The Kings of Crystal

The Kings of Crystal
Chapter 2: WELCOME

As the group walked out into the snow once more, Thomas decided to speak up. "What the hell happened to the plan?!" He nearly shouted, causing both Johnny and Francis to jump slightly. When Dominic didn't give him an answer, he asked once more. "Dom, buddy, what the hell happened?" Walking forward a few steps, he placed his right hand on his friend's shoulder. Only after that, was he met with a reply.

"I panicked, alright? I knew these ponies had it bad, but I didn't know it was this bad. Like, the moment we come in, they try to stab us . . . more of a reason to help 'em, right?" He gave a dry chuckle. No one laughed with him. "I mean, we died, woke up in a frozen wasteland, almost died again, and then got saved by miniature horses. Let me say that one more time: Mini. Horses."

This time, Francis stepped forward, flanking his right. "Well, don't look back now, ‘cause, we've got a couple of those ‘mini horses’ to follow. Looks like they think we can do it." Dominic put the castle on his back and looked to Francis, who had his hand up, pointing at the ponies that were poking their heads out into the cold from the opening of the mine shaft.

"Huh," was all that Dominic replied with before he began to walk back to the double doors. The four ponies froze as their eyes landed on him. Not a moment later, they stepped out into the freezing snow, their heads hung low. There was only one stallion, and the rest were mares. The one that stood out to Dominic was the one who was leading the others; it was the mare who swung at Johnny, he was sure of it. The same brown mane, the same coal dust in said mane. It was definitely the same pony. Definitely.

Francis began to laugh. "Glad you could join us!" he said, his laughter bringing small smiles to the faces of the few ponies that decided to join them. "Real glad," he repeated as he began to walk towards the ponies. Johnny and Thomas both looked to each other and shrugged. Neither one of them could see the other’s raised eyebrow. Dominic did nothing but slowly walk after Francis. Francis stopped a few steps away from them. "Now. One question: why did you follow us?"

The unicorn mare stepped forward, her grey-furred hooves crushing the snow beneath them. With a small cough, she cleared her throat. "I'm Captain Freezing Tears," Nobody withheld their chuckles at her name. "I was in charge of the Crystal Empire's guards before Sombra took the throne."

It was completely silent after she finished speaking, but only for a moment. "Okay? That doesn't really answer my question, but I'll take it anyways." Francis shrugged and stepped to Freezing before using his left hand to ruffle her mane. She scrunched her muzzle as she blushed. She wasn't expecting that from anyone. She was a captain, for Celestia's sake! Francis squatted in front of all of them, putting himself at eye level with them. Well, to them it was more like eye to three glowing green orbs. His head turned back and forth, as though he was scanning them.

"You all are so freakin' adorable; so tiny." He squealed. This made the ponies uncomfortable.

"Adorable? What about you? Why do you sound like you're not even old enough to drink?" She asked with her brows furrowed. No one calls her adorable without getting a verbal lashing. He only chuckled once more.

"Legally? Nah, I ain't. I've got a good month before that. I'll be turning twenty-one on the eleventh."

The mouths of all the ponies contorted into frowns of annoyance, here was a... whatever he was, that was barely out of his teens calling them adorable. "How old are all of you?" Freezing asked, a hint worry clear in her voice.

Francis answered her, "Well, you got Dominic right behind me, he's twenty-eight. Dude with the shield is... twenty-six? And blue-y is twenty-three."

Frozen's eyes turned to pinpricks as she muttered out, "We're doomed."

"Hey, hey, hey," Francis said quickly. "None of that, it takes an optimist to see the light at the end of the tunnel." He gave a thumbs up to the group of ponies.

Thomas stepped forward, "But it takes a pessimist to say that they still have a ways to go," He said with a raised finger.

Johnny stepped out from behind Dominic. "And it takes a realist to know that the light is actually a train, and we're all probably gonna die . . . again." he said, his accent slipping out.

"Again?" A grey stallion stepped forward. It was at this moment that Dominic noticed something: all of the ponies that he'd seen had some sort of tattoo on their asses. The ponies that were currently in front of him had, in order, a rose with a falling petal, a fruit with a beam of light cutting it in half, a snowflake made out of some kind of blue glitter, and a sword made of crystal. Freezing was the one with the blue snowflake.

"Long story; we'll explain on the way, but for now, let's get moving and get each others names. Also, we're gonna need a way to defeat this Sombra dude," Dominic said as he started walking for the castle. Everyone followed, the sound of crunching snow filling the air.

