//------------------------------// // The King's Table // Story: Dark Arts and Kind Hearts // by Boomstick Mick //------------------------------// The first thing Starlight Glimmer noticed upon opening her eyes was the indigo canopy looming above her, its mesh veil a pink web curtaining about her bed. She could not recall exactly when she had fallen asleep, but sleep she had. She turned her head to view the window, but she could not see the sky nor the mountains through the shroud of fog that had enveloped the palace over night. It seemed to her that when the frigid quagmire that was the peninsula wasn't playing host to bone-biting blizzards, it was being swallowed by these impenetrable phantom mists. Starlight tried to sit up, but the difficulty in doing so reminded her how enfeebled her body had become over her six months of inactivity. Unwilling to give up, she mustered what meager strength she had to crawl backwards on heels and elbows until she was sitting up against the headboard. It irked her that the act of just sitting up in bed was such a laborious task. Her road to recovery would be long and arduous, of that she had no doubt. Redfaced, she caught her breath as she laid back against the sturdy headboard. Fluttershy said she would send for her when breakfast was ready, which she had taken to mean she was to stay put if she was to awaken before her escort arrived. She looked down at her frail, feeble body and figured she didn't have much of a say in the matter. Her muscles were soft as gelatin, and her joints felt like rusty hinges; she wasn't going anywhere without some kind of assistance. With nothing to be done about her situation, Starlight resigned herself to just resting against her improvised oaken backrest and inspecting whatever caught her fancy. The activity was as profoundly uneventful as it sounded, but what else was she to do? She turned her head to examine her hearth. What was once her fire was now a blackened lump of ash. It had allowed for some of the outside cold to seep back into her room. The air was chilly, but not unbearably so. She wagered that if she were to touch the hearth's sides it would still feel warm. She mooned wistfully at a portrait of a tropical island on her wall, which seemed out of place when considering the other works of art in her room were of structures and landscapes. She had regarded it with nothing more but a passing glance the night before, but she was now finding herself gazing at it longingly, like a prisoner might when viewing a crystal clear sky through a tiny window in their cell. It looked as if the painter had captured the image from the view of a ship. The water was blue and clear as the foamy surf rolled over the shore. The sun was setting behind a cluster of silhouetted palm trees, rippling in warm shades of yellow and orange like molten gold as it sank beneath the skyline. It reminded her of the vacation with Trixie that fate had ultimately denied her. Starlight forced herself to look away before the image could further taunt her. Who hangs a portrait of a tropical island in a place like this, you sick bastards... A sudden click on the other side of her door roused her attention. It creaked open slowly, and then half of Winter Lilac's familiar dead-eyed gaze was peering in at her. "Wakey-wakey~" she sang in an unsettlingly childish voice. "Have you ever heard of knocking?" Starlight protested. "And why are you acting so creepy?" "What's so creepy about little ol' me?" "The way you're looking at me." "Oh?" Winter Lilac, her face half concealed behind the door, grinned widely. Her expressionless eyes made her smile all the more perturbing. It was almost as if somebody had upturned the corners of a corpses' lips and stapled them that way as a grotesque prank. "Is this better?" "It's worse!" Starlight insisted. The apothcary's countenance dropped into its expressionless default setting. "There's just no pleasing you, is there?" She pushed the door open the rest of the way, revealing an old leather medical bag at her side. She scooped it up, clinching the handle firmly between her teeth, and she sauntered into the room. The apothecary dropped her medical bag on the bed, undid the tiny brass latch securing it, and drew a syringe with a plastic stem safely capped over the needle. The fluid in the tube contained a familiar green luminescence. "Is that the same stuff from yesterday?" queried Starlight, who possessed no affinity for needles. Just looking at it made her feel anxious. "Same stuff," confirmed the apothecary. Starlight