sombra has become a dictator in the crystal empire on this AU i made up as an excuse to draw Dieselpunk related things, you will be seeing more of this, probably another 2 minimum, anyway big thanks to https://www.furaffinity.net/user/slippery-slope/ for roofreading and correcting errors involving spelling, punctuation and grammar in this mini story that i wrote for this image, enjoy part 1

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Sergeant Blazing Iron was leading his squad on the way back from stopping a small riot in the streets next to the Crystal Castle. Normally soldiers under Sombra were completely mind controlled, turned into nameless, faceless soldier drones that obeyed orders without question. But of course, that meant they required a leader, and thanks to his position as the sergeant of his team, he was allowed far more free will than the average soldier…


As he marched on the halls of the Crystal Castle, the only thing that could be heard was the echoes of boots against the crystal, floor marching in unison. On their way to the throne room, the sergeant's thoughts began to drift: yes the mission was a success, the riot was stopped and the participating ponies arrested…


But… what they were saying about Sombra being a tyrant? Perhaps it was true. He had crushed all opposition either with force or mental indoctrination… was he the villain too on this? The seed of doubt had been planted on him and his loyalty training was showing cracks.


The sergeant and his squad made their way into Sombra's throne room, pushing the door open. Inside, the imposing figure of their ruler, King Sombra, sat on his throne at the Crystal Castle, left hoof supporting the Umbrum-Unicorn's head and right hoof tapping at the armrest of his decorated crystal throne. He met his sergeant's gaze from behind the mask's lenses and simply stated, “𝐒𝐨? 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐈 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮?” His commanding voice echoed on the walls of the throne room.
The sergeant bowed down to his king. "Yes sir, the situation is now under control. The riot was stopped quickly before it could pick up any significant force, and all ponies involved have been arrested and are being processed for loyalty training as we speak," the sergeant said, sweat pouring from his forehead behind the mask, hoping Sombra wouldn't notice the doubt in his voice.


Sombra smiled as he looked down at his sergeant, sharp fangs visible. Yet, he noticed something off with his sergeant. Perhaps he didn't use enough magic to keep him loyal. Yes, his sergeant seemed to lack the zealous conviction he had the last time they spoke. No matter, the way to fix it was easy.


“𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐣𝐨𝐛, 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝… 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮.” Standing from his throne, he approached, readying a spell to give a little… boost to his sergeant's performance. Of course, he didn’t need to, but tying mental control to increased power was a great way to gain loyalty without taking total control.


“𝐒𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫. 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭.” Sombra walked around him, a sharp-toothed smile still on his face as he removed the gas mask on the sergeant's face. Sombra's gaze met his as he cast a magic spell that took more free will away and in exchange made the sergeant stronger, faster, and more durable than before.
Blazing Iron, who’d just a few moments ago had started to doubt his great leader, soon would find his mind clouded, his thoughts slowing down as Sombra's magic entered his mind and pushed all those rebellious thoughts outside the pony's mind. And when it was done, he felt no longer able to do anything but obey Sombra's every order and enjoy every second of it.


“𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭… 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫… ‘𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠.’ 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞, 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭?”


Sombra put his hoof under the sergeant's chin and gently moved his head, looking at him eye to eye as loyalty poured directly into his brain. The green glow coming from his eyes and the eyes of his squad, even behind the lenses of their gas masks, became brighter than before, making the sergeant drool onto Sombra's hoof as his mind was cleansed from any thoughts that went against his glorious leader.


“Yes… my liege…”


“𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲.”