There wasn't even a moment of silence between the two groups before Johnny decided to speak up. "So . . . I'm Johnny." The rest followed suit.

"Francis!" The shout came from the overly-energetic Cloaker

"Thomas," droned the Taser, his arms loosely swinging as he marched.

"Dominic," stated the large Skulldozer as he twisted his entire body to give a small glimpse of the face-plate to the ponies before turning back.

The ponies smiled at the friendly attitude of the strange creatures that walked with them. They didn’t seem so bad to the ponies once they had gotten to see them in different circumstances. The friends all twisted to look back at the ponies.

"Rose Wind," the stallion earth pony said with a smile, his brick-red mane bouncing as he trotted.

"Chef Comatose," the pink pegasus said. Her eyes never leaving the castle.

"Crystal Clear," the unicorn said, neither her voice or face conveying any emotion.

The friends all turned forward, the greetings concluded. They had to get to work. As the castle got closer and closer, nobody said a word. No one wanted to.

"So . . . Sombra . . . What's he like?" Thomas asked, and watched as the ponies visibly deflated at the mention of his name. "That bad?"

Freezing Tears was the one to reply. "He's a horrid king that wanted more power than he already had. He made everypony work in the mines, but if you got sick, he'd take you and feed off of your essence to keep himself young." She spat into the snow below her, her face contorted into an enraged sneer. "Necromancy at its finest." Freezing paused, her face returning to its once-somber state. "After a while, he decided to feed off of the Crystal Heart instead, leaving all of us to the cold."

Rose Wind silently added his two cents. "I heard he eats them whole," he whispered.

Paying no mind to Rose, Dominic spoke to Freezing. "Crystal heart?" he asked, curious as to what she was talking about.

"A magical crystal that would use the love that everypony felt as a sort of barrier. It would keep everypony happy, healthy, and it would keep the snow away." She used a hoof to kick up a bunch of snow into the air. "He locked it up, and after the princesses came to save us, he locked himself away, and took the Empire and all of us with him."

Everyone's attention was brought towards Johnny as they heard him give out a quick 'hmm'. The joint of his pointing finger pressed against the metal where his lips would be, while his thumb stroked the cheek of his mask. "Something interesting?" Freezing asked as she glared at him.

"Just thinking," he stated, paying no mind to her as they all kept walking.

"What's on your mind?" Dominic prodded. "Got something going on in that head of yours?" Dominic continued. "Is it a plan?"

"We'll see. I want to see this ‘Sombra’, myself."

The group made its way into the castle, meeting no resistance; no opposition. It was quiet. Too quiet. They walked down the halls, admiring the decor that still clung to the walls.

"The throne room is just through these doors," Freezing said, nodding her head slightly as she did so. As she was about to push open the giant double doors, a hand stopped her. "What now?!" she whispered harshly, turning to see the creature named Johnny was the one to stop her.

"Hold on. I want to see something," he ordered. His voice was stern as he loomed above her. "Something ain't adding up." He pushed her away from the door. "Dominic, you're coming with me. Francis and Thomas, stay here and keep an eye on them." They all nodded.

Using their bodies, both Francis and Thomas pushed the ponies back. The ponies gave cries of distaste and annoyance. Dominic walked up to him. "What the hell is going on?" Dominic was feeling a lot of things, the main one was confusion.

"Help me get this door open," was all Johnny said.

Dominic complied and reached with both hands towards the door. With the palms of his hands on the door he gave a hardy push, and the door creaked open slightly. Johnny stepped in and gestured for Dominic to follow. With Dominic in the room, Johnny pushed the door shut. He turned and was greeted by the sight of the throne: a giant chair of crystal, with two ponies at its seat. One of them was a brownish yellow mare, with a mane of bright yellow

"Oh, guests!" The mare turned around. The moment she did so, she gave them a perplexed look. "Uhm, hello?"

Dominic lumbered forward, slowly stepping towards the two ponies. "Hello. We're here for someone called Sombra . . . ?" What Dominic felt was something far beyond what could have been defined as confusion.

"I apologize, but Sombra isn't in the right health to be taking visitors," she said as she turned her head to look at the pony behind her. This didn't help Dominic in the slightest. The ponies called him a tyrant; a slave driver, even. Who was this pony? And where was Sombra? So many questions, not enough answers.

Johnny stepped forward. "Please, this is important. We believe that the city is free and back to the nor— the normal world." What was normal about this place? Normal to the ponies? Maybe. To them? Decidedly not.