Glimmer reluctantly surrendered her foreleg when the apothecary indicated it with a held out hoof, and she immediately went to work disinfecting the area where she would be performing the injection. After that, she tied the limb off with a strand of rubber tubing. She looked Starlight in the eye as she uncapped the needle on the syringe and advised her to relax. Starlight Glimmer laid herself back against the headboard, not even realizing that she had been tensing up. "Let's just get it over with," she consented, looking away to the window to distract herself. "Don't feel bad, I encounter aichmophobic patients all the time. Just breathe." Starlight Glimmer chewed her lip in anticipation. There was a slight pinching sensation. She breathed in, then she breathed out, and then it was done. The tubing was pulled away from her arm and her veins once again became a light show of tiny neon-lit channels sprawling out under her translucent skin. "Give it a second to dissolve into your blood stream." "I know the drill." "Good," said Winter Lilac, recapping and depositing the soiled syringe into a medical waste bag. "So, how do you like being an invalid?" The inappropriate question took Starlight aback, but she was able to recover with a dry, "It's not as fun as it looks." Winter Lilac clasped her medical bag shut and said, "When you're able to get up I'm taking you to the feasting hall. The King has invited you to break your fast with him at his high table." "Let me guess," said Starlight with a sardonic smile, "that's supposed to be some great honor?" "Honor?" replied the apothecary, scoffing. "I suppose you could call it that, but, to tell you the truth, I like to sit as far away from The King as possible, preferably with my back turned to him. He attacks his food like a wild beast, and when my gaze unfortunately ventures over to him while he's getting all lovey-dovey with that queen of his... I look down at my food and I just... I push my plate away." Starlight Glimmer cracked an amused smile. She had decided that, despite the apothecary's uncongenial tendencies and her overall dearth of tact, she liked her. "So, when do you think you're going to be ambulatory?" Winter queried impatiently. "It's pancake day in the feasting hall." Starlight Glimmer pursed her lips at the mention of her favorite food. "Pancakes?" "Did I stutter? Yes, pancakes," the testy mare reiterated. "All hot and steaming, covered in blueberry syrup, a layer of melted apple butter drizzling over the sides... That's how I like mine, anyway. If you're one of those ponies who prefer your pancakes dry you can just stop talking to me right now; we're not gonna be friends." Winter's deliciously detailed description was almost enough to put Starlight Glimmer in a state of reverie. ... "Are you gonna get up?" the apothecary snapped, after a short intermission of silence. "You make me late for breakfast on pancake day, ooh girl, there will be Tartarus to pay." "You could be a little more sympathetic for my condition," Starlight complained. "I'm hungry. How about you show some sympathy for mine and get up." Ignoring the apothecary's tart remark, Starlight Glimmer scooted herself to the edge of her bed, threw one leg over the side, then the other, and lowered herself down slowly, to test her weight. Standing was difficult, but the fact that she could stand at all was proof that the stimulant was working. "Can you walk?" Starlight tested her strength and equilibrium with a few experimental steps. She wobbled a little as she shifted her weight from hoof to hoof, but that just may have been because she had just woken up. Those first few steps right after getting out of bed in the morning always felt awkward. "Yeah, I think I'm good." "Great, grand, copacetic! Let's get some food, already. And I don't care how messed up your body is, I'm not letting you lean on me while we're going down that tower staircase. You try to use me as a crutch on those damnable steps, I'll use you as a slinky." The stairs of the East Wing tower were treacherous. It was a five story span of steep, spiraling steps. There were no guard rails, and the lack of windows meant that the area was poorly lit. Climbing all five stories the night before had set Starlight's legs to burning. Fluttershy had handled them deftly enough, despite her pregnancy. Winter Lilac, however, seemed to be having some issues. "Are you okay?" Starlight asked, her voice echoing off the stone walls. The ungainly mare was careful in the way she negotiated each step. She was