An uneasy silence emanated throughout the chamber. The King looked as if he was waiting for Starlight Glimmer to return his greeting. The seconds ticked by, and Sombra's eyes narrowed impatiently as he took a sip from his glass.
Starlight's knee-jerk reaction to his slight movement would have been to back away, but her body wouldn't obey the signals from her brain. There was nothing separating her from him, nor was there a route of escape. She felt like a frightened fawn that had been tossed into an enclosure with a hungry lion.
"You must be famished," said The King, finally shattering the oppressive silence. The dark note his deep voice carried reverberated through the walls. Like the first growl of an ensuing thunderstorm, it was of a tenor that evoked unease. He then gestured to a long table lined with fruit and pastries and decadent-looking desserts. Behind it, crackling flames lapped away at a stack of cedar logs in a fireplace that could have been large enough to be an entrance to a cave.
Starlight Glimmer could only gawk at the feast, perplexed. She hadn't even noticed it until that moment. When standing face-to-face with a monster that could dismember you with his bare hooves as easily as look at you, it's difficult to notice anything else. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten, but her anxiety made it easy to ignore the emptiness gnawing away at her innards. She managed to stammer out a "N-no, I'm fine, thank you." from between her trembling lips.
"Come now, it has been six months since last you've eaten." The King approached a chair at the far end of the table. He seated himself, then reached for a pink and gold apple resting in a bowl. He inspected it briefly before sinking his teeth deep into its flesh. "Honeycrisp," he said temptingly. "My personal favorite."
Starlight's stomach growled ferociously at the sight of The King's incisors ripping deep into the meat of the apple. It exploded with juices. The wet crunch echoing in her ears was an audible testament to its satisfying texture.
"Won't you join me?" Sombra beckoned her again, indicating the empty chair at the opposite end of the table.
Starlight gathered all the courage she could find within herself, and she finally said, "Why have you summoned me here?"
Sombra placed what was left of the apple on the tip of his tongue and let it roll into his gaping mouth. Core and all. He didn't bother to chew the morsel. There was just the snapping of his jaws, then a swallow. Some residual juice ran down from the corner of his lip before he wiped it away and explained, "I find that fine food can taste all the finer when enjoying it with fine company." He laxed back in his seat and steepled his hooves beneath his chin in the way a Saturday morning cartoon villain would. "And you are indeed fine company, my dear."
Starlight had no reply for that. What could she say? She had anticipated throughout the day that she would be tortured, interrogated, or possibly even executed. She had envisioned red hot pincers, a dunking tub, boiling oil, the rack. But being wined, dined, and flattered? Not something she expected.
Sombra considered her appraisingly. "You look positively ravishing in that dress," he critiqued. The tip of his horn illuminated and a cork popped from the mouth of a bottle near Starlight's end of the table. A rivulet of red wine filled a fine crystal glass. The bottle was then returned from whence it came. "It suits you much better than the previous owner."
"P-previous owner?" Starlight stammered.
"A daughter of a well-known count in this region. She inherited his estate after one of my soldiers crushed his head in with a mace. I gave her the option to surrender, but she instead decided to squander the opportunity I had given her, and she took up arms against me in an ill-fated attempt at revenge."
Starlight Glimmer looked down at her dress. "And what happened to her?" she asked, unsure of whether or not she truly wanted to know the answer.
"Butchered by her own slaves. Stories of The King who had come to free them had reached their ears. My army battered her forces outside of her keep. When the slaves inside realized that my victory was certain, they rallied together with any tool or implement they could get their hooves on to take up arms against their vile countess and her subordinates.
"They eventually fought their way to her chamber, where they found her cowering under her bed. Her former slaves dragged her out from her hiding space and ended her miserable existence with a raucous clamor of shovels, improvised clubs, and wood axes." Sombra gave pause to look her over once more. "Her dress, though. You may keep it, if you wish. I make it a gift to you."
Starlight Glimmer tugged at the golden clasp below her neck. "I don't want to wear some murdered girl's dress."
