//------------------------------// // Last Chance // Story: Sombra's Mission // by Strythio //------------------------------// Sombra had hardly gotten to the throne room when he noticed a line of ponies, some crystal and some not so crystal, outside the throne room doors. There were no guards in plain sight, oddly enough, but the ponies still seemed to respect the closed doors principle of royalty. It was mildly unsettling. He would have expected a mob. Then again, the events of the past day or so were fuzzy, so from what Sombra could gather, they had already settled into the subjugation role. Whatever he had done the day before, it had been the hard part. Dodging the crowd that he feared would go lynch crazy at the sight of him, Sombra pressed himself against a wall. Now that he thought about it properly, there was only one way into the throne room that he knew of; so of course he would have to pass the crowd. Sombra sighed, and with some reassurance that he had lived a good life, he ventured out into the crowd. Though they all stared at him, they carried on with their conversations as if he were merely another passing pony. “Why would Amore so suddenly leave some random pony in charge?” one of the crystal ponies inquired rather loudly, “Maybe she really does need a vacation.” Sombra flicked his ears dismissively at this statement. With a gesture far too grand for the occasion, the stallion burst open the throne room doors to find an empty throne room. There were no visible occupants, and even the decorations from earlier had been taken down. Save for the darkened crystal walls, the place resembled a guard mess hall abandoned upon news that the princesses would be coming. Clean as a brand new horseshoe, and just as empty too. Sombra gingerly walked up to the throne, eyeing his surroundings for any signs of potential foul play. None came, and upon taking a seat, the line outside sent out the first in line. A mare, bound in chains, was pulled along rather roughly by a stallion. The crystal pony still had a fiery gaze in her eyes, defiance really. However, the stallion clearly had the reigns, tugging her along as if she were his possession instead of Sombra’s. “Your majesty, thine mare-slave bit me!” the unicorn bellowed with a barely concealed tone of impunity, “I demand a proper punishment be wrought on her head!” Sombra questioned the usage of the word “wrought”, but felt that it was more pertinent to deal with his first, and clearly more amusing, charge of the day. Attempting to stifle a laugh, Sombra pressed for more information while feigning concern. “Oh did she now? Where did she so sinketh her teeth into thine flesh?” Talking in this manner would have bothered him some had it not been for the practice that he had the day before, ordering his slaves about and organizing an economy centered around their labors. “My stallionhood!” Sombra could not contain his cynical, but boisterous laughter, the throes of his amusement echoing through the entire room as if it were a mighty roar. A few tears rolled down his cheeks, his laughter continuing for at least five minutes before he finally began to calm down. Regaining his breath, and composure, the very confused ponies facing him would soon shift back to their more serious expressions once Sombra looked their way again. “And what, pray tell, was thine stallionhood doing in her mouth in the first place?” The unicorn shifted his eyes towards the mare, using his magic to tug her chains so that she was forced to the ground. “Well, she is still in her prime, and in heat. I did not want to sire a foal doomed to be a bastard by law, and it would not fit anywhere else. She was doing fine till I prepared to climax.” Sombra eyed the crystal mare more closely, beginning to see a vague twinge of fear. His scrutiny could sentence her to a wide array of punishments at a whim. Of course, the stallion’s story did pose an obvious reason for mercy, for the mare was half his size. “Attempt thee to insert all of thineself into this mare?” Now it was the unicorn’s turn to laugh, once again tugging at the chains. “Of course, I did promise her dinner. That seems to be besides the point though.” Sombra growled, his horn glowing ominously with his shift in demeanor . “Tug at the chains of my…” Sombra took a second to recollect himself here. “Our slave one more time and we will find a set of chains to fit you.” The unicorn laughed, his own horn glowing a bright blue in response to the obvious threat. He tugged yet again the chains of the mare in defiance. “I am an Equestrian, who rented this slave for my pleasure while I spend my hard earned bits here in thine City. Save for capital offenses, I have immunity, unless you wish the wrath of the royal sisters upon thee.” Sombra cackled; clearly somepony had not informed this unicorn just who he was dealing