Julius Sombra

Ever since I had met Tirek 1,000 years ago, it seemed the day I would leave this prison cell was going to come eventually. When the day came for us to make our escape, it was by all means, nothing but sheer luck. But, everything had to go according to plan and to make the plan work, Cerberus needed to be off his post.

"Psst! Psst!" whispered Tirek, causing me to wake up from my sleep. "Cerberus is gone, Julius! We need to make our move now!"

Waking up, I looked to see that Cerberus was nowhere in sight and the guards were probably going out of their way to find him. Chuckling evilly, I activated my horn and fired several small blasts at the lock on my cell door. After about five small blasts, the lock was destroyed and for the first time in a while, I was free.

"Stand clear," I said to Tirek hastily and fired five small blasts at his cell door. Soon, he was free and together, we began to make our escape trying to be careful not to make a sound. However, we couldn't keep everyone quiet as we made our way past a satyr like prisoner.

"Are you escaping?" he asked. "Take me with you."

"Sorry," I answered much to his displeasure. "You aren't welcome."

"Is that so?" he remarked and then raised his voice. "ESCAPE! PRISONERS ESCAPING! ESCAPE!"

The sounds of the prisoner's voice caused the alarm to sound throughout the prison and we needed to get out now. We couldn't stay quiet for long and one encounter with a prison guard would put an end to our escape.

"There's the exit, Tirek!" I called. "Let's go!"

Together, we ran towards the exit, but all of a sudden, we saw two guardsponies blocking the exit and aiming their horns at us.

"FREEZE! STOP!" they shouted, firing blasts of magic at us. It was at this moment that for the first time since I killed Princess Amore, I fired several killing spells at the guards, killing the guards instantly. Several more guards tried to stop us from leaving and they too, would meet the same fate as their comrades and soon, we came through the cave entrance.

"Where do we go now?" Tirek cried and I noticed a possible low place to run.

"This way! Come on!" I replied, ordering Tirek to follow me into a ditch. Jumping into the ditch, we waited until the activity settled down. "Now, stay low!"

…

Wading our way through the ditch, Tirek and I remained as quiet as possible while the guards continued to search for us. This continued for several hours and after a few hours, we climbed out of our low hiding and found ourselves in the Everfree Forest.

"All right, they shouldn't be following us anymore," I said, brushing the mud from the ditch off my body. "But, I am afraid that as long as we are together, we are at great risk for being caught again."

"I suppose you are right, Julius," replied Tirek, also brushing the mud off of his body. "My strength needs to be rejuvenated and I am afraid that unless I find a pony's magic to consume, my strength will never return to its full strength. But, I do have one request for you."

"Yes?"

"When you return to the Crystal Empire," answered Tirek. "The first thing I want you to do is to find my brother, Scorpan, and put him before me in chains. I want to see my brother pay for the damages he did to my conquests."

Just then, we saw what appeared to be two unicorn ponies clad in hunting clothes walking through the forest.

"If you are going to restore your strength," I said. "Then, you need to do it now, Tirek. Don't worry about me, I will be fine."

Smiling at this reassurance, Tirek opening his mouth and activating his magic draining right at the ponies, I watched as their cutie marks disappeared and they collapsed to the ground. Once Tirek had consumed their magic, I saw him grow slightly and chuckle evilly as he felt his strength grow.

"Thank you, Tirek," I said as we both looked at each other for the last time. "Good luck on your conquests and yes, I will find Scorpan and make him pay for betraying you."

With those words, we went our separate ways and I now had to focus on my goal, to restore myself to the throne of the Crystal Empire.

…

Meanwhile, the news of our escape soon reached the Royal Sisters in Canterlot and I can assure you that they were not very happy.

"ESCAPED?!" shouted Celestia at the warden from her throne, her voice filled with anger. "First Cerberus disappears and then you had both Tirek and Julius Sombra, two of our greatest enemies, escape under your watch?! I should have you stripped from your position for this, Lock Up!"

"I can assure you that Cerberus leaving his post is the main reason," protested the Warden, trying to defend his actions. "They must have found a weakness in our system."

"What?" Celestia asked, icily.

"I've always said that Cerberus leaving his post was our greatest weakness, your highnesses," explained the Warden. "But, I swear on my life that I will use all of the resources necessary to find them."

But, both royal sisters were not convinced by this at all.

"No, your request to find the prisoners is denied," said Celestia, firmly. "I can't trust you for nothing, Lock Up and you know it. I am afraid that I must find another way to find Tirek and Julius."

"What are you planning to do?" asked Luna. "We both know that both Tirek and Julius are considered extremely dangerous."

As her sister spoke, Celestia knew that even though he was more dangerous than me, Tirek needed to be captured first. Something in her mind made her believe that the only way I could be recaptured was if Tirek was forced to confess everything.

"Order for Twilight and Princess Cadence to join us immediately," she said to Luna. "The sooner we recapture Tirek, the sooner we can find Julius Sombra."

Much to her confusion, Luna did as she was told and Celestia gave one more cold stare at the Warden before dismissing him with a wave of her front right leg.

"Tirek may be dangerous," Celestia thought to herself. "But you are just as dangerous, Julius and we will find you if it is the last thing we will ever do!"

…

And Celestia kept to her word and within a few weeks, Tirek was recaptured thanks to Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Soon, all of the princesses would be personally on the move throughout every corner of Equestria searching for me with the intention of putting an end to my plans to conquer the Crystal Empire once and for all…