noticeably taking them on one at a time, and her pace seemed to lack any sort of rhythm. "I'm fine," she insisted. "I haven't been as confident around stairs since the fever took my sight a few years back." Starlight looked at her as if she was seeing her for the first time. Her eyes! She realized, suddenly feeling stupid for not coming to the conclusion earlier. "I didn't know you were... You get around so well, I didn't know... Wait, weren't you reading from a clipboard when I woke up in your lab?" "Celestia be good!" Winter Lilac sighed. "Pack that pity crap in. I'm not completely blind, okay? I just have some issues with depth perception. My motor skills are nothing too hot, either." "If that's the case, why would Fluttershy send you up a five story flight of steps to retrieve me?" "She was going to send the doctor, but Patches can't find a vein as well as I can. He can set your bones and sew you up, but mixing and administering medicine is my specialty, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let anyone do my job for me." "Doctor Patches," Starlight shuddered. The mask-wearing mute of an enigma all clad in his coat of leathery black shrouds would have been even less of a pleasant scene to wake up to than the corpse-eyed apothecary. Conjuring up that mask of his in her mind was enough to make her blood run cold. "S-so," she stammered, deciding to change the subject, "that must have been a pretty nasty fever for it to have effected your motor functions." Winter's eye twitched. "No shit, Sherclop." "You don't have to be nasty," Starlight said defensively. "I was just saying..." "I hate redundant statements like that. It's like walking up to somebody in a body cast and prodding them with a stick while saying, 'Oh, golly-gee-gawrsh, you must have been in a pretty nasty accident to be encased in all that plaster!" "I think I would have more sense than to do that." "Somehow I doubt it." Like a crossbow bolt Starlight Glimmer had a quip nocked and levered back in preparation to be loosed, but she ultimately decided not to pull the trigger, electing that the one who tended to her medicinal needs might not be the best pony to make enemies with. She instead decided to remain silent for the duration of their walk. It was a simple arrangement, considering the mare was untalkative by nature. So long as Starlight didn't say anything, Winter Lilac wouldn't have to respond, and that seemed to be their unspoken agreement. Starlight continued to follow the apothecary down the stairs of the Eastern Tower and entered the foyer via a door located on the second floor. They strode alongside the railing of the balustrade to the wide staircase opposite from the palace's main entrance, descended to the first floor, and the feasting hall was located just through the double doors on the west side of the vestibule. She immediately noticed Sombra and Fluttershy at the far end of the hall when Winter Lilac pushed the massive doors open. A soft, royal blue carpet extending from the entrance reached the foot of a high marble dais, and The King and Queen were perched in what looked like thrones at the top of the steps. They had a table set up in front of them, and there were others eating with them, one of them being the child that Starlight Glimmer had encountered the day before. The other, sitting at the opposite end of the table from her, was none other than Prince Blue Blood. There was an empty seat among them. Starlight Glimmer didn't have to wonder who it was meant for. She began the long, slow walk toward the dais after she had realized Winter Lilac had already abandoned her in pursuit of breakfast, the palace staff filling the rows of tables and benches on either side of her as she passed them by. She kept her head down and her eyes forward to avoid eye contact with anyone who may have been giving her queer looks. She didn't see them, but she swore she could feel them. The main source of her anxiety stemmed from how she may be received by Fluttershy. She felt remorseful for what she had said to her. She would continue to hold true to her moral principals, but she had allowed herself to let fly with some utterances that would have been better left unsaid. Instead of stopping a monster you'd rather squeeze out another one. With Sombra as the father I'm sure the little bastard will turn out to be even more of a beast than he is. Starlight Glimmer cringed. Those words, now that she thought back on them, tasted like venom in her mouth.The mounting tension knotted her insides as she forced herself