Volcanic ash rose high into the sky over Hordheim. The sun barely reached through the blackened sky, casting an eerie reddish orange glow upon the uninhabitable land. Lava flowed down the black mountainsides, decimating everything in it's path. A dark palace reached its sharp hands into the sky, overlooking a large lake of golden fire. Empress Scarlet Shadow stood atop her fortress, her silver-blue eyes gazing down upon her realm. She smiled darkly, and brushed her silver lush hair behind her ripped ears. Her coat was a deep violet, large feathered wings adorning her back. A blood red cloak made of pony hide rested upon her shoulders, a tall collar of white hair adding a soft trim. The Dark Empress turned as a unicorn soldier in sleek black armor came up the stairs behind her. His blood red eyes shone in the glow of the sun, his silver coat dark and silky.

"You're late, Admiral." Her voice flowed like venom and blood. She stood tall with a grim expression.

The guard bowed and replied in his gruff voice, "My apologies, My Empress. We had a few... difficulties." He rose, standing at attention.

"Was your mission successful, Admiral?" The Dark Queen inquired darkly.

"It was, My Empress. The Prisoner awaits trial in The Main Hall as we speak."

"Anything more to report?" She asked.

"No, My Empress."

"Dismissed." The Empress commanded, of which the Admiral bowed once more and left his Empress to her lonesome atop her realm.

---

The Prisoner stood in the center of The Main Hall, heavy shackles and chains holding him to the floor. His coat was an indigo shade, his rugged hair and beard a deep blue. The arches above him were dark stone veined with solid gold that seemed to be liquid in nature. The floor was decorated with large tiles of black marble, with a large mosaic in the center of the long room depicting The Crimson Crown, the official seal of The Empress. A large silver throne stood high in the Hall, a staircase at least five meters high leading up to the throne. The Prisoner smirked a little as his green eyes gazed at The Empress who sat above. The stallion on her left boomed, "I, Judge Silvermane, Head Judge of The New Republic of Hordheim, accuse you of treason to the throne! How do you plea?"

The Prisoner laughed, "Silvermane, what an apt name for such an old fool such as you! Look at those long grey locks of yours, you troll!"

The Judge's face contorted into one of rage and boomed once more, "How do you plea?"

"Oh my, quite rude." The Prisoner chuckled, turning to the guard beside him on his right. "Has he no manners in those OLD CREAKY BONES OF HIS?" He emphasised the last bit to see the rage grow even more so on the yellow, wise stallion's face. He laughed again and the guard on his left whipped him, eliciting a cry from The Prisoner. "Ow! How rude!"

"How do you plead?" The Judge boomed once more.

"Oh fine, I'm guilty as charged." The Prisoner chuckled.

"The punishment for treason to the throne is death." The Judge declared. "Take him-"

"Oh, but my dear Judge, death for who?" The Prisoner laughed darkly. The Judge made eye contact with the convicted, and crumpled to the ground, blood pouring from his mouth.

The Empress stood and shouted, "Kill him!"

The Prisoner laughed as all the guards in the room turned on the chained criminal. "Who's first?" he giggled. A cloud of gas filled the room as he suddenly disappeared, leaving behind the chains, of which were now open, by some cataclysmic miracle.

"Where'd he go?" one guard shouted. The guard opposite him was grabbed around the neck and pulled into the mist by a large pitch-black slime tentacle, where his screams echoed through the halls, blood spraying out onto the other five remaining soldiers.

"Oh gods above!" another yelled, screaming in agony as he was ripped limb from limb, blood and bones flying everywhere. 2 guards rushed to the Empress' side as the other 2 were beheaded by a thick blade of pure darkness, their heads rolling to the foot of the stairs leading to the throne.

"My Empress, we must get you to safety!" The Earth Pony guard on her left urged. She nodded and followed the panicked guard out of the Main Hall through the side door. Just as they made it through, the other guard behind her was grabbed by his back hoof and dragged into the mist, screaming. "My Empress, we must press onward!" The guard yelled. He sprinted down the black hallways with her in tow.

The Prisoner's distorted voice laughed in glee and declared, "I'll find and kill you all!" Screams echoed through the castle as everyone was brutally murdered and ripped apart.

The guard and The Empress ran out of the castle onto one of the bridges leading over to a zeppelin's landing area, where The Admiral was preparing for a diplomatic mission to the South. "My Empress, what has happened?" The Admiral had a look of panick upon his face.

"The Prisoner is on a killing rampage, we must leave at once!" The Empress yelled, dragging the guard and The Admiral behind her onto the zeppelin.

"I will pilot, My Empress!" The guard called, taking his place at the helm of the ship. "Opening fuel line!" He began flipping switches as The Admiral and The Empress took seats and buckled in. "Deflating ballonets!" He slammed a hoof down on a large button, and shouted, "Lift-off!" The zeppelin rose quickly, just as The Prisoner blasted through the doors of the castle, his large form reaching for the airship.

"No! You will not escape! I will have your souls too!"

The Admiral shouted, "Not today, you son of a bitch!" He lit his horn and sent a flare toward The Prisoner's outstretched tentacle. The Prisoner screamed in agony and withdrew from the aircraft, releasing them from his grasp. The guard activated the propellers to full tilt and away they sped over the seas and to the mainland.

However, a certain small glob of darkness crawled up inside the gondola section through a vent...

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