with. “We are well aware of these circumstances; damaging royal property, that mare-slave of which you rented, IS a capital offense.” Sombra’s horn glow went from red to green; his shadow bent from his form and emerged as an ethereal cloud of sorts, hovering for only a few moments before striking down on the unicorn. The unicorn responded with a stun blast, but the attack literally went right through the shade; the darkness encased the horn, and upon dissipation afterwards, left naught but tiny black crystals on the horn. The unicorn desperately attempted to continue channeling magic, but to no avail. “Now then, mare, we ask thee; are thine damaged?” Perhaps he should have asked that first, since technicallly a denial would warrant him to free the unicorn of bondage. The crystal mare glanced briefly at the still shocked unicorn. An unspoken shift in dominance emboldened the slave-mare as she stood on all fours, taking one hoof to rub her throat. “Deep throat really hurts the vocals,” the pony rasped, “No telling where that thing had been either. And ‘dinner’ was more like a sip.” “You are not going to believe that are you?” The unicorn was indignant, but the undertone of concern tore off the mask that in truth, the unicorn had not foreseen Sombra to so hastily side with the mare. “Seems legitimate,” Sombra declared, raising a hoof into the air, “For damages against royal property, thee are to become royal property. We are sure Celestia will love to heareth about thine exploits with young mares, but until then: off with the horn and with haste the chains!” And so it was. The unicorn had prepared to scramble, but Sombra’s shadow moved far faster, granting the previously ungarbed unicorn the new accessories. Chains and shackle, going well with the snapping of the unicorn’s horn. He snapped it clean off at the halfway mark, no doubt scarring said pony for life. Oh well, it went with the job description. “Next!” Sombra shouted, waving with his outstretched hoof for the duo to leave his presence. As the original slave led, with reigns, the new slave, a new pair walked in. This duo was like a gender mismatch of the previous pair. Sombra hoped that they would not be coming to him with the same issue. He would not be disappointed. The mare spoke first. “King Sombra, this here slave hath performed quite the misdeed! He refused to lift my litter around town, though 'tis his job. What says thee for punishment?” Sombra mused over this for a moment. On one hoof, obviously not doing his job was warrant for punishment. On the other, for what reason would the stallion have to risk the anger of his monarch in not doing his job? The mines always had room for more stallions after all. “Well slave? What dost thee have to say for thyself?” The stallion looked up, fearful, hardly meeting Sombra's gaze when he spoke with a shaky voice. “The litter is composeth of granite, and tis the size of eight stallions. How can thee expect one stallion to carry that across the city?” The mare snorted in response. Sombra would have cackled had he not been in such a serious setting. “Mare, thee realize thine slave's limitations? Buy more to get the job done.” The mare seemed indignant, as if that were asking for four hooves on a silver platter. “Twas garunteed that one crystal slave possessed the strength of ten. Hath I been cheated?" Maybe, probably. Sombra didn't created the advertisements, nor was he bound to abide by them either. "Perhaps, a refund is in order." The mare seemed somewhat pleased with herself, up until Sombra smiled wide. He knew very well how to solve this situation. When in doubt, a hoof for a hoof. “Perhaps we shalt have thee carry us around the city in thine litter; would be most fun to watch you and thine slave labour at the same task.” “I am an Equestrian!” the mare shouted, stomping her hoof in anger, “Thine shall not treat me as such, lest thee face the wrath of mine princesses!” Sombra nodded his head, as if complying. Of course, he instead was giving the signal for the slave to take a few steps away from the mare. The stallion hastily did so, and by the time the mare realized what was going on, she had been chained and shackled to a large round weight by Sombra's shadow. “Next!” Sombra shouted, crystal guards escorting the still angry mare and the stallion from the throne room. She bucked and cursed, swearing to high heaven that Sombra would rue the day that he messed with Equestria. She even threatened that Sombra himself would come and put this name thief in place; poor mare hardly recognized that she was faced with the very same Sombra. Which was strange, as he was a rather well known figure in Equestria. His horn was his trademark identifer; how is it that these Equestrians seemed completely oblivious to this? Sombra suspected Luna to be at work again, but even he doubted that she