"The curse lifted?" A soft but gravelly voice spoke out from behind the mare. She stepped to the side and turned towards the source of said voice. It was a unicorn, and quite a large one at that. He was odd looking compared to the other ponies Dominic had met. He had a jet-black mane sitting atop his head, seemingly slicked back, though it gave no hint that that was what he'd done to it. He had a horn, like every other unicorn he'd met, but this one was different as well. The base of it was dark grey, but as it extended out, it grew to a dull red and then a bright orange, as if it were a piece of heated metal. His coat, much like the base of his horn, was a dark grey. His eyes were the most interesting about him. The whites of his eyes were instead a sickly bright emerald green. With a purple haze flowing from them. His iris was merely a bright red while his pupil was a brick red. His whole demeanor said exhaustion, what with his slouching and the bags under his eyes. All in all, this mini horse did not look well.

Johnny took another step towards the king. "Yes, but that isn't the main issue. What I want are answers, sir." There was a pregnant pause between the four of them.

"Okay," Sombra said slowly. "But the questions will have to wait for another time, if what you say is true and the curse has been lifted, then I must go to protect my kingdom." Sombra proceeded to get up from the throne, his legs wobbling as he did so. The mare at his side rushed up the steps to him.

"My king, you are in no shape to be going anywhere, let alone protecting everypony," the mare said, cooing at the king.

He scoffed softly. "Oh, Miss Bit Coin, I will never begin to fathom how you can treat your king like a child." He laughed lightheartedly before having a coughing fit. "Never change," he sighed. Looking up from the floor and to both Dominic and Johnny, he gave a small smile. "You want answers?"

Johnny nodded at this.

"Ask me anything you need to know," he said as he settled back into his throne.

Johnny stared at him for a moment before asking his first question. "I'm just going to get right to it and ask this, why do the ponies hate you so much? They call you a monster, but all I see is a sick king, holding on to his last moments."

"A good question. One that even I ask from time to time." He paused. "I think it would be best to explain this to everyone. Your friends are still outside, are they not?"

"Yes and no." Johnny waggled his head from side to side.

King Sombra raised an eyebrow to this. "Oh?"

"We were brought here to hide from the cold." Johnny looked at Dominic, both of them locking gazes for only a second before they both turned back to the king. "The ones who helped us told us about you, how you were a tyrant, a king that went mad. So we wanted to help them, and, long story short, a group of the guard came with us, and here we are."

"You came here with the intention of killing me?"

Johnny paused before answering. Had they come here to kill him? If this was any other situation, could they have done it? He shook his head of the thoughts. "A few words I live by: ‘If there's a problem, there's a solution,’ I didn't really think of killing you until you brought it up. But the ponies we brought with us, it seems that's all they want."

"And they'll probably get it, knowing Celestia; she might have somepony on the way already." Sombra's face turned up in a snarl as a single pearly white fang glinted in the light.

"That's another thing I want to know, who's Celestia?" Sombra's face returned to its docile nature as he listened to Johnny's question.

"Before I answer, I want everyone to hear this, especially the ponies." Sombra turned his head to Dominic. "Could you . . .?" He gestured to the door with a flick of his head.

"I got it, just give me a moment." Dominic waddled quickly to the giant set of double doors. He grabbed the handle and pulled. And with his pull, the giant door creaked open once more. Thomas was the first to walk through.

"Dude we have a problem," he said hurriedly. Clutching Dominic by the shoulder as he did.

"What? What happened?" Dominic asked, pushing Thomas's hands off of his shoulders. But before Thomas could answer, Freezing Tears pushed Thomas to the side.

"What was that?!" she shouted. "We get here and you lock us out with your freak!"

"What the hell happened?!" Dominic quickly said with a hushed tone as he looked to Thomas.

"She tried to pull shit with Francis."

Jesus fucking Christ! What happened?! Dominic thought, enraged at everyone not giving him a proper answer.

Dominic looked down at Freezing Tears only to look up as he noticed Francis standing behind her; nightstick in hand. "You talk bad about my friends and then me?" he said, his voice heavy with anger.

Freezing turned to Thomas. "Yeah! I do! Because everything I say won't get through your thick head!"

Dominic raised his gloved hands and began to clap them quickly. Getting both of their attentions. "Francis, buddy, what happened? Calm down, and tell me what happened." Francis gave a small pained whine.

"It itches," he muttered, pathetically reaching for his back.

Dominic clapped once more. "Hey hey hey, there's no itch. It ain't real okay? Now, please, tell me what happened."

"They said that Sombra probably killed you, telling me how you wouldn't be able to handle him alone. Yelling at me to open the door and we're nothing but children and probably gonna die anyways."