"Come now," Sombra said, like a passive aggressive father attempting to placate his unreasonable daughter. "The maids did an exemplary job of scouring it clean. Blood is so hard to wash out of whites."
"You mean she was wearing it when she was killed?" Starlight blanched. Now she really didn't want it. In her eagerness to rid herself of the grizzly memento she tore the clasp off. She was so frantic in kicking it away when it puddled about her hooves that she almost stumbled over.
Sombra lifted his wine glass and complained, "That was perfectly good silk you just tore." before he took a sip.
"Forget the silk!" Starlight Glimmer bristled. "You beat me within an inch of my life, then you have me bathed and dolled up to have dinner with you?"
"Yes, that is quite an accurate summary," Sombra replied in a way that was so calm, it was just insufferable.
"What do you want from me!" Starlight demanded.
"I just want to talk."
"About what?"
Sombra once again indicated the empty seat opposite from his end of the table. "Please, sit. All will be clear in time. Until then, I would like you to eat."
"If you think I'm going to pretend to forget all the atrocities you've committed, you're sorely mistaken. We've nothing to talk about, you monster!"
"Monster?" The King cautioned her with a glare. "Need I remind you that it was you who attacked me in the courtyard? I could have killed you and your pathetic little friends for your attempted regicide. I would have had every right to do so. But I didn't. From the way I see it, you owe me your life. And if you continue to be impertinent, I'll not hesitate to collect on your debt!"
Starlight Glimmer was taken aback by The King's display of ire. The lion had bared his fangs, and she was once again the frightened little doe.
Sombra, still scowling, softened his voice to a tone that was unsettlingly calm. "But I don't want your life. I don't want your friends' lives, either. I would like to let them go free. However, that is a decision that ultimately depends on you."
"W-what's that supposed to mean?" Starlight said, rubbing her arm nervously.
The King rested his elbows on the table and poised with his hooves steepled in front of his muzzle, his serpent-like eyes sizing her up like a rattlesnake about to strike. "Ah, so now you wish to talk," he mused. "Sit. Eat. All will be made clear in time, I assure you."
And so Starlight Glimmer did as she was told, not wanting to provoke a second outburst.
The King looked pleased as she finally eased herself into her seat. "Try the wine," he suggested.
Starlight took a nervous sip from the cup he had poured for her. Her hoof shook so bad that some of the red in her glass dribbled over its sides.
"Do you like it?"
Starlight kept her eyes lowered as she gave a wordless nod.
"Of course, you do. A classy wine for a classy lady," Sombra complimented her. "My wife does not approve of the vintage, I am sad to report." He then shrugged and added, "She has what my father would have called a 'commoner's palate.'"
"A commoner's palate?" Starlight echoed curiously.
"Father used such terms to perpetuate the aristocratic fallacy that his blood somehow made him superior. There is, however, no such thing as 'royal' blood; a lesson I learned when I spilled his. It was the same color and consistency as anyone else's. And when his bowels released, as I thrust the dagger into his belly, his shit did not shimmer like gold or smell of roses."
He presented his goblet, as if its image were to provide some sort of visual aid. The wine-filled glass shined like a ruby by the light of the fire. "We all bleed red, my dear. No matter what your pedigree may be. No matter who you may have descended from." He drained his glass and said, "My Queen is lowborn. Yet, her spirit is far more noble than my father's ever was." And then his expression soured as he scoffed, "'Commoner's palate.' Bah!"
"Your Queen," Starlight said uneasily. She finally looked up and dared to meet The King's gaze. "Fluttershy, you mean?"
"Aye, Queen Fluttershy." The King smiled, as if just evoking her name was enough to leave a sweet taste in his mouth.
The King's fawning demeanor brought Starlight Glimmer to a surprising conclusion: "You love her," she said. It wasn't a question.
"This comes as a surprise to you?" The King queried as he refilled his glass.
"I didn't even think one such as you would even be capable of..." Starlight stifled herself before she could finish her presumptuous statement, but it was too late. It was obvious by The King's expression that he took her meaning. It wasn't a snarl or a sneer. It was a smile.