to keep moving. Two guards were posted at the steps, but they did nothing to hinder her progress. One of them even gestured toward the high table with a hoof to bid her passage, and so Starlight ascended. "You would have me dress like a mare?" Sombra was saying as Starlight was coming within earshot of their conversation. "I'm just saying, a silken doublet and perhaps some fine jewelry would do more to bring out your regality," Blue Blood explained. "What's wrong, too masculine to enjoy the finer things? You can't be comfortable wearing that armor all the time." The stallion seemed to be in possession of an idiolect that came off as rather foppish, Starlight Glimmer noted. The Prince was broad of chest and shoulder, and he was slender in the flanks. He had full, pouty lips, which might have been a feature that other mares would have found attractive, but to Starlight, they just made him look petulant. "To the contrary," Sombra replied, "I would not be comfortable wearing anything else. I would go naked before I'd frolic about bedecked like some decadent dandy." The child named Ethereal Moon was the first to greet Starlight Glimmer as she arrived at the crest of the dais. "Oh, there she is. Starlight Glimmer, was it?" Starlight anxiously placed her hoof upon the headrest of the unoccupied seat. "Uh... yeah." She shot Fluttershy a trepidatious glance. She didn't seem to be angry. At least that was something. "Have a seat," the filly offered, and with a roll of her eyes she added, "Prince Blue Blood was just giving us all some fashion advice." "Love," Blue Blood said, a wry smile on his petulantly pretty face, "the only garb I could recommend for you would be swaddling clothes." Ethereal Moon forked a piece of pancake into her mouth and mumbled, "Good idea. I'll pick some up from the girl's department. You know, the same place where you get your crap." Starlight Glimmer was quickly growing fond of this Ethereal Moon. The sassy filly reminded her a bit of herself when she was younger, and the cute little skull ribbon in her hair was something she herself might have worn during her edgelord preteen years. "You two," Fluttershy broke in, massaging her temples, "it's too early for this. Can we all just have one pleasant meal together?" Her voice was as soft as a whisper, but when she spoke, the others listened. "Yes, my queen," Blue Blood muttered. "Yes, my queen," Ethereal Moon said with a smirk, satisfied that she had had the last word. Fluttershy looked at starlight and indicated the empty chair in front of her. It was cushioned, and the wood was finely lacquered, but it was nowhere near as ostentatious as the giant thrones The King and Queen sat upon. "You can go ahead and take a seat. Joji, that's our server, he'll be back any second with more food." Starlight warily did as she was bid. "So..." she said, articulating herself as vaguely as she could, uncomfortably aware of Sombra's presence. "Are we still... You're not mad, are you?" Sombra wiped his mouth after setting a massive mug down on the table. "Why should my queen be angry with you?" he said suspiciously. Acting before Starlight could utter a reply, Fluttershy gently commandeered her king's hoof and said, "We had a minor disagreement last night." She then turned to Starlight Glimmer with a forgiving smile and said, "But, that's all behind us, isn't it?" "A disagreement over what?" Sombra wanted to know. The Queen stroked his hoof. "Oh, it was just a silly political debate that got a little heated, is all. No need to worry, my king." Starlight could cry, she was so relieved. It had seemed that she had been dreading her encounter with Fluttershy for nothing. And what was more, her invective had not reached The King's ears. "Politics, bah," The King scoffed before he lifted his mug and took another deep swallow of its contents. Starlight Glimmer eyed an unused plate on the table and pulled it closer. "Aren't you a politician?" Sombra selected a blood orange from a silver fruit bowl at the center of the table. "No, I am a king." "Aren't those kinda synonymous with each other?" "No." Then Sombra devoured the orange in one bite... He didn't even bother to peel it. Starlight waited patiently for him to elaborate. The King quaffed down the remnants of the liquid in his mug. Whatever it was, it was darker and thicker than swamp water and it reeked so strongly of alcohol, she could smell it from across the table. "If you truly wish to know the difference," he said, "I would invite you to join us at court today." "Court?" Starlight