"Does it look like I'm dead?" he asked, chuckling lightly.

"No but—" Francis croaked before Dominic cut him off.

"But nothing. They were fucking with you, that's it." Dominic lumbered over Thomas and pulled him into a tight hug. "It's all good," he patted his friend's back. "There there," he comforted.

Sombra watched on as the giant creature comforted the small one like a father would a child. This was an interesting group of friends. He watched as the hug was broken off and the large one named Dominic turned to the unicorn guard, Freezing Tears.

"So what now?" She asked, her raised voice echoing in the room.

"Nothing much," he said in an upbeat voice as he walked towards her. At that moment everyone's eyes went wide as the hulking behemoth known as Dominic lifted the unicorn by her brown mane with a gloved hand. Freezing gave a squeal of pain as she was lifted. With tears forming in the corners of her eyes she looked down at Dominic. "You ever speak to him like that again. I'll break that pretty little horn off of your head myself." Rage itself seeped from the suit that was Dominic. "How old are you?" She didn't answer, so he shook her. "How old are you?!"

She broke and yelled back. It was more like another squeal than anything else. "Thirty-five!" Her face flush and hot with tears.

"Do you think we're children?!"

"Yes!" she screamed

"Did you join the guard to do what was right?!"

"Yes!"

"Bullshit! I think you joined to hurt children! To twist the knife and make 'em cry!"

"I-I did not!" She sobbed, her legs shaking on their own volition. She was panting now.

Dominic snapped out of his enraged stupor. Hearing laughter from his friends. What the hell was so funny? He looked at them. Their gazes pointed below him. He looked down and immediately regretted everything. At his feet was a puddle. It wasn't tears and it sure as hell wasn't piss. As Dominic looked back up, he noticed her tail was wagging from side to side, much like a dog's would.

"Francis," Dominic said calmly. "Please tell me all of this wasn't planned by you or anything."

Francis walked forward to him, placing a hand on his free arms shoulder. "Sorry, but yeah. When I started arguing with her, I noticed something was off." He patted Dominic’s shoulder. "She loves getting yelled at. Didn't notice it at first, but when I really looked at it - and I'm talking really looked at it - all signs pointed to: ‘oh god yes, give me more!’" He screamed breathily in a high-pitched voice, thrusting his hips childishly.

Dominic looked to the other guard ponies. All of their faces were flushed red, their ears pinned to the back of their head, half of them no longer willing to look at him. He sighed. Why can't he just get a break? He stepped towards them. His soaked foot squelching slightly. He froze and sighed once more. After putting the panting mare down on the crystal floor he walked away from them. His foot squelching with every step.

"I swear to whatever cruel god is up there now, if any of you mention this, ever again, I will wear you in place of my suit," he muttered. Too tired to make any kind of serious threat, he walked to King Sombra.

"Quite a show, getting everypony in this room hot and bothered," he laughed. "I mean, Miss Bit Coin here was positively undressing you with her eyes." Said pony looked up him, a blush on her face and the look of betrayal in her eyes. He laughed even harder. "I jest, I jest," he reassured. "I haven't laughed like this in ages."

"Well, get used to it, because I'll be here for the rest of my natural life," Dominic huffed indignantly.

“Sombra!” Rose shouted through a mouth full of sword. Charging to the throne with the rest of his fellow guards, minus Freezing Tears.

Dominic stepped in front of the charging ponies.

“What are you do—”

He raised a finger. “If I hear anything come from any of your mouths without my permission, I’ll shove my boot so far up your ass, you’ll wish you could get the taste of shit off the back of your tongue.” They didn’t know why he was talking about a donkey but they were scared anyways; none of them wanted the same treatment Freezing had received.

“Good. Now, let’s all sit down and listen to the not-so tyrannical King Sombra. Because he has some things that he would like to say.” Dominic turned towards the king and gestured for him to proceed.

“Thank you,” Sombra said, nodding towards Dominic. “What I am about to say might shock all of you . . . I am not the king you see me as. Everything you think about me . . . Is a lie,” he gauged their reactions, and every one of them was confused. Confused as to what he even meant. “And everything you have gone through is Celestia’s fault.”

“You’re lying,” everyone looked back to see Frozen Tears, broken out of her reverie of ecstasy. “Celestia wouldn’t allow any of this.”

Sombra looked at her, his gaze giving off a tinge of either sadness or regret. “Perhaps if I showed you.”

“You can do that?” Thomas asked before slapping his helmet. “Forgot: magic. Duh. You can do anything,” he said begrudgingly.