"There was once a time when you may have been correct," Sombra admitted. "My childhood left me with a bitter contempt for such emotions. Even after I had killed my father, I was consumed with an obsession to afflict my suffering upon others."
Starlight gave him a thoughtful look. "That's the second time you've mentioned your father."
"Yes, well," The King said in a suddenly self aware manner, "we all have our demons to slay, I suppose."
Starlight waited for him to divulge more. But he didn't. So, the big bad King Sombra has daddy issues, she concluded. It was curious how a thousand year old wound, be what it may, could remain so fresh. Or, festering with rot and corruption, may have been a better analogy.
"You've not eaten yet," Sombra observed. "I will not force anything down your throat, but I would implore you to eat."
Starlight Glimmer fidgeted nervously in her seat. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something - something about letting my friends and I walk free?"
"Eat, and I will tell you."
Starlight finally gave in. She had lost a noticeable amount of weight in her long sleep. She was hungry, and there would be no point in starving herself. It wouldn't change whatever Sombra's plans may have been. She selected a cluster of green grapes, a heel of bread, and she poured herself a bowl of a sweet and sour-smelling pumpkin soup.
They ate in silence for a time. Starlight was mopping up the remnants of her soup with a torn piece of bread when Sombra finally said, "Is everything to your liking?"
"It's pretty good," she admitted. Despite her situation, the food had lifted Starlight's spirits somewhat. The soup was better than anything she had had at any five star restaurant. The wine was indeed a fine vintage. And the bread tasted as fresh as if it had just come out of the oven. She eyed a pumpkin pie that was just outside her reaching distance as she worked the last bite of her supper around in her mouth. That would be the next dish to go, she had decided.
"Help yourself," said The King, as if he knew what she was thinking. His horn glowed, and the pie slid closer to her. He had also poured her another glass of red. She could see that the bottle was now empty as it returned to its place.
"Uhm... Thanks," Starlight Glimmer forced herself to say. Sombra fancied himself a gentlecolt. Who would have known? She was carving a wedge out of the pie when Sombra spoke again.
"Your friends..."
That was all he needed to say to get her attention. Starlight's eyes met with his, the pie suddenly forgotten. "Yes?"
"I would be willing to let them leave..."
"Yes?" Starlight said eagerly. She wished she hadn't eaten so fast. The anticipation was enough to make her gorge rise.
"But only If you agree to stay here."
The knife Starlight Glimmer was using to cut the pie fell away from her hoof. "What?"
Sombra corrected himself in his seat. He postured himself in what looked like a 'down to business' kind of pose. His eyes narrowed with a shrewd intent. "You and your friends tried to kill me. I'm willing to forgive you for that, but I'll not forget. I'll not risk a second attempt on my life. If I were to perish now, the fragile sovereignty of the nation I am building will be flung into chaos. The slavers I have pushed from their territories will be seeking retribution from those I will no longer be able to protect. That is not a risk I'm willing to take."
"So, I'm to be your hostage, is that it?
Do you intend to ransom me?"
"Don't be a dullard. I just feasted you; if I wanted you as a hostage we wouldn't be having this conversation. I'm making you an offer."
Starlight Glimmer felt cold as she fell back in her seat. "What kind of offer?"
"You showed magnificent prowess in the way you fought me. You were deviously cunning. You improvised well in the face of all the impracticalities I threw your way. You were quick on your hooves, and you displayed exceptional feats of magic. Those chains you summoned. I've never seen an alloy I was unable to break... Did you really pull those up from Tartarus?"
Starlight nodded nervously. "They're unbreakable. Impervious to magic, as well."
"Just as I thought," Sombra thought out loud, looking legitimately impressed. "I've heard of magic like that, but I've never actually witnessed it. How did you manage that spell?"
"Uhm... It would take weeks to explain it... It's a very complicated spell," Starlight fibbed. The Chains of Tartarus was a very rare and forbidden spell. Celestia had ordered any kind of magical knowledge that dealt with Tartarus to be struck from the books over a thousand years ago. And for a good reason: The forces of Tartarus were treacherous and difficult to control. Lesser spell casters have been killed while attempting to harness The Underworld's power. She only managed to learn the spell through Sunburst, who kept a collection of contraband knowledge hidden in his home. Still, she was not about to impart that knowledge to Sombra. It would only make him more dangerous than he already was.
