Julius Sombra

Hearing that my father was attempting to carry out an assassination attempt against the Royal Sisters was both satisfying and risky at the same time. My father was somewhat of an absent minded genius in carrying out anything related to the death of a princess. Apparently, killing off Princess Amore had given him such horrendous ambitions that there was no other option to get what he wanted other than killing off important ponies. No sooner did the messenger leave did I start to get the feeling that there was enough bloodshed to last us a lifetime.

"Father," I said as I looked down at the chained up ponies forced to march through the streets. "I can't help but wonder if maybe that…?"

"What do you wonder, Julius?" asked my father. "I have given us everything that will sustain us for a bright future. Why do you question my actions?"

I had to choose my words carefully so as to not anger my father.

"Because," I answered, turning away from the window. "That hasn't it occurred to you that the Royal Sisters might discover your plan to kill them? They are god like figures, after all."

"Impossible," chuckled my father. "For you must understand, Julius, that I have powers that surpass even the princesses themselves. Everything that I have learned from being a foal has brought up to this moment, my son and soon, you will learn that everypony will bow to our will and that there will be nothing they can do to stop us."

It seemed like my father didn't care to consider the options carefully. He had always been one to be caught up in the moment and this was certainly one of them.

"Father, I…I know you want to fully achieve your goal," I cautioned as I walked up to the throne. "But, don't you think that killing Princess Amore was enough? I just think that it is important that we…"

"…Become the rulers of Equestria," he finished. "I have a vision for Equestria: my vision, that everypony from every town and city will look up to you and I as their true saviors. The Crystal Empire is only the first step of the vision I so desperately want Equestria to have. Soon, we will have everypony in Ponyville, Canterlot, Rainbow Falls and everywhere else bowing to us."

…

Chuckling evilly, he sat back on the throne and sighed heavenly, almost as if he had already fulfilled his conquest. Just then, the doors to the throne room opened and a pony covered in soot came walking in.

"Sire," he said, bowing to my father. "The body of Princess Amore has been burned and disposed of."

Hearing this was shocking to me, for I was not expecting Princess Amore's remains to be treated in this way. Even if she was an enemy of my father, part of me felt that Amore at least deserved to be treated with respect.

"Good," remarked my father. "How has the removal of Princess Amore's monuments coming along?"

"Excellent," he replied. "From what I hear, about 90% of them have been torn down and removed. We should have everything done by the end of the day. Then, monuments to yourself will be built."

Satisfied, my father dismissed the pony much to my somewhat shock and disbelief. I knew Princess Amore was our enemy, but at least I tried to treat her with respect. At that moment, another loud scream was heard and I ran over to the window and looked down to see what was going on.

"What have you done with my daughter?" demanded an older pony who was being beaten around by several guards like a soccer ball.

"Your daughter refused to obey us and she is dead along with the others," sneered the warriors as they kicked him and broke several of his ribs, causing the old pony to scream in pain. "Unless you want to join her, you will get back on your hooves and finish your new leader's monument."

"You lie, you all lie!" cried the pony in a painful voice. "She is not dead and you know it!"

Hearing this made me think back for a moment and I began to realize that the pony was saying that the mare who had escaped the persecutions was in fact, the daughter of the pony who was being kicked around.

"Pay no attention to that pony who is being disciplined," my father said. "He is just being punished for being defiant to our warriors. Right now, the message that will bring the princesses here for their deaths should be arriving at their castle in a matter of moments."

…

Sure enough, it was almost sunset by the time that the messenger arrived at the castle of the two sisters. However, instead of a warm welcome, Celestia and Luna's guards were already waiting for him and upon arrival at the castle gates, he was captured and placed on a rack. That same night, Luna went down into the chamber to question the messenger.

"Do you know why you are on the rack?" Luna asked, a look of fury in her eyes as she stared at the messenger, who nodded that he didn't know. "You are on the rack because according to the message that you have given my sister and me, Sombra wanted to lure my sister and me to the Crystal Empire where he would kill us."

"No, no, our beloved king wouldn't do that," stammered the messenger and knowing that he was lying, Luna motioned for the ponies operating the rack to pull the messenger by his arms and legs, stretching him out slightly.

"Every time you lie to me, they will pull you out," warned Luna, sternly. "What are Sombra's true intentions? What did he do with Amore?"

"He wanted to throw her off the throne," answered the messenger, groaning in pain. "He wanted to send her into exile."

Luna didn't believe this and motioned for the rack to be pulled up further, stretching the messenger's back even more to the point where he felt bones breaking.

"I don't believe you," snapped Luna, slamming her front left hoof down on the floor hard. "You know that Sombra is planning to kill us the same way as he killed Princess Amore! We know that Amore is dead and if you want to stop being tortured in this way, then you will talk to me and tell me everything!"

"Never," groaned the messenger and the more he refused to talk, the more the rack was pulled. "Long Live King Sombra I!"

For the next ten minutes, the rack continued to pull and more bones were being crack in a loud shrieking noise and blood began to creep out of the messenger's legs, all four of them.

"I can guess already what is in your mind," said Luna, who felt at that moment to go inside the messenger's mind with her magic.

With her eyes flashing white, she saw the horrors of Sombra's actions in the Crystal Empire. Luna saw ponies being chained up, their manes being shaved off and dead bodies being thrown into a mass grave, among other things. Seeing all this horror made Luna both sad and angry at the same time. Having seen enough, she deactivated the spell and looked back up at the messenger.

"King Sombra has a vision, not just for Crystal Empire, but for all of Equestria," she said to the messenger. "And it will be a vision that will never come to pass as long as my sister and me remain the true leaders of Equestria. Release him!"

Heeding their princesses' order, the ponies operating the rack took the messenger down from the rack, causing him to fall down on the floor in mortal pain.

"Long…live…" the messenger tried to say, but couldn't because of the pain.

"Take him away," Luna ordered and the messenger was dragged away while Luna left the torture chamber and rejoined Celestia in her quarters.

...

Upon arriving at her sister's quarters, Luna saw that Celestia was being donned with golden armor by several servant ponies. This made Luna realize that the time for action was now and not later.

"He wouldn't talk, so I had to go into his mind," Luna said as she conferred with her older sister. "Sombra must be removed from power and I know from looking at the horror that young Julius is responsible for Amore's death."

"The time has come for Sombra's brief and violent reign to come to an end, dear sister," Celestia said firmly. "We must not allow another one of Amore's subjects to be killed for his own ambition."

"I completely agree," remarked Luna, who then beckoned for several of her own servants to don her with her own armor. "And anypony who defends Sombra from us will just be as equally punished."

"Which is why our actions must be swift and just," answered Celestia, taking a spear in her aura, making sure that the point was sharp and the rest of the blade was equally sharp. "The sooner that both Sombra and his son are removed from power, the sooner that the Crystal Ponies can be saved."

Nodding in reply, Luna was soon in her own armor and prepared to follow her sister into battle. Soon, my father and me would be confronted by the Royal Sisters and our glorious reign over the Crystal Empire would be coming to an end before it even began…