“How about the underclasses, how do they like this new vision of yours?”
The stallion tweaked his crown of chrome and looked away from the imposing figure before him.
The other shadow cast in the grand hall was an alicorn, a being of near mythic appearance. His coat was a cool blue and the miscolouring of white patches made him look rather odd. It struck the tentative stallion as strange that a coat so innocent could wrap a body so mean, and devilish. He was a visitor to the court of the Diamond Kingdom, and he was not received warmly. His intrusion was unexpected. Sombra eyed his patient bodyguard and bade him to leave.
“Pretorias, the Emperor and I have delicate issues to discuss. Watch the chambers of the queen while I take care of things here.”
The cobalt blue unicorn bent to the will of the king and hurried for the checkerboard hallway, up the endless flights of stairs.
“We were done, Salem, makes no sense flogging a…”
“We are far from done, Empyrean. Your barbaric law will not pass here.”
“Why must you resist my intentions? I am making these fractured provinces into something workable and you are constantly opting out. Yours is the only kingdom not in my dominion. My baby sister will be royally appalled at this.”
Being an alicorn, it was no wonder that Empyrean was a relative of the princesses. They had lent him something for this attachment, a blind eye, and this attitude wouldn’t change. He was once a king just like Salem, but now Empyrean answers to no pony, and his greed was thorough and indistinct.
“Your sisters should have known not trust you. You’ve thrown the rights of the citizens to the dogs and now you wish to take my people too? I will not be assimilated like this, and that is my last word on the matter.”
Empyrean raised a wing and inspected the blade-like feathers that dressed every baby-blue inch of his plumage. He scoffed at the king on the modest wooden throne and made appear before his majesty, a foal, too cold to move.
“You no doubt have heard of the thieving rackets that have been forming lately? They are robbing blind the people and so their punishment should fit.”
“Thoughtless aggression will not solve this!”
Sombra refuted. He slammed his steely hoof onto the slattern old throne arm.
“What have you brought into my court, more of your tyranny? This must stop. You are damaging families, damaging pony faiths and you are convicting foals!”
“They will be treated as mares and stallions. This is the age of equality after all.”
“They are poor and starving. They only take what they need.”
Sombra noticeably riled by the insulting sultan, vanished into the mist produced by his horn and emerged muzzle to muzzle with Empyrean.
“Is this the example you wish to make, Elijah? You would see innocent, weak children confined? They have done no ill, only surviving. “
“You say they are innocent, whiter than white? Remove the tinted specs Salem, they are breaking the law.”
“Not my law!”
“So you do not police larceny of any kind?”
“That is not my ruling. I run an open court here. When ponies are suspected of crime then they are stood before me and I have the final word on their sanction, if any.”
Empyrean sneered at the trembling foal, still too frozen to move. He lifted his broad hoof and pressed down upon the child until the struggle was feverish and the breathing more so.
“This inaction reflects badly upon my empire, Salem. Imagine a world where the ponies that work for their keep and pay their taxes are rewarded with safe streets. They could leave their homes unlocked. Ideally, the petty thieves will be shipped off to the warfront and not clog up the prisons.”
“They steal because they have no other means, no other way to get by. We did this, me and you, we did this to them. This is our fault, old friend, for they have no kin to return home to. Do they even have roofs over their heads?”
“Homeless urchins are lazy! They should work for the bits they need, not take them. That is my stance on this ridiculous…”
Sombra’s crooked horn glowed with an intense purple hue. It swirled and grew on the tapered tip until the maelstrom broke apart and the emperor stumbled backwards, his cheek guard all frayed and sooty.
“We wronged them, Elijah. We made all of this pain possible.”
“How dare you?”
He snarled, his own horn dancing with light.
“Their parents would have just been numbers. I say we did this, but you did this all on your own, and you continue to do so. They have no one to go home to because you are a warmonger and their parents rot in unmarked graves. Any that lived were maimed, unable to work, to hoe, to earn. The foals of my kingdom will not be prosecuted. We will provide them with places to stay at night, as we have done in the past, and we will not bow to your will. Is that under…?”
A flash of light so bright it dizzied the king was summoned from the darkest night horn of Empyrean. Shaken by the collision, Sombra crawled from the splintered slats of his throne and fell back on his belly, awkwardly sprawled.
