Chapter 4
Using his magic, King Cadenza levitated his daughter in circles high above the floor of the throne room. Cadance giggled in delight as she held her forelegs to either side like wings. Finally, the king brought her in for a crash landing into his waiting hooves, where she hugged him tightly.
“I love it when you fly me around, Daddy!” Cadance said happily.
“And I love to see you so excited, my little Cadance,” Luzra returned.
“Do you think I could ever fly on my own?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like you! You can fly, Daddy! You have wings!”
Luzra looked back as he flexed his wings, as if he hadn’t noticed them until Cadance had brought them to his attention.
“It’s hard to say,” The King finally said, suddenly more serious “Becoming an Alicorn isn’t easy. It takes study, and mental and spiritual fortitude.”
Cadance stared at him, confused.
“Ummm… You need to be… strong, with your mind and your heart.”
“I am!” Cadance said, slightly offended.
“Yes, Cadance, you are. But you’re also still young. You’re not ready. But you are special, my daughter. You’re brave and smart and oh so sweet! And you can already use some magic, which is amazing considering your age. You will grow up into an amazing mare someday, and I’ll be there to help you earn your wings if you think you have what it takes to get them.”
“BROTHER!” A merry voice rang out.
The king and the princess looked up in surprise to see Lord Sombra, along with Commander Citrine and a Crystal Scribe adorned in pale robes. Sombra was floating along a pair of glasses with his magic and the commander had a pitcher balanced carefully on his back, his pace steady so as not to tip the container.
“Sombra!” Luzra cried out in delight “So good to see you! What brings you down from yonder dusky tower?”
“Celebration, my dear brother!” Sombra replied with a smile on his face as he picked up the pitcher with his magic and poured a pair of drinks.
“Cadance, go find your mother,” King Cadenza instructed, “Your father and uncle need some time alone together.”
Cadance flashed her uncle a smile and galloped off.
“What is the occasion, little brother?” Luzra asked as he took one of the glasses in his own magic aura.
“Months…No… Years of my life might finally be vindicated!” Sombra explained, “A little something I’ve been brewing up has finally reached its critical moment, and I’m brimming with excitement.”
“I can see that, brother!” Luzra said happily as he took a sip of his drink “It’s good to see you happy, rather than your usual moody self!”
“You have no idea…”
***
The barracks in the lower levels of the Crystal Palace were less full then usual. It was the middle of guard changing time, and many of the Crystal Guard were in their barracks readying their armor, grooming themselves to look respectable in uniform, or just relaxing. But all the ponies in the barracks shared a common denominator that none of them took into account.
Loyalty.
A trait a pair of guards outside the barracks door did not share. One of the apostate guards carefully opened the door into the barracks while the other threw in a flask held in his teeth. Before the flask hit the ground, the first of the pair closed the door and locked it from the outside, a small modification made by a lone carpenter only two nights before.
When the flask shattered, purple gas erupted from it and quickly filled the room, startling the guards. As they began to choke on the smoke, the loyal guardsponies inside went into a panic and tried to escape, hammering upon the door. The door stood resilient, in spite of the frantic fervor of the trapped ponies. They ran and cried and scratched and pounded, reduced to little more than trapped mice. The two guards outside listened until the coughing, screaming, and crying had settled into a grim silence. And then they ran off, their part in the plan done to the letter.
***
“So tell me, what is this new invention of yours, brother?” Luzra inquired as he took another sip of his drink “Another new spell? Or some mechanical widget?”
“No, no, not this time,” Sombra said, looking at his own drink as he swirled is slightly “Something different this time. I thought I’d try something outside my usual paradigm: potion brewing.”
“Potions?”
“Oh yes,” Sombra affirmed casually, “Poisons to be exact. I’ve created a brand new one from scratch.”
Luzra’s expression made his shock and distaste evident.
“That’s rather grim, Sombra…”
“Yes, I suppose,” Luzra’s brother admitted, “It’s not exactly an honorable death, but it’s certainly effective, provided all the ingredients were mixed properly.”
“I find your sudden fascination with poisons rather disconcerting, brother. You’ve always had your attraction to the darker elements, but this is quite beyond the pale!”
“I’m sorry to hear you feel that way, brother of mine. I’d hoped you’d be more receptive. After all, you’re my first test subject.”
***
The king’s royal advisor, Golden Agate, stood on a balcony overlooking the city below. He enjoyed the view, his mind on his time away from his work. As the royal advisor, Golden was in charge of being abreast of situations about the Empire that were beneath the king’s notice and acting upon them in the king’s name and with the king’s authority. It was an exhausting job, but one he did with pride. His fealty to the king knew no bounds, having grown up seeing his father serve the king, and his grandmother before him. It was his honor and his pleasure to serve the good of the Empire in Cadenza’s name.