said, before being promptly distracted by a red haired pegasus who arrived bearing a pewter serving dish. "Hubby and I hold court every other day," chimed in Fluttershy. "We conduct the proceedings in the throne room from mid-morn to afternoon." "Sounds.... Fun?" said Starlight, not wanting to be rude. She was more interested in the pancakes now that they were in front of her. She was piling a modest stack onto her plate with a spatula when Ethereal Moon decided to elaborate. "I don't want to sound rude, but it's not about fun, it's about duty. The King's court gives the royal family an opportunity to connect and reach out to their subjects, to dispense their justice, their mercy, and their generosity. It's not some motley-clad mummer's farce where everyone shows up to have a good time; It's seriously serious business." Starlight Glimmer smiled at her cloyingly. There was something about the way the filly said 'seriously serious business' that was just so adorable. Ethey took a cute, ladylike bite from her pancake, chewed, swallowed, then took a sip from her cup. She looked up after that, and when she noticed how she was being stared at, she adjusted her glasses uneasily and said, "Why are you looking at me like that?" "I'm sorry sweetie, I'm not trying to make you feel uneasy," Starlight replied. "You know, you're quite eloquent for your age. I'll bet you get really good grades." Blue Blood, for some strange reason, started to snigger into his napkin. "Oh yes," was Ethereal Moon's response, "I'm quite the prodigy." Starlight couldn't help but detect a subtle hint of sarcasm in the girl's voice. "Allow me to illuminate you," came Sombra. Starlight blinked. "Illuminate me on what?" The King gestured toward the filly with his massive hoof, as if he was introducing her. "Lady Ethereal Moon is four-and-twenty; she is a mare grown." Blue Blood tittered at that. "I believe that the use of the word 'grown' could be contended with, your majesty." "My king," Ethey complained, "why did you have to tell her that? She's gonna start staring at me now." Suddenly aware of herself, Starlight Glimmer tore her goggled gaze from the young-looking mare. Now she felt like a fool. She had heard of medical conditions that could stunt one's physical age progression, but she had never actually met anybody with such an affliction. Sombra pushed the food around on his plate and said, "Would you have preferred for her to have continued belittling you?" "To be honest, I'm used to it; I really don't care. I don't live at the Chrystal Empire anymore, so I've left the worst of all that behind me." "Regardless, I will not have my adviser mocked in my presence." "I didn't mock her!" Starlight Glimmer insisted, but her objection went unheard. Ethereal Moon blushed appreciatively. "I'm flattered that you would defend me so, your grace." "You've served me well, Madam Adviser. It is only right I do you the same courtesy." Lowering her gaze, Ethey started fidgeting with her hooves under the table, her immaculate white coat doing poorly to conceal how incandescently red her face was becoming. "I only wish you could grant me the same dignity," complained Blue Blood. "What are you on about?" Said The King, affronted. "I've treated you with every respect a highborn of your station commands. Need I remind you that you are currently feasting at my high table?" "Respect?" Blue Blood said peevishly. "You won't even let me use the spa. I'm forced to bathe at the public bathhouse with all the other lowborn stallions. I've never heard of a noble being treated in such a way by a fellow aristocrat. A proper king should know better." "The spa is reserved for palace staff. And don't call me an aristocrat," Sombra admonished. "And if you presume to councel me again on what a proper king should or shouldn't do, you'll soon hear of the noble who was publicly humbled at the pillory." That was when Fluttershy finally decided to intervene. She took her husband tenderly by the hoof and said, "Now, now, we must remember our courtesies, my king. Remember the promises you've made to Princess Celestia." "As you wish, my lady," Sombra said, subduing his ire. Fluttershy then smiled and rose from her seat to kiss him, as if to reward him for his restraint. The Prince smirked. "Your wife gives you good councel, sire. Perhaps she should be the one wearing the king's crown." He then snortled, absurdly pleased with himself. Sombra ignored the sally, but Ethereal Moon didn't. "Say... Have you heard the story of the impertinent prince who crossed