Sombra looked on with a raised eyebrow. “I can’t rightly do everything, but I am within the limit of showing you the past,” a deep purple began to bubble out of horn atop his head. Not a moment later, a crystal spire rose from the ground in front of him. The spire itself only rose to maybe an inch taller than he was. His magic canceled out only for a second before the same purple magic fed into the spire itself. None of them could react as beams of light shot from the crystal and hit them all.

It was fuzzy, almost as if they were looking through a fogged window, except they could hear. They could hear voices.

“Sombra, this is ridiculous,” a motherly voice said.

“Ridiculous? Ridiculous?! You are wasting the potential of this nation!” They all knew this was Sombra, the deep gravelly voice was something that stood out.

“Sombra, what you want is—”

“What I want, Celestia, is to make the Crystal Empire shine! Not to be some tourist stop before ponies go to visit Canterlot. I want ponies to marvel at what this city has achieved!” Sombra stopped, breathing for a moment, calming himself. “I want ponies to come here and choose their own destiny, to make themselves great. Not get picked out of a crowd. And I will do anything for you to see this. I want ponies to be recognized, to be everything they can be.”

“Everypony has the potential of being great, they just need a push to see how great they can actually be,” Celestia replied.

“But what about those left behind? The ones who don’t get pushed? What happens to them?”

There was no reply. The only thing that was heard was Sombra giving a ‘hmph’. Everything cleared in that moment. The ponies were indeed Celestia and Sombra. The latter of which had a victorious smirk on his face. The former? Brows furrowed, lips pulled back into thin lines. She was not happy. The memory ended and they were back in the throne room.

Dominic turned to the ponies, all of them were shaken by what they had heard. He turned to his friends all of which didn’t even know what to do with this information.

“And you all think we are the children,” Johnny muttered.

Bit Coin turned to him with a raised eyebrow and a frown. “You think you could do better?” She said with a haughty tone to her voice.

“With the example they’re setting? I know I could,”

Sombra stepped down from his throne and trotted to the shield wielding human. “You think you can make the same sacrifices I made?”

“With ease,” Johnny replied. Everyone in the room could feel his glare being directed at Sombra.

“Will the two of you shut the fuck up already?!” Thomas yelled. “Ya know what? Better yet, I’ll pull mine out too!”

All the ponies looked at Thomas in confusion until he began to undo his belt.

After both parties had calmed down, it was back to conversing among themselves. Sombra watched over both the humans and the ponies that came to dethrone him. Both gave him quick glances, they were most likely talking about him. But what they were saying, he did not know. Only after a minute of more conversing between each other, someone approached him. It was the unicorn guard Freezing Tears.

“If you’re not as evil as we say you are, then what happened with all of this sick ponies you took?” She was joined by her fellow guards and the humans. All of which were looking at him with questioning gazes.

Sombra cleared his throat. “You are aware of necromancy aren’t you?”

“Don’t tell me you—”

“Nothing like that. The last pony who attempted such things went mad, but I guess that answers my question.” Sombra brought a hoof up to his face and violently coughed, his body shaking as he did so. “Follow me,” he said as he stood up and walked towards the throne room doors. Everyone but Bit Coin followed him as he left the throne room.

“Where are you taking us?” Thomas asked as he stared at the crystal walls. The walls themselves took on different colors depending on the angle he looked at them from, going from bright pink to a sky blue, all the way until it just stopped at a dull grey.

“I’m taking you to them,” Sombra said softly, but it was quiet enough in those hallways that every one of them heard what he said. There was fear; confusion; anger. None of them knew what to think; what to feel.

“What do you mean?” Rose Wind asked, his voice almost faltering.

“Necromancy. While it is commonly seen as something that is used to bring the dead back to life, it can be used for something much more than just that.” He paused. “After one of the first fell to illness, I found myself wanting to do something. I wanted their passing into the next life to be as easy as possible.”

The group stopped at a set of doors, smaller than the rest, but more ornate. Adorned with gold and gems of all sizes and colors, it was magnificent.

“So I numbed their pain, and kept them here. Miss Bit took it upon herself to write down their final words, the ones they couldn’t say to their loved ones.” Sombra raised a hoof to the door and pushed it open slowly, a low creak being the only response. As the door opened, the darkness in the room parted and shriveled away from the light, letting everyone see the rows of beds. Every single one of them, carried a pony underneath their thick, eggshell-white blankets. At the end of every bed was a small piece of paper, pinned to their wooden frames.

“I wanted for everyone to have the chance to say goodbye.”