“If you are not with me…”
“I must be your enemy… Is that it?”
Sombra said as he gasped for air.
“You will not have your way, bastard. My stallions will defend this realm. They are stronger than a thousand of your toys, for they have hearts. Yours have lacked that for years now. That is why… You won’t, you can’t win.”
Empyrean levitated the barely breathing foal; one blackened by the coal coke choke of the factories, and held her precariously by the neck.
“Your kindness is misguided, old friend.”
Empyrean chuckled. His intense amethyst aura became violent with flecks of blood red.
“If you are unwilling to be reasonable and sensible, and just accept my offer, then I have no further use for your friendship. If truly you want to make me a foe, then consider this…”
“Your heartless machines will fail. They’ll rust and fall apart.”
Sombra coughed in the corner where his throne used to be. He saw the anguish on the foal’s muzzle as the cruel emperor twisted her around like a pretzel.
“Leave the child out of this! Your hatred is misguided. If you wish to destroy, then start with me. But know that my people will rise and they will dethrone you.”
Empyrean ignored the flawed breathing noises of the King and turned the foal’s head a little more in his demonic clutches. The little neck clicked, then cracked, and the light quickly drained from the foal’s once bright turquoise eyes.
“If you oppose me, then this will befall…”
Empyrean threatened but his speech was cut short.
Sombra slung a harness of magic around the dying foal and the little thing began to dissolve into the ether. As she became one with the spell, the coating of soot flaked off of her, revealing the terrified filly beneath.
“I will protect them until I draw my last breath!”
Sombra parted his legs as something resisted his magic. He shut his eyes to focus; he shut out the world in some farfetched hope that he would overcome his opponent. Alas, his opponent was a greater sorcerer than he by the virtue of birth. Alicorn magic knew no limits, and when wielded in anger, it was highly unpredictable.
“That can be arranged, Salem!”
Empyrean boasted with glee.
“My armies will eliminate anything and anyone who stands before them. I have warned you time and time again, I don’t make jokes. I don’t make empty threats either.”
The filly appeared back in Empyrean’s damning grip. He twisted her around as if opening a jar. Her eyes bled and soon so did her snout. Tears mixed with blood but the trembling was weak, she wasn’t moving at all.
“You have forced my hoof, Salem. If we cannot corroborate, then let this be my declaration of war!”
He meant only to snap the foal’s neck. That was not the result however. Alicorn magic, when used for evil, is unmistakably unpredictable. What was to be a quiet end was to become a horrific display. Her softest coat of quiet white was a beautiful sight. Her cute little nose had touched Salem’s hoof before she was forced back into the cocoon. Her sweet innocent form bestrewed the court. Her kind heart was no more. Her blood made for nice new paint on the dull walls. Her hair remained suspended in the gloomy arched ceiling of the room and her plush pelt lay in ribbons upon the shiny tiled floor.
Sombra dared gaze from the safety of his ruined throne. What he saw made his legs weak, and his mind break. He nearly passed out as he looked down at his hoof, covered almost entirely in the congealing remains of the filly. He fought back the vomit but it was a pesky child, wanting to break from its crib.
Empyrean was unfazed. He looked happy. His wicked smile pierced the moment as he stared down the King. Around that smile was blood and lots of it. Empyrean ran his snakiest tongue along his face and licked away the mess. He licked his lips for good measure.
“Salem. We once were friends. You wish not for your kingdom’s kindred children to be arrested? Fine, then you will watch as they all die!”
Sombra held his head for the pain that wretchedly plagued him.
“Now, where is that Queen of yours? Your guard went to watch her, that’s right, the one with the hogged mane.”
“You won’t get past Pretorias…”
“I don’t plan to. I’ll go through him if I have to.”
“Why are you doing this, Elijah? We used to justly run this place, now look at us.”
Dark crepuscular embers shot from Empyrean’s eyes and a bolt of pure evil split through the court, throwing the King back into his throne. Whatever beams of chiseled wood remained snapped under the Salem's weight as he fell back to Earth, spittle collecting on his exposed tongue.
“I will tear out your crystal heart…”