soon as possible?”
“I do! But I don’t want to risk more lives if we just go unplanned!” Celestia attempted to reason.
Luna snorted, then went silent and walked away, the door slamming hard on it’s hinges.
Celestia sighed, rubbing her forehead. How will she ever get through to her?
Meanwhile, King Sombra had finished conquering the Crystal Empire, enslaving its population. He felt victory already place it’s glorious hold in his hoof. But he wasn’t done yet.
‘I’ll dispose of those Royal Sisters now.’ Sombra decided as he crunched down on a mouse, the sound of bones breaking filling the throne room. ‘Then I’ll conquer their country and, after my loyal warriors and I have had our way with them, I shall display their hanging corpses in plain view for Equestria to marvel on!”
Crackling with murderous glee, he rose from his throne and quickly grabbed a quill, ink, and paper. He hastily wrote down a message before yanking a guard by his neck to look him in the eye.
“You will deliver this message to the Royal Sisters. It says that I will allow them to discuss my surrender if they come alone.” Sombra barked, spraying mouse bits onto the guard’s face. “But it is in truth a message for their downfall! You will go now!”
The guard frantically nodded, running out of the room quickly. His head shook at a near similar pace to wipe off the mouse bits.
Sombra’s growling voice filled the guard’s head. ‘If you fail this mission, I’ll insure that you are never to be seen again.” It soon vanished just as quickly as it left.
Gulping, the guard continued to follow his orders, zooming out of the castle and towards Canterlot.
-----
Luna slammed her hooves in anger one more time before it calmed down from a raging inferno to a dry patch of burning grass. Jagged breaths heaved from her chest like her lungs were filling with blood.
“Calm down, Luna….” She gasped out, wiping sweat off her forehead and pastel mane. “Deep breaths…” Luna stayed in front of the spell room until her violent shaking had passed and she was no longer wallowing like a fish out of water.
Celestia walked in, steps gently hitting the floor. “Luna?” She calmly asked, her ears lowered in worry.
The Moon Princess jolted and she couldn’t help but cower slightly. “I am sorry that I snapped like that. I was mad at this mess, not you.” Blue eyes swam with guilt and tiny tears.
“It’s alright, my sister.” Celestia wiped away the mare’s tears. “This is a time of stress and worry.”
Sniffing, Luna grabbed her elder sister’s hoof. “Maybe after we dethrone Sombra I can court somepony?” She said hopefully. Celestia had never allowed her to make a move on a stallion or mare, usually throwing a fit and flying into what was known as ‘The Older Sibling Complex.’
Celestia raised an eyebrow, but snickered afterwards. “Where’d you get that idea from?”
Luna let out a huff of annoyance, dropping Celestia’s hoof and letting it hit the floor with a thunk.
“Because the last time I asked, you had a fit and told me in these same words,’If anypony even THOUGHT of touching my little Lulu like that, I would put them in a world of unimaginable pain’!”
“It was a rougher time!” Celestia argued, though gently. “We had been through enough already. I didn’t want anypony to betray you.”
“Hmpt.” Luna growled. Her irrational anger fizzed out for the moment. “So, will ‘Big Sissy Tia’ let me court a stallion I choose fit after we teach this Sombra a lesson?” she mocked.
“Of course.” Celestia nodded, putting her hoof to her chin. “Perhaps I might as well…” She giggled a little.
Luna spluttered before nodding her head. “Thank you, Celestia. Now then, we must go to more import-”
The younger alicorn was interrupted by a faint distant knocking. Blue ears swiveled in confusion as Luna quickly galloped away to the source of the noise, leaving Celestia behind. As the immortal slowly went to a halt in the main hall of the Castle of the Two Sisters, she noticed a Crystal Pony Guard holding a parchment paper.
“State your purpose!” Luna demanded.
The guard panted and showed the princesses the paper’s information. “It’s a message from King Sombra.”
Luna narrowed her eyes as she started reading it, her expression morphing into a rage that was even worse then back at the Spell Room.
“ . . . You take us as fools….”
Luna’s voice was nothing more than a breath in the wind. “My loyal guards, take this dog to the Dungeons for interrogation!!!” She screamed in The Royal Canterlot Voice.
“Luna-wait!” Celestia quickly came by her side, laying her wing on her shoulder. “I’m sure he doesn’t share the same thought process-”
“You wrench, get off me!” Luna twisted her head and bite Celestia’s wing so hard she could feel blood seep into her mouth. She knew the look of hidden loyalty when she saw it, even through the fear the guard was showing.
“Your highness, please stop!” A Lunar Guard and his unit quickly restrained the spy and dragged the screaming princess away from her older sister, wincing as they felt themselves get batted by flying hooves.
All Celestia could do was stare at her in shock. “Luna…” Her voice was faint and trailed off, unable to believe that her sister would snap like that.
“LET ME GO! ALL OF YOU ARE CAUSING MORE INNOCENT PONIES TO DIE!” Luna slammed her hoof into a guard’s chest between his ribs, causing him to squeal and roll around in agony.
“That’s enough!” Celestia used her magic to freeze everypony out of a fit of emotion, tears brimming her eyes.
Luna howled in fury, and in desperation she tried to move to no avail along with the guards and the spy. The pony whom she struck cried, his chest flaring with horrible pain.
After taking a deep breath, Celestia unfroze the rest of the guards, telling them to bring the injured one to healers.
“And of the spy, your highness? Your sister is right in the sense that he may be a threat to our county.” Captain Melted Bronze inquired.