"I see..." The King's voice was saturated with skepticism. He regarded her with a look which conveyed that he knew she was lying. But he didn't press the subject. For that Starlight was relieved.
"Never the less," Sombra continued, "to call your skills impressive would do you a disservice, my dear." He leaned forward in a slow and unsettling sort of way. "I would like you to join me. I wish to take you on as my apprentice."
Starlight's heart threatened to stop beating the moment The King made his intentions clear. Her voice became tenuous. "What? Why... W-why would..."
"For the reasons I have already explained. You are a dangerous enemy. But you'd make a valuable asset."
"And if I refuse?" challenged Starlight.
Sombra regarded her with a stern gaze. "Then, I am afraid I would not be inclined to release your friends."
"You can't do that!" Starlight grasped for anything that would give her some pull for a negotiation. Her next words blundered clumsily out of her mouth. "The diplomatic immunity... Thing...."
The King's eyes glinted with intrigue. "The DIS? I see you are well informed. Unfortunately, there is nothing within that contract that limits how long I may hold you here. I could keep you here for the rest of your lives, if I so please. My Queen is quite a shrewd diplomat, is she not?"
"That's not fair!" insisted Starlight. "That had to have been an oversight on her part!"
"Oversight or not, the DIS says what it says. I've held up my end of the bargain thus far. I've not mistreated you or your friends in any way shape or form. Quite the contrary, in fact: I've spent a vast amount of time and resources keeping you all alive and well."
Starlight Glimmer felt trapped. "There must be some other way I could convince you to let us go. What could you possibly want with an apprentice?"
"It is a crime to waste good talent," Sombra explained. "You'll never fulfill your potential as you are now, squandering your gifts under the tutelage of Princess Celestia's impotent protege, a mare who's skills you've far surpassed. You are a Journeyman wizardress taking lessons from a mere neophyte. Join me, and I will make you a master. What say you?"
Starlight looked down at the table. Was joining him really her only option? To refuse him would be condemning her friends to a lifetime of imprisonment. She needed time to think. Those couldn't have been her only choices. There had to be something else. She just needed to stall for time while she thought.
"Well?" Sombra said impatiently.
Starlight thought back to the reason she had come to Sombra's kingdom in the first place, and an idea for a stall tactic popped up in her head. "I want to see Fluttershy."
"In time," The King promised. "She's busy fulfilling her obligations to her people."
"Please!" Starlight persisted. "I just want to see her. I just need to make sure she's okay."
"And why wouldn't she be?" Sombra said suspiciously, as if he was offended by what Starlight's words may have implied.
"I haven't seen her since you took her from The Crystal Empire. How can I just take your word as gospel that she's fine?"
Sombra glared obstinately at her. "Because you have no other choice. Make no mistake, until you pledge your fealty to me, you will remain as my prisoner. You're in no position to make demands of me."
Starlight bit her lip. Sombra was not a creature that would be reasoned with. It was his way or the highway, it was clear to see. "So," she finally said, "I get to choose between a life of imprisonment, or a life of slavery."
"Your statement offends me greatly," Sombra bristled. "Slavery has been abolished in the territories I've taken. No slave has been awarded the privilege I'm offering you. Chose your words more carefully, or it will be back to sleep you go. And I promise you, you will see wrinkles in the mirror when next you awaken."
The threat tangled Starlight's insides into knots. Would he really be so cruel?
The chair Sombra was seated in groaned in protest to his weight as he rested back. He turned his attention toward the fire and sighed. "I am a slaver no more," he said, under his breath, as if he was talking to himself.
Starlight blinked. What was this sudden shift in tone all about? "Then, what is it you claim to be?"
Sombra's visage hardened as he mulled over the question. "I am a wave of suffering that crashes over the shores of evil. I am a bane to the very existence of every monster that roams these lands. I am the apex: The predator that preys upon the predators."