As the ponies rushed into the room, tears in their eyes, the four friends stayed outside, only looking in at the ponies, both the ones in mourning and the ones that found peace. The four of them snapped out of their dazes as Sombra stepped into the doorway, his back turned towards them as he watched the four guards find those who had left.

Francis raised a finger to his ear, pressing a button he began to softly speak into the microphone in his mask. “Guys, I’m going to do something, I’ll call you all to my location when I’m done.”

Dominic turned slightly towards him, trying to bring no attention to himself. He then reached for the same button that was installed in his suit. “Understood. Watch yourself: I don’t like this place,” he said quietly, his voice not even leaving the suit.

Francis replied with a small nod and began to lightly step away. Back towards where they came from. And, disappearing from view, he turned the corner. Dominic turned back towards the doorway, with Sombra still facing the other, looked up at the room and saw the ponies wiping tears as they all made their way back to the door.

Dominic felt something as he thought about what Francis said, it was as if his organs were being used to make a clown’s balloon animals.

‘Can’t trust anybody in this place. The only people you can trust are your friends. Not these ponies, and especially not their magic.’ One side of him thought.

‘What about the proof?’

‘Proof? All I know is that there are dead bodies and a memory that could have been faked. Think back to everything that he’s shown you and tell me that you believe him.’

‘I don’t know.’

“Hey, Dom, buddy, wakey wakey motherfucker.” Dominic shook his head as a pair of fingers were snapped in front of him. He looked to see who did it and was greeted by the visor of Thomas. “You good man? Fell asleep on us did ya?” he asked with a chuckle.

“I’m good, I’m good. Just thinkin’,” Dominic said as he waved Thomas’ finger away.

“This place is so . . . fuckey. Is that even a word?” Francis said to himself as he roamed the hallways of the Crystal Palace. Looking to his right as he quickly walked down the hallway, he looked out the window, spotting the snow-covered city below. It was so quiet; he couldn’t spot a single pony out in the snow. For a city this massive, they surely couldn’t have all fit in the mines. The row of windows ended and he turned his back forward to see a set of stairs, one leading up, the other leading down.

“Time to get some fresh air,” he said, heading down the steps and reaching the first floor of the palace. Seeing a small wooden door, he walked towards what he assumed would be the snow-covered outside world, but was stopped as he reached for the door handle. Francis jumped back as the door itself rippled and shuddered at his touch.

“Curious,” he said with a smile. Raising a fist, he slammed it into the door. This time, the door didn’t do anything but push in a little, shearing a bolt as it hit the limit. It was a door. He didn’t try to open it this time.

“Definitely fuckey,” he muttered. Turning back to the stairs he walked back the way he came, with the intention of returning to his friends. As he made it back to the second floor, he looked to his left, wanting to gaze out of the windows like he had done before. However, all he was met with was crystal. Where were the windows? He put a finger up to his his comm piece and spoke.

“Guys? I think I found something.” His voice wavered as he began to run down the hall. He needed to get back to them. He let the button go and was only met by static. His pace quickened and he was already beginning to recognize the surroundings. He heard talking and followed it around a corner; it was his friends and the ponies. He stopped and hid at the corner, not wanting to be seen. Pulling his goggles off, he clipped them around his belt and then pulled the ski-mask off, letting his short, wild, brown hair feel the cold breeze that wafted through the palace, and his pale skin see the light of day once more.

“Last check,” he said as he clipped the mask along with his goggles. He then raised his to his face, using one to cover his mouth while the other pinched his nose. With his airways cut off, he stood there. And stood there. And stood there. All until he felt the familiar sensation that was breathing as air filled his lungs, and exited not a moment later.

“Gotcha ya little shit,” he muttered as he turned the corner to join his friends. With a smile on his face he sauntered over to them. Knowing what he had to do. Walking up to Dominic who only stared at him, as if asking him what had happened. Using his right hand he pushed him to the window that was behind him, a dull thud as the suit collided with glass.

“Francis! What the fuck man?!” Thomas shouted catching the attention of both Johnny and the rest of the ponies. As everyone stared at Francis with worry, he walked back to the wall opposite of Dominic.

“You guys trust me don’t you?” He asked with as sad tone.

“Of course man, why wouldn’t we?” Dominic asked, the skull faceplate hiding his emotions.

“Well then . . . I hope this works,” Francis muttered. Grabbing his nightstick, he chucked it with all his might at the window behind Dominic. The glass shattered and the nightstick fell into the cold kingdom below.