Hesitantly, Celestia sighed. “Bring him to the dungeons, we will discuss later.” She wanted to give the benefit of the doubt...but perhaps it was best to still be cautious.
“Right away! Now come with us, young colt.”
As the lunar guards split into 2 groups to get their companion medical help and apprehend the guard, Luna stared at the ground with a look of madness and seething hatred.
Celestia proceeded to look at Luna again, with a worried expression again. She gulped a little.
“ . . . I don’t know why We have been so angry, dear Sister.” Luna’s expression broke and she crumpled into tears. “We have splitting headaches and We hear voices when We should not!” Frustration crumbled at the Night Mare. She felt like she was becoming two different beings..
Gasping, Celestia immediately went over towards her sister to hug and wipe away tears. “I’m not sure either...perhaps we should have a talk with the healers about this.” She suggested.
Luna shook her head. She could not worry about that right now when Sombra was still out there. “Later, Tia. We still need to get rid of Sombra.”
Her voice was still high pitched, and since some of the larger Royal and Lunar Guards were still almost 2 hooves taller than her, one could mistake her for a teenager.
Celestia lowered her head. “I know. But I just want you to be ok, more than anything else.”
“I’ll be ok once Sombra’s life force is staining this ground.”
Luna honestly had no idea why she answered that with such glee. It felt dark and cold, and she shivered once. Coughing, the younger sister broke out of the magic hold and started putting on her battle armor.
“I have an idea. Since Sombra thinks we are coming unarmed, how about we give him a surprise?”
Raising an eyebrow, Celestia questioned. “A surprise?”
“We come in surrendering to HIM.” Luna finished prepping her battle armor and unfurled her wings, making her seem like a princess again. She tossed Celestia a scroll depicting a banishment spell. “But when his guard is dropped, we blast him with that spell.”
“Hmm…” Celestia gave her sister a snide smile. “Perhaps that could work.” She slowly hovered her own battle armor towards her, preparing to put it on.
Luna smirked evilly to herself as she sat on her haunches. “I can’t wait till we banish that monster.” A rumble made her throat tingle as she imagined Sombra’s dying screams.
“And free the empire, returning it to its glory.” Celestia smiled hopefully, looking at the long windows nearby.
“Indeed.”
---
Sombra gasped in delight as the Royal Sisters padded in, their faces twisted in defeat. Sneering, he rose from his throne and padded up to the alicorns. “I got your letter about your surrender. Splendid! Equestria is now mine!” The mad king roared his victory in the form of evil laughs and purrs.
Luna cringed in disgust as she forced the ball of fire down from her throat, it was extra hard when Sombra started eyeballing her with the same looks of those stallions who tried to seduce her. “ . . . “
Celestia looked at him with the same expression, mainly out of protection towards her sister. He wouldn’t lay a single hoof on her. Not even a touch.
“Ah… I’ve always wanted a mate… And a Night Mare is just want I’ve wanted..” The mad king circled around Luna, eyes glinting with lust. The aforementioned alicorn gave her sister a look of utter horror and a knowing question.
‘Can we attack yet?’ Luna asked Celestia, using her mental link spell.
“Not just yet...he needs to be perfectly distracted.” Celestia answered, though she wished she could punt him to the sun already.
“But Sister, he- HE’S SNIFFING ME OH NONONONO-”
Indeed, Sombra was sniffing Princess Luna, exhaling in her scent, ignoring the sisters’ blunt disgust. Once he had seduced Luna, he made a metal note to sell Celestia away to a stallion in a betting pool.
“Do you surrender your thrones, and your rights as a pony? Do you now accept the status as property?” Sombra demanded.
“Yes.” Celestia plainly responded.
“Yes.” Luna choked out, internally screaming in rage as she felt Sombra rub his foreleg against her belly slowly. The mad king grinned.
“You are now mine to own!” Sombra growled. He had completely fallen for the plot. “Starting with you, Luna…” He stared leaning his head in.
“Now!” Celestia quickly stated. She activated the spell as soon as she sat up, a risky take, but still.
Sombra opened his mouth in shock and quickly uttered a spell. Just as he finished, Luna activated her magic as well, sending a blast at Sombra. He screamed in agony as his body vanished into shadows.
Slow, deep breaths emitted from Celestia as the spell was completed, but they transitioned to a relieved and cheerful sigh. “We...we did it!” Celestia grinned, looking at her sister. “We beat him!”
“Yeah!” Luna grinned back, but it quickly faded as the environment around them started vanishing. “Wh-”
Sombra’s voice rang into the snow as the Crystal Empire disappeared from the world. “If I can’t have the Crystal Empire, then nopony can!” His scream soon faded as soon as the banishment was complete, leaving two shell-shocked alicorns in a raging snow storm. The wind howled, chilling their hearts solid.
Huddling next to Luna, Celestia’s teeth chattered as she attempted to speak. “H-he...brr…”
Luna pressed into her sister’s unusually warm fur, a side effect of having fire based magical abilities. “T-that monster m-made a spell s-so when we-we b-banished him.. I-It also b-banished the e-empire…” Luna was shivering so hard it hurt her muscles and wings.
“W-we should…” The chills were relieved as she felt a bit more warmth added to her body. “...go back and see if there’s anything we can do to reverse this.”
“O-ok…”
As it turns out, there wasn’t any means to currently return the Crystal Empire. The Royal Sisters, having faced many tragedies, soon quickly moved on from the incident, only wishing that they were able to save all those dead ponies.