one too many lines and managed to return home without any 'unforseen' incidences befalling him?" Blue Blood regarded the adviser quizzically. "No." "Neither have I." Fluttershy had finally reached the end of her patience. "Enough, the both of you! Ethey, you know better than to be rude to a guest - especially one who happens to be Celestia's own flesh and blood. You're older than I am, I shouldn't have to remind you of your manners." The adviser averted her gaze with a frown. "Yes, my queen." The Queen turned on Blue Blood, who was laughing until their eyes met. "My lord, I will remind you that you are a dignitary of her Royal Highness Princess Celestia. Show some class and show some respect, or she will be receiving a direct report from me on the poor way you've been representing her." The Prince looked indignant but he at least had the decency to blush. "Yes, my queen." There was a hint of pride in The King's smile as he held his mug out for a refill. The young steward was at his side in an instant, flagon in hoof. "My lady love is a lioness this morn, wouldn't you agree, lad?" "She's as beautiful as she is fearsome, your grace," Joji eagerly agreed. Fluttershy liked that. She placed her hooves over her belly as she rested herself back against her seat, smiling appreciatively for her husband's words. "Aren't you going to lecture him, too?" Said Blue Blood, indicating Sombra with a frustrated wave of his hoof. "He implied that I dress like a mare, and he actually had the temerity to threaten me with the pillory!" Sombra then unexpectedly lowered his head and humbled himself. "I forgot my kingly courtesies, my prince - but my beloved queen reminded me of them. I regret and withdraw my remarks." The Prince of Equestria was suddenly nonplussed. "All is... Forgiven?" Fluttershy leaned in her throne and embraced her husband by the arm. "My king, that was so elegant of you." "Yes," Sombra said lazily, "It is important to note that one must conduct himself in a mature fashion, even when confronted by another who is incapable of doing the same." Blue Blood looked as if he was laboring under the notion that he had just been covertly mocked. Much later, after everyone had eaten their fill, and the flagons had been drained, and the soiled plates and cutlery were being collected to be scoured and cleansed, Sombra looked to his adviser and said, "Ethey, what is the hour?" "We still have plenty of time before you must hold court, if that's what you're asking, your grace." "About an hour and a half, I'd say," Blue Blood announced, looking into the face of a gold and platinum pocket watch he had drawn from his cornflower blue tunic. "You attend the court, too?" Starlight asked him. "Yes, but I only stand in as a witness to The King's justice." "'Witness to The King's justice.' Isn't that a little archaic?" The prince shrugged. "Not in King Sombra's court, it's not." "For the sake of transparency," Sombra explained. "My court is open to the public, so that all may see that my rulings are just and fair." Starlight Glimmer scratched her chin pensively. It was surprisingly noble of The King to allow the public to witness whatever his notion of justice was. "Which reminds me," Sombra said curiously, "Ethey, what is it that you intend to do until it is time to assemble in the throne room?" "I was going to head to the library. That is, if you've nothing else for me to do." "I thought that's where you'd be going. When you get there, can you please confirm that the librarian has a copy of the latest shipping manifest? And if he does, bring it to me. We just received that new shipment of books last week, and I'd like to know if everything that was ordered has been accounted for. I refuse to pay for cargo I have not received." "I can do that," Ethey said. Blue Blood rolled his eyes. "When you say you're going to the library, I'm assuming that means you'll be spending the rest of your morning leisure fawning over those rediculous vampire comics?" "It's not 'fawning,' It's fangirling," Ethey pointed out haughtily." And the protagonist in Vampire Hunter P is not a vampire. He's a halfling." "Riveting," The Prince replied in a halfhearted show of mock interest. "My King, I think I'll just return to my quarters for now. I still have a report I must conclude for Princess Celestia." Sombra waved him away with a hoof. "Don't let me keep you from fulfilling your duties to your precious Auntie Celestia. Oh, and, do be a good little princeling and send her and that comely sister of hers my undying love, won't