The Hobby

   It was time. Time for the daily proclamation of endless servitude and dedication to the king. Excited, the king clasped his cape to his armor and practically ran to his balcony overlooking the dismal empire. His subjects were already lined up awaiting his command. Each crystal pony shackled to eachother with a countenance of severe depression. Their eyes remained fixated on the ground below. Guards stood at positions surrounding the crowd ensuring the impossibilty of escape or revolt.

   "Proceed." He announced. His voice carried even beyond the farthest reaches of the city.

   Every head that had been down was now up. A fake smile awkwardly branded on their faces. "All hail the Shadow King! May his terror fall upon the hearts of all who meet him and his legacy of darkness never dissipate!" A chorus of civilians shouted below terrified of not being heard. The first time they we're too soft of voice was also the last for many in the crowd. The tongues of those past ponies hung around their children's necks as a constant reminder to all and also to encourage new generations.

   The ceremony was short as usual. King Sombra often anticipated a rebel to distinguish himself in the crowd but if none showed, the crystal ponies would be dismissed to carry out whatever shrill orders their driver gave. Today it was checking houses for lights. Light was recently banned in the Crystal Empire due to a regime protesting tyrannical rule. During the day King Sombra would cast a spell putting a burnt orange sky over the city which gave off just enough illumination to see.

   Hours passes casting King Sombra into boredom. He sat alone in his chambers looking over his decor of personal busts, obsidian, slinkies, and books. Finally a driver knocked upon the door to the chamber and informed the king the results of the incursion. To his highness's dismay only one bulb was located. A dim burning lamp light found in the sleeping chambers on the east side of the empire. The lamp belonged to an elderly pony who was only about 2 years from retirement and death. The stallion was marched to the center of town and placed on a stage. He trembled not knowing what punishment would befall him. From the shadows rose the king forcing all present to fall into a deep humble bow.

   "Your crime slave?" King Sombra asked of the withering pony as they now stood side by side.

   "L-light my K-King." The stallion answered shaking so violently his frame may have shattered there on the spot. "Please, I-I have a daugh..."

   "I did not ask for petty excuses! Only your crime!" King Sombra slammed an armored hoof down on the stallion's back causing the pony to fall crippled. "How far are you from retirement?"

   "T-two y-y-years my King." He spoke gasping for breath.

   "You are too broken to work now. You will be relieved of all duties." King Sombra spoke gently. Unusually gently. "I have a proposition for you." Every pony present knew what the choice was going to be before he words left the king's jaws. "Torture or death."

   It was a trick question he loved to ask. If the victim chose torture they would be tortured until death collected their soul. If they chose death they would live to see all those they care for be tortured until one either died or the victim committed suicide.

   No pony dared take a breath. Each one too scared of the fate the pony on trial would choose. Those closest in relation to the victim closed their eyes trying to barricade tears. A wife, daughter, brother and work mate gathered together hearts pounding out of their chests.

   The stallion gasped for a final gulp of air then spoke, "Torture." Screams echoed across the square from the four in relations with the stallion.

   "Silence!" Ordered King Sombra and all was hushed. "His sentence is decided. Since you broke the law in insisting to see light, you will never see again."

   After the king's last words two burly ponies clad in leather armor marched onto the platform and raised the slave to his hooves. King Sombra smiled a sickening grin as he manifested a dark serrated blade and placed it on the slave's left shoulder.

   "Since you are retired, you need not your legs." With a swift motion the left foreleg was severed from the slave. "Use your teeth and other leg to pull the tendons."

   The stallion had a moments hesitation then decided it wise to obey. None in the audience could bare to view their peer separating his own tendons from his own leg. Public torture and execution were common but the enslaved ponies never adjusted to cope, especially the fillies. Time passed slowly as this task was completed. Once a sufficient amount of tendons had been collected King Sombra ceased him. Blood oozed onto the stage staining it. What once was a leg was now unrecognizable even under the utmost scrutiny. Dark energy grasped the tendons creating a small knot in one end. From the knot slid a crystallized needle. King Sombra mystically rose the needle to the slave's eyelid and proceeded to sew his eyes shut despite the wails of agony and bursts of blood erupting from the victim. In and out, up and down peircing through crystal skin with littles resistance. King Sombra jerked the make shift string tightening it then proceeded onto the next eye. The slave flinched once and as a result his iris became sown into his eyelid. The tendons were layered to ensure the total blindness of the pony. It almost looked like glasses the way the tendons bridged over the ponies nose.  After what seemed an eternity the crowd was dismissed and the punishment finally ended. Part one anyways.