Starlight Glimmer thought back to when she noticed the sprawling hamlet beyond the windows of Sombra's manse. She had reflected on the words the guard had imparted to her as she was being escorted through the hall. The new kingdom was described as a haven for those who were once the thralls to the tyrants that held domination over the land. She had found difficulty in taking those words to heart. With what she had witnessed at the fortress she and her friends had stumbled upon six months ago, the bodies laying strewn and mangled throughout the pink, blood drenched snow, the terrified, lifeless eyes looking at her from the tips of pikes, she still had a hard time believing it. But there was so much sincerity in Sombra's voice, she couldn't help but be conflicted.
"Why?" Starlight heard herself say. "Why are you doing this?"
"Why does anyone do anything?" Sombra retorted. "Because I can."
"So, is history wrong about you?"
"History is written by the victor. I've no doubt there have been some embellishments in the annals. All that matters is that history has dubbed me a monster. This much is true, for I have committed many atrocities during my first reign."
"And you now seek to make those things right?" Starlight guessed.
"Neigh. Blood does not wash away blood. It only creates a bigger stain."
"Then, why are you doing what you claim to be doing - what with the 'wave of justice washing upon the shore of whatever' speech you just gave me?"
"It is as I told you," Sombra declared, his eyes burning with conviction, "Because, I can. And so, I shall."
Starlight Glimmer balked at the statement. "And what's brought this on?" she inquired, trying not to ler her skepticism come off as sarcasm.
The King Cocked a vexed eyebrow. "Your cynicism has been noted, but I must implore you to elaborate."
"Forgive me for using such subjective terminology, but you claim to be a bad guy. Or, that you were a bad guy. But, now you're not? What is it that caused such a dramatic change in you?" If you really have changed, Starlight thought, ultimately electing to keep that last part of her inquiry in the back of her mind.
Sombra hesitated to answer. The pause further stimulated Starlight's curiosity.
"I have had a thousand years to reflect upon my actions," The King finally said. "When left alone with nothing but your thoughts for such an unprecedented amount of time, one can't help but think of what could have been. 'Hindsight is twenty twenty,' I believe is how the proverb is worded."
Starlight was unsatisfied by the answer, but she didn't dare pry. She had already pissed him off twice.
"I must commend you for your stall tactics," said The King. "Have you thought of an alternate to my ultimatum yet, or would you like more time?"
Starlight attempted to look bemused by the statement. Had she really been so transparent?
"You think me a fool? If you want time to consider my offer, then you may have it. But know this, I am not known for my patience. I expect an answer from you within three days time. Until then, you are to be my ward. I'll agree to house you as if you were my guest, but the slightest act of insolence will result in a rather uncomfortable downgrade to your accommodations."
"Three days," Starlight agreed. She was smart. She should be able to think of some way out of her predicament by then. She refused to be Sombra's lackey. And condemning her friends to a lifetime of imprisonment was out of the question. This was a situation she couldn't just fight or force her way out of. She would be giving Sombra a reason to kill her, as he would then be within his legal rights to do so without fearing backlash from Celestia. Sombra's political pull in the situation gave him the advantage, and that was what made Starlight Glimmer's conundrum all the more tricky.
"Would you like to see that friend you came to 'rescue?'" Sombra offered. He seemed sincere enough, but he inserted as much sarcasm as he could muster when he used the word 'rescue.'
Shocked, Starlight was pulled from her thoughts. "I thought you said she was busy 'fulfilling her obligations to her people.'
Sombra looked to the window. It was starting to get dark outside. "She is, but I've said what needed to be said. She does not yet know that you've awakened. She will be pleased to see you. I see no reason in forestalling your reunion."
He's going to try to win me over, Starlight realized. The King was switching up his tactic. Instead of threatening her, he was giving her what she wanted in order to convince her that he wasn't the twisted piece of shit she knew he was deep down. She would not allow herself to be fooled however, for Sombra was a creature that resonated evil from every pore. But still, she had to admit that she was eager to see Flutershy.
Starlight Glimmer, steeling herself, tipped the rim of her glass against her lips and finished what was left of the wine.