And They Gnawed Their Tongues in Pain

As he gazed upward into the emerald green fury that twisted in King Sombra's eyes, Evening Star instinctively reached for his spear to defend himself from whatever his foe might throw at him. And it was right then and there that he found his hoof to be grasping at nothing but the air. It was in that moment that he finally broke eye contact, and allowed his vision to slowly shift to the wall behind Sombra...where his spear quietly rested, completely out of his reach. He wasn't going to make it out of this pit of despair alive, and as he saw 1991 backing away as far as she possibly could from the two of them out of the corner of his vision, he felt like there was nothing he wanted to do more right now than follow her example. Everything was quiet, as if all the inhabitants of the room where waiting for something to shatter the silence like a hammer against a thin glass pane. After what felt like a full eternity, it was Evening Star who decided to take the initiative.

"How did you even know I would come down here?" He asked the King, who had yet to move a muscle. However, the question did seem to change his statue-like behavior, if only by the slightest detail. Like a knife's blade splitting a thick board of wood, a smile cracked across his previously stoic face.

"Based on your dumbfounded expression and utter surprise, I take it that your downright pathetic attempt to use the shadows to cloak yourself like the filthy coward that you are was meant to genuinely work and wasn't just some jest, then?" Sombra replied, seeming to be quite amused by the soldier, whose expression had shifted from bewilderment to anger. "My vision is not impaired by the darkness like yours would be; it's clear as day. Besides, I've found my servants hiding in crevices like that more times than I can remember. And when I do find them, they learn their place soon afterwards. Isn't that right, 1993?" Sombra cooed softly, his gaze shifting to the grey stallion, who gave a hesitant nod as his only reply. Something that Evening Star found as chilling as the cold winds during the rage of the winter was the stallion's expression. It was an empty, hollow smile with about as much life to it as a storefront's mannequin.

"What have you done to these ponies?" Evening Star screamed, his voice bouncing off the walls of the nightmarish crystal mine. He wasn't only mad at the King, he was mad at himself as well. He was mad at himself for rushing into the situation alone, for not discussing his plans with either of the Princesses, and especially for leaving his only real means of defense so far out of his reach. If only he had thought this out for longer than ten seconds, he probably wouldn't have wound up in this situation. Come to think of it, that summarized pretty much every situation he got himself into. The only difference was that most of his previous mistakes didn't end up with him about to be plastered all over the wall behind him like a fresh coat of paint.

"It's quite simple, in actuality. I have just taught them to behave," Sombra replied with truly insufferable smugness to his tone. He seemed proud of what he had done, like it was some monumental breakthrough in psychology or some other heroic cause that he had found an answer to. "Much like a child, they just needed to be educated that they should never defy my orders. And with certain subjects, like 1993 here," Sombra paused to caress the eponymous stallion's cheek. "I have blessed with my touch, and perhaps even showed them a little affection during our time together."

"I'm going to kill you," Evening Star growled, eyeing his spear with cold determination. If he could just reach the blasted thing, there was a chance he could take the tyrant down and end this terror once and for all. Perhaps not a large chance he would succeed, but there were no other options at this point. He just needed to think of a way to distract his opponent, and he needed to do it fast.

"You want to try that little stunt, hmm?" Sombra inquired with a raised brow. He wasn't exactly surprised by this declaration, he had heard it so many times that he could recite the phrase in his sleep. No, he was just somewhat curious to see how well this nameless guard would do against a trained warrior such as himself. Based on his previous record when it came to combat, he guessed that it would not end well for the soldier. "If that's the case, then allow me to level the playing field for you somewhat. 1993, bring him his spear. This will not take long," Upon hearing the King's command, his underling gave an affirmative nod and trotted over to where the Earth pony had carelessly left his weapon. He carefully gripped the shaft with his teeth, and carried it over to the Royal Guard, gracefully laying the weapon at his armored hooves, before he quietly retreated back to the crowd of workers that had huddled together, possibly for protection from the rain of blows that was about to commence between the two stallions.

This course of events had left the Guard completely speechless. Why hadn't he been turned into a fresh bloodstain left to dry on the ground already? Was he supposed to believe that this bloodthirsty unicorn lived by some feeble code of honor? If he was, that would be rather hard information to swallow when the bastard didn't even try to deny or shy away from the fact that he had been using brainwashing to keep his subjects in line. Heck, he basically said it outright! When he finally regained his voice, he decided to ask his opponent for some logic behind the decision. "Why are you doing this, Sombra? I would have thought you would have just split me in half so fast that you might have as well struck me with the fabled Black Swordstallion's blade. Why the sudden pretenses that you even have a sliver of honor or ethics in your black heart?"

Sombra let out a deep, rumbling chuckle in response to the stallion's questions. "I wouldn't call my unending generosity that I have provided you to have stemmed form a sense of honor, exactly. It's actually because I need a little entertainment to hold myself over, before the Princesses show up. And I can assure you, they will. It's such a shame, too. I was hoping to have this mine running for a few more years, at the very least."

The Guard looked dead at Sombra as he finally took a hold of his weapon, ready to duel to the death with his opponent. With such certainty that they would arrive, he couldn't even imagine what he had done to the foals. And based on the audible murmurs of panic from around the mine, it was clear that what the King was heavily implying had dawned on the slaves' minds as well. Without another word, Evening Star gripped the spear in his maw, dug his hooves into the ground, and awaited his opponent's first move. For victory or for death, he swore to fight until his last breath. He had one shot, one opportunity to take the King down. He had to capture it; he couldn't let it slip from him.