“Do you guys remember there being a window here?” he asked with a smirk on his face. “Cause I sure as hell don’t.”

The friends looked at eachother, mumbling to themselves as Sombra walked up to them. “What is going on here?” he demanded with a stamp of his hoof.

“It’s time to wake up and smell the bacon!” Francis shouted, dropping into a sprint towards Dominic. Dominic tried to sidestep him, but his suit wouldn’t allow such a sudden movement. Their two bodies met as Francis wrapped his hands around the back of his knees and lifted him with a growl. He successfully tossed him out the window, and, following suit, jumped out after him.

“I feel alive!” Francis shouted, the wind howling as it whipped past his grinning face.

Dominic didn’t do anything but look up at his friend and wonder. Why had he done this? Why? That was his only thought as he stared up at his cackling friend. Dominic’s arms stretched out to reach for Francis.

“Don’t look now, but here comes our stop!” Francis shouted.

Dominic’s eyes widened, and a thought rushed through his head. In that moment, Dominic was ripped from his free fall, feeling his body stop falling. His breathing was heavy and labored, and his heart threatened to pound its way out of his chest. He looked around and found he was back in the throne room. The ponies in front of him were covered in bruises and cuts, their manes disheveled, huffing in air as if it were a drug. He looked to his friends and found both Johnny and Thomas were stanced in a fighting position, with Johnny holding his shield in one hand and a sword in the other.

“Dominic, ya here with me?” He looked to Francis and shouted.

“What the fuck was that?!”

“I’ll explain later; you take care of Sombra, and I’ll try to keep Johnny and Thomas from killing the ponies,” he said, unsheathing his nightstick.

‘What the fuck is going on?’ he thought as he looked to the King known as Sombra. With a teeth filled smirk the king looked down at him with madness in his eyes.

“How did you break free?” he laughed. “Nopony has ever broken free from my mind-altering spells.”

“Great, magic,” Dominic muttered. “What did you do to me and my friends?” Dominic shouted over the sounds of fighting that came from behind him.

“You wouldn’t even be able to understand,” Sombra said. “Like my slaves, I marked you, who knew something like you would be susceptible to magic.”

Dominic looked up at the king on his throne and felt something crawling up his back, this feeling was followed by a sharp pain the back of his head.

“Well, no matter, it was fun toying with you all while it lasted. Die!” A sickly purple liquid bubbled from his horn and crystals began to rise from the ground, shooting towards him at a quick pace. He braced himself and felt the crystal contact with his gut. The spell itself didn’t serve anything but to push him back only a foot and knock the wind from his lungs, without his suit, Sombra might have broken a rib or two.

After recovering, Dominic looked up at the king, this time, his head was lowered and pointing towards him. With the same purple magic, a spell was released from Sombra’s horn. This time, instead of crystal, it was a bubble of purple energy. Dominic braced himself again, and once again, he was hit. However, this time he wasn’t pushed; the magic washed over his form and did nothing. Little did he know, his body was sponging up the magic Sombra had been casting on him.

Sombra coughed up a black bile. “What is this?!” He shouted. “What have you done to me?” He croaked this time. His energy sapping out of him. They both collapsed. Sombra out of exhaustion. Dominic out of pain.

Dominic wrapped his arms around his gut, feeling as if his organs were trying to escape through his throat. He raised a hand to the skull faceplate and ripped it open, looking down at the crystal floor as his mouth salivated and dripped onto his visor. He could feel the cool air wash over his body as the fan in his suit worked, but he felt his skin heating up as the magic bounced violently inside of his being, trying to find an point to escape from.

Dominic roared with pain as adrenaline flooded his body, only serving to make his body work harder and sap more magic from the now angry king. The fighting behind him had stopped. The spells over Johnny and Thomas were broken as Sombra couldn’t keep them going

He rose from the floor and looked Sombra in the eye, both of them bared their teeth to each other. Dominic began to build up into a sprint. Sombra saw this and launched more of his magic at him. The magic did the same as before, only adding to the fire that was burning in the enraged human. Sombra watched as the gap between him and Dominic began to close quicker and quicker. The four-hundred pound behemoth running at him; the floor underneath his hooves shaking at Dominic’s every step; the faceplate dropping back down and fixing the skull’s sight on him; it was a terrifying sight

Sombra stepped down from his throne and tried to flee to the balcony behind it, but was caught in between Dominic and a wall as the Skulldozer tackled him and smashed his entire weight into the pony’s body. With a roar, Dominic heaved his arms above his head and hammered them down onto the king. Earning pained cries as he was assaulted by the human.