you?" The Prince chuckled. "I shall, and I'm sure they will send you theirs." He then excused himself with a princely smile and a graceful bow. Ethereal Moon was short to leave soon after. Fluttershy dabbed at the syrup on her lips with a napkin. "I think I'll go feed the owls. They're probably starting to wonder where I am." "Owls?" Starlight Glimmer echoed. "Aren't owls nocturnal?" "For the most part, but it's not unheard of for them to be out and about during the day. There's a whole family of them nesting out in the garden." Fluttershy smiled adoringly. "They're so adorable with their little beaks and big eyes. And the way they rub their little faces against you when they want your attention - they're like kitties with feathers." "My love is quite fond of her owls," Sombra needlessly pointed out. "Didn't realize," Starlight replied dryly. The King folded his hooves over the table after his serving boy had taken away the last plate. "And you, miss Starlight, what is it that you intend to do?" "You're actually giving me a choice?" Starlight asked, not expecting the question. "If I wasn't giving you a choice I wouldn't have asked you. Be mindful that you are still a prisoner, and as such, your choices will be limited. You're not to leave the palace, but the library and the spa are open to you, so long as you submit to being supervised by an escort of my choosing." "But don't tell Blue Blood we're allowing you access to the spa," Fluttershy added. "Yes," Sombra agreed, almost pleadingly, "refrain from boasting to The Prince. He will whinge like an infant being denied the tit should he find out. The question had put Starlight Glimmer off. She wasn't expecting to be granted any freedoms at all. "I'm not sure what I want to do... What else is there besides the spa and library?" "We also have a sizable recreational room for the staff. It has..." Sombra looked at his serving boy, who was loading up the dishes in a tub in preparation for transport. "Joji, help your poor king out. What do you call that game you yammer on about with the advisor?" The boy perked up enthusiastically like a daisy in spring. "Ogres and Obliettes?" "No, no, no, the one with the flat bludgeoning devices." The boy scratched his head. "Uh... Whack-A-Mole?" he said, unsure. "Whackamole... What is that?" The King turned to his bride and repeated the question. Fluttershy crossed her arms over her chest with a scathing look of disapproval. "It's a game that promotes animal violence, and I will not have it in my palace." The serving boy stroked the back of his head in deep thought. "Uhm... Table Tennis, perhaps?" The King's eyes glinted. "Table Tennis... Yes, I believe that's it. Good lad." He returned his attention to Starlight Glimmer. "We have Table Tennis." It took only a moment for Starlight Glimmer to realize what it was she wanted to do, and it was none of the things that had been offered to her. "Can I go down and visit the girls?" "Your friends? They're fine. You saw them yesterday." Sombra's response came in a ponderous tone, as if he was imagining that there was some kind of nefarious motive behind the request. Let it never be said that The King didn't guard his bargaining chips with a jealous fervor. Fluttershy gave Starlight an understanding smile. "She just wants to visit them, my king. I myself visit them consistently enough and you never seem to have a problem with it." "Yes, but she's not you, and you're not her." "Oh, come on. It's not like I'm gonna somehow spirit them away, or something," Starlight Glimmer broke in before The King could outright deny her request. "I know they're safe in your care, but, I just want to see them. They're... They're my friends." Fluttershy nudged her husband. When he looked down at her she said, "I would beseech you to trust her as you trust me, my king." "Trust her as I would you?" The King balked. "I would be a fool to do that. You've never made an attempt on my life." Starlight gloomed down at the table with a dejected sigh. "However," Sombra conceded, "I shall grant your request. But I will escort you." That caught Starlight off guard. She looked up at Sombra and couldn't be sure if he was truly granting her request, or if he was just appealing to his wife's bidding. Either way, It didn't matter to her. Not knowing what else to do, she lowered her head and thanked him. And for the first time ever she addressed him as, "King Sombra." And that would have to do as far as honors go, because she still held it in her heart that she would never refer to him as her king.