Sombra, as opposed to the soldier, appeared to be in nowhere as much of a rush to get this fight over with. As silently as the dead, he pulled back his crimson cloak to reveal a sword's sheathe strapped to his side. From what he could see, the hilt was rather lavishly decorated with gems. As Sombra grasped the hilt with his magic and unveiled the weapon from its sheath (Revealing the weapon to be a broadsword with a blade crafted from steel), Evening Star began to think how very flattering it was that the King would wield a weapon so beautifully donned with expensive decorations when he was about to maim and stab somepony as useless and expendable as a common guard. How very sweet. Evening Star would be touched, if he wasn't about to get gutted like a fish. Oh well.

"Clear as much room as all of you possibly can," Sombra ordered his underlings, which was a command that they were very quick to follow; getting as close to the far walls as they possibly could. However, Evening Star wasn't exactly sure if they were moving out of the way for their own safety or to avoid being in the blood's splatter zone when Sombra began to cut him to  ribbons. Heck, it might have been both. And once they had the majority of the room to commence in their duel, the battle finally began.

The thunderous pounding of hooves against the solid rock floor rang through the mine like the war-drums of two spectral infantry battalions marching through a freezing timeless void, prepared to stain the battlefield with a crimson hue as the two foes charged towards one another, weapons drawn and ready to clash. With every passing second they closed the distance between them, until they finally came within range of each other's weapons.  Evening star attempted to swing his spear's hilt so that the razor-sharp blade would come into contact with the King's neck in hopes to embed the steel head in his opponent's flesh, knowing that such a maneuver would end the battle in a single stroke, but he misjudged the distance and Sombra easily blocked the weapon's swing with the blade of his own. For a few tense moments their blades were locked against one another, each one of the combatants hoping to overpower the other, before Sombra got the upper hoof by pulling his weapon away and stepping aside of the strike.  The sudden gravitational force threw the soldier off, causing the poor pony to lose his balance and leave him open to a counterattack.

Sombra smiled, having spotted a perfect chance to end their pathetic little scuffle once and for all. He rushed the guard, his majestic cloak  wildly whipping behind him as he galloped towards the defenseless stallion. And, within a single move, he ended the battle. He swung the flat end of his broadsword against the soldier's helmet, which resonated with a loud metallic clang and knocked the stallion backward by several paces. He must've been quite dazed as well, as the sudden strike caused him to drop the spear from his mouth and roll away uselessly as he crumpled against the wall behind him.

A few moments passed before the stallion finally came to his senses. He slowly shook his head, and realized that for some strange reason he didn't have a blade shoved down his throat yet. Not that he was complaining about that per say, it just confused him. Any competent soldier would have ran their sword through his gut so fast that he wouldn't even have time to beg for forgiveness or mercy. Why not Sombra? Perhaps he wanted to torture some information out of him. However, what information would he even want? The location of Canterlot? It wasn't exactly hard to find, he would just need to keep heading south and he would eventually come across the castle. After contemplating this for a few seconds, he finally decided to open his eyes so that he could take a look around.

The first thing that came into his field of view was a very familiar pair of hooves; clad in steel hoofguards. His gaze began to ascend at a snail's pace, taking in every inch of the muscular physique before him, before he finally met the gleaming emerald eyes of the tyrant. Those eyes, they sent a chill down Evening Star's spine. The way they were watching him, the way they carried the same hunger that the numbered stallion had when he turned his back on the former author. What was the King waiting for? Just slit his throat, decapitate him, ram the sword so far into his stomach that its blade got entangled in his organs, he didn't care at this point! He failed in his task; he deserved a painful death. But alas, that sweet embrace of death had yet to be granted.

"Now that you're finally awake," he heard the King say as he leaned down uncomfortably close to the guard. This invasion of his personal space wasn't helping either; it was just raising even more red flags that something truly horrible was about to happen to him. He could feel Sombra's hot breath against his muzzle with each breath that the Royal exhaled, why was he getting this close to him?! "I think it's about time that I claimed my prize." And with that, the King did something that the helpless Earth pony could have never predicted or seen coming: His foe closed the distance and kissed him.

For the few moments that it lasted, Evening Star was in total and complete shock. His mind desperately tried to connect the dots on what was going on, but continuously kept failing over and over again. Though, there was a single thought that formed in the deepest crevice of his thoughts: He...felt a small sense of pleasure from the kiss. However, before he could even contemplate on that thought he felt some kind of smokey sensation fill his mouth and throat. It felt like it was sifting into his mind, dulling his thoughts and making it incredibly difficult to think properly. A few moments later, his eyes rolled back into his head and he lost consciousness once more.

As he watched his former opponent slump silently against the wall, King Sombra couldn't help but smile.  While the pitiful little Earth pony had provided absolutely no challenge to a stallion of such high stature as himself, that was to be expected. Earth ponies and Pegasi alike were meant to serve their Unicorn masters, and the idea of a whimpering little soldier taking him on and hoping to defeat him was a total joke. However, that wasn't to say that his feeble attempt at combat had been a complete waste of time. No no no, it was quite the opposite, in fact. It had given him something to do for a minute aside from just wait for the main course to arrive, and he would even be a perfect backup plan that those Royals would never see coming. He sheathed his sword, having no need for the weapon, at least not for the time being.

Without even a second of warning, his gaze turned to the small herd of his slaves that had yet to move from their positions. It was such a shame that he had to waste such good muscle, but if this plan was to come into fruition he would need to truly fuel the wrath of his foes. As he began to concentrate his sorcery, he took a good long look into their eyes. He saw a wave of fear wash over them, causing his heart to race as if he were excited by the sight. It was time to get to work.