had brainwashed them into that.Then again, as Sombra reviewed the events of the past few days, other than the previous day's blank, it was very possible in fact that she could have. No other pair immediately followed behind. Perhaps seeing four slaves emerge instead of two had unnerved the rest of the crowd. Silence fell heavy, and for a few moments, Sombra thought that he could have the rest of the day to himself. No such luck, for yet another pair entered the throne room. This new pair stood out almost instantly; it was not a slave and master, but two equals. More pertinently, they bore the steely armor of the Equestrian military; in other words, ponies who certainly should recognize Sombra immediately. When they spotted Sombra, their mouths dropped open. Sombra maintained a very large smile; it was nice to have some recognition once and awhile for his real self. “Ah, here to call in the dues already? Thine residents were just set off to labor actually.” “Captain?” the earth pony stuttered, hardly believing his eyes, “Tis it really you?” “In the flesh.” The two guards looked to each other again before continuing down the steps to the throne room. They stood together, even paced, walking in step with each other. Truly, had the circumstances been different, Sombra would have been delighted to see them. Though the earth pony spoke first, the pegasus was quick to interject when necessary. “Captain, we had heard that you had went off with Luna and never saw the light of day again. Yet here you are-” “Enlaving Equestrians.” Sombra chuckled, resting his back against the throne in a relaxed posture. “We hath not enslaved many, just a few who doth not understand our laws.” The pegasus seemed very skeptical. “Sombra, if ye are the new king, and ye are an Equestrian citizen, by Celestia's law, that makes all of thine subjects her subjects. Ye realize what that means right?” Sombra's ears flattened, and for once since he had awakened earlier that morning, confusion riddled his face. The earth pony had few qualms with supplanting the missing information. “Unless thee renounced thine citizenship, then 'King' is not really the proper title of thine position, but Duke or something to that effect. The crowns are still at the top.” Indeed, Sombra had overlooked that, though it mattered little in the grand scheme of things. He would be overthrown soon enough. “Yes well, as of this point, I am a King, and as such, I shall rule my subjects as I so please.” Noticing his drop in the royal “we”, the two guards assumed that Sombra had returned to their position as far as mindset went. As such, the pegasus shifted in speech to match. “Well, Celestia sent us here in case Luna made a detour on her way here. Celestia very badly wants to speak with you.” A pang struck Sombra's heart, and he bit his lip as his thoughts wandered into for what reason Celestia so urgently needed to speak with him. Was it about Violet? The punishment for the burning of Trottabama? Despite his desire to find out, if he had to face Celestia right now, she would probably coax all of Luna's plan that he knew of right out of him. But shouldn't Luna have already divulged all of that? Maybe the soldiers were being kept out of the loop for security reasons. And had she not rejected his earlier letters for some reason? "Since she hath rejected mine letters, tis clear she desires a face to face conversation," Sombra reasoned, "We shall be awaiting her visit." The earth guard chuckled nervously. "You really want Celestia to have to come all the way up here to speak with you? I doubt she will take the news very well." "We hath spoken," Sombra declared, "If thine princess wishes an audience, she shall visit or send diplomats. Not soldiers." With a wave of his hoof, he dismissed his former colleagues. Or at least, that is what his gesture was supposed to mean. Neither pony moved, the two apparently still in shock at the audacity of their captain. To them, he must have clearly lost his mind. "So, what they said was true," the pegasus noted, "You really have gone rogue." Sombra perked, his attention fully on the words that came from the pegasus. News finally of how he was received and perceived back home. "May whatever power you serve be with you on the day Celestia comes," the pegasus warned, leading his companion away, "Unlike Trottabama, you will not get away with this City." Upon them leaving, Sombra was left alone in this throne room, for the first time contemplating whether he should chase after them or not. Deciding that would be a most un-kingly display, he refrained and relaxed further in his throne. It would all be cleared up by the time this was over; he just needed to be less concerned with things was all. Sombra eyed the door again. "Better safe than sorry," Sombra murmured, "If I leave no record, then I will certainly be sorry."