Dominic roared once more, this one more animalistic as pain was all he could manage to process, the magic in his body being fought by his system as a foreign matter invaded it. Without letting up, he lifted the king up by the throat and punched him square in the muzzle. Leaving no time for Sombra to recover before headbutting him with his skull faceplate. Blood spattered against it, staining the white paint with a dark red. Dropping him, Dominic grabbed the king by the ears and pulled him to his knee, effectively breaking the king’s muzzle with a wet crunch, repeating the same action once more. During all this, Sombra’s magic was still being drained by the human, only slowing down to a trickle, but there was no release from the pain.

There was now one thing that Dominic could hear and feel besides the pain, it was the king’s screams as Dominic relentlessly beat and pounded into his now soft, bruised, and blood-soaked flesh.

He paused. No matter how much he beat and pummeled the pony below him, there was no relief - no joy - it only seemed to make the pain persist. Using his hands, he slowly inserted his finger into the king’s broken maw. Lifting him by the flesh of his cheeks, he brought Sombra up to eye level and stared at the broken king: left eye swollen shut with blood leaking out between the lumps of skin; dark-grey fur turned a shade of dark blue as the flesh below it was bruised beyond comprehension; muzzle haplessly deformed with several bones crushed to powder.

With the king’s cheeks in hand, he began to tug and pull his arms apart, his thumbs and fingers pinching his cheeks between the them. With a blood curdling cry, the flesh gave away, misting his gloved hands with more blood and dropping him to the floor once more. Lowering himself to the king’s level, he raised his hands to his mouth once more, this time clutching both of Sombra’s jaws. With another scream, he pushed his bottom jaw to the side, cracks beign heard as the jaw broke and hung loosely along with the flaps of skin that were his cheeks. Sombra didn’t do anything but sit there, his fate decided.

Dominic looked at the horn on top of Sombra’s head, and a strange feeling of joy flooded his gut. He reached for it. Clutching it in his hands, he squeezed and snapped his wrist to the side, breaking the bone-like appendage with a snap. His only reply was a sloppy gurgle as vomit began to leak from Sombra’s throat. In the blink of an eye, relief washed over Dominic as almost all of the magic he had stored in his body surged into Sombra’s broken form. The magic visibly arcing into the unicorn with purple lightning.

“Fuck yes!” He screamed in ecstasy, his mind blanking as his pain was replaced by relief and a feeling he couldn’t describe. In his moment of bliss, he failed to notice Sombra slowly crawling away, using his only good hoof to drag his limp body, leaving a slimy trail of maroon foam. Sombra gave a small, throaty yelp as he felt a hand clutch his back hoof. He slowly turned his swollen head to see the skull faceplate bearing down on him. Heavy, labored breathing was all he heard as the suit’s chest expanded and contracted.

Grabbing his other hoof, Dominic lifted, and with one final scream, twisted his body and heaved Sombra overhead, bringing Sombra’s body down onto the throne’s spires. He impaling the pony in the mid-section on one of the lower spikes. Blood seeped down onto the throne as Dominic held the king. Giving a hard tug, he began to pull, splitting the upper half of what used to be Sombra in half, spilling his organs onto the floor below. Without missing a beat, Dominic ran to the balcony, and chucked the body out of the castle and into the snow covered town. The intestines flapped in the wind as the body plummeted into the streets below. Raising his fists and shouting, a magical shockwave blasted into the air, releasing the rest of the magic as it amplified his voice.

“The king . . . is dead!” He bellowed, his voice reverberating throughout the town.

Looking out on the town in silence before turning and heading back in, Dominic stared down at his blood soaked gloves, a solid red covering on his digital camo. Looking back up to the ponies and his friends. Stares was all he got from both groups, and he didn’t care, he didn't know what his friends were thinking, but he could see what the ponies were. Their eyes wide with fear, a smile, a frown, the rest just looked at him with their mouths agape. He gave a huff as he calmed down, his eyes slowly closing.

“Fuck this place, and its magic” Dominic muttered, his body suddenly heavier than it had been. Collapsing onto the floor below him he gave one last pained grunt before his eyes shut. A soft snore filled the silence that only lasted for a moment.

The ponies finally realized what these creatures were. They may have called themselves humans, but the word they thought of when they peered at the blood soaked creature, and his friends that were picking his unconscious body, brought them nothing but an unpleasant taste in the back of their throats. The word itself intruded on their thoughts as they looked at the friends, all of them somehow unbothered and unmoved that one of them mutilated the king before their very eyes.

They were . . . Kings.