He barely even registered the hit as somepony shoved him violently from behind, right over the guardrail. Golden Agate plummeted to his demise as his assistant, Smokey Quartz, slinked off. Smokey had to establish his alibi and set his affairs in order. After all, by tomorrow he’d be the new royal advisor.
***
The king heard what his brother had just said, but its meaning did not register. He was too surprised.
“What?” Was the only response the king could muster, before he began to see dark spots in his vision and feel dizzy.
“It was quite a complicated potion I came up with,” Sombra went on “I had to research potions and ingredients for months to even have an idea of what to make; a poison for a fully grown Alicorn! No easy task… And even then, the components themselves were a nightmare! I had to import herbs from as far away as Zebraria! Do you have any idea how long those took to get here secretly?”
As his brother went on, Luzra tried to sit up from his throne. Whether it was to confront his brother or just to get help, he wasn’t sure. But he suddenly found his legs couldn’t support his own weight anymore. He tripped over himself, falling forward and crashing down the steps in front of the Crystal Throne. The great king was sprawled across the floor of his throne room, gasping and twitching.
“Oops. Have a bit of a tumble, did we?” Sombra mocked as he and his two escorts made their way down the steps, “That’ll be the Jargis Root attacking your motor cortex. I thought it was quite brilliant combining it with Talus leaves to counteract your magic; we couldn’t have you using magic to purge the toxin from your blood, after all.”
Sombra began to leisurely pace around his spasming brother, circling him like a shark.
“You can’t even begin to imagine how this feels: after all this time, sitting in the shadow of my older brother, finally getting to see you lain so low. Watching you lie there and squirm as I take what is rightfully mine. You never had the dedication I had. You never had the initiative or the imagination that I had, and yet you still become an Alicorn before me! I put in the effort! I did the research! I practically sold my soul to my work, and I still haven’t reached that level! And yet-!”
Sombra stopped himself, realizing he’d lost his composure. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, allowing his self-control to return. When he released his breath and opened his eyes, he had returned to his calm and sadistically mocking tone.
“I hope you don’t mind, I have one of the Crystal Scribes here to take notes on your condition. After all, brother, this is an entirely new toxin! For the sake of scientific progress, records must be kept.”
The betrayed king had begun to turn grey in his coat and mane, as if the poison was sucking the very color from him. Veins in his neck pulsated erratically and his eyes bulged. The scribe held up a tablet in his hoof and used a piece of charcoal in his mouth to write quick notes.
***
In a restaurant in the Crystal Empire, several businessponies had gathered for a lunch meeting to discuss business and pleasure alike. Their host had chosen six of the biggest owners of businesses in the Empire for this lunch date, but he had chosen them not just because of their status, but also because of their allegiance to the king. These businessponies supported the Empire’s infrastructure, and had worked with the king for generations.
The host of the lunch excused himself from the table and headed for the bathroom. As he went past, he locked eyes with the restaurant owner and nodded. He nodded back. The owner went to the front of the restaurant and turned his ‘Open’ sign to ‘Closed’, and drew the curtains on the large front windows.
He then turned and nodded to patron sitting at an adjacent table to the businessponies. The patron nodded and stood up. Within a second, the other dozen or so ponies in the restaurant that were not the targets also stood up. The businessponies were too wrapped up in their conversation to notice they were surrounded. Though they were bereft of their uniforms, they all wore the stone cold faces of Crystal Guards. They reached under their tables and drew daggers…
***
“You failed, big brother. Your kingdom is mine, as it always should have been…”
“Sombra…” Luzra was barely able to rasp.
“I can only imagine what you’re going through right now, but I was hoping you would do me one last courtesy,” Sombra bent down to look his brother in the eye, “I know how the toxin theoretically should affect you, but I’ve been unable to test it properly on a living stallion, let alone an Alicorn. So please tell me, and remember, this is for posterity so be honest: how do you feel?”
Luzra gave one final wheezing gasp and he laid still, his eyes unblinking and a mixture of saliva and blood dripping idly from the corner of his mouth. Sombra stood up.
“Commander Citrine?”
“One minute and eight seconds, Lord Sombra” Citrine said, consulting his Crystal time piece.
“Hmmm…” Sombra frowned, “It was quicker than I had hoped, perhaps the Jargis Root was ground too fine. Scribe! Take a note.”
As the scribe jotted down Sombra’s comment, a scream echoed through the throne room. The trio of conspirators looked up to see Queen Sonatina at the doorway, screaming at the sight of her husband.
“Ah! Sister-in-law!” Sombra called, affably, “I was just going to look for you! How nice of you to save me the trouble.”