//------------------------------// // Chapter 6. Please… don’t harm them… // Story: The Last of the Dark Ponies // by Askre //------------------------------// Chapter 6 The ponies were tossed inside a small hollow. Out of the ground rose black crystals that formed bars in front of the entrance, locking them all in. Barricade was the first to rise with a growl and immediately reared in a kick, but the crystals turned out to be unnaturally hard. The stallion cried out in pain as his hooves struck them. “Barricade!” Mirage was quickly by her son’s side. Barricade was groaning over his now sore hind hooves. The black crystals showed no sign of having been struck at all. Everyone looked up at the dark chuckle coming from the outside. “Careful Barricade, wouldn’t want you to break your legs,” King Sombra said mockingly as he regarded his prisoners. Two of the fillies were cowering near their grandfather, Hard Shovel was staring at the king nervously, Cara had rushed over to Barricade along with her grandmother, but the teen did give the dark unicorn a stinging glare. Sombra merely chuckled at it, then his attention was brought to the muffled sound next to him. He glanced down to the rocky floor where Rainbow Dash was still struggling fiercely against her shadowy bonds. “I would dispose of you, but you alone without your other five friends are not much of a threat to me,” King Sombra said as he levitated her up using his normal magic. The rainbow pegasus just glared in response. The king smirked. “And this is a wonderful opportunity to study one of the elements of harmony. I heard how you disposed of Tirek without even carrying the gems, but since then you have never used that power again. I do wonder why.” Then a whimper interrupted him. Sombra looked to his other side where Private stood, shivering, eyes staring at the ground and desperately trying to hold down his frightened whimpers. “Wait, Private is still outside?” Barricade looked up and only now did the prisoners notice that the usually silent twin was not in the cell with them. “Privy!” Mirage gasped, scrambled to her legs and rushed to the bars. “Privy? She calls you Privy?” King Sombra couldn’t hold back the chortles when hearing Mirage’s nickname for her son. In the process, Rainbow was dropped back unceremoniously to the ground. “Why. Are. They. Here!?” Private finally looked up as he spoke through his clenched teeth. “Well, I do wish to further study your bloodline’s connection to my race,” Sombra explained as he gestured to the cell. “So it will useful to have several ponies that can trace their ancestry to dark ponies.” Sombra then leaned in a little closer until his muzzle was right next to Private’s ear. “Plus I believe you would be more compliant if your family is near,” he whispered, grinning when seeing the pony freeze. Private found it difficult to breathe. It hadn’t even occurred to him that his family was here to keep him in line. He shivered when feeling Sombra’s tail stroke up against him from the other side, like a slithering, shadowy tendril. The king still had his muzzle right next to his ear. “You do want your family to be safe, right?” the dark voice murmured. The unicorn looked away, towards the cell. He stared at the ponies in there with a frightened expression. His mother stared worriedly back, his father looked no better, Barricade was sneering at Sombra and the fillies looked a bit confused. “Please… don’t harm them…” Private whispered, flinching when a steel-clad hoof touched his cheek and began caressing it. “That, my little comfort colt, will depend on you,” King Sombra murmured softly and grinned when Private flattened his ears. There came a loud indignant snort from the cell. “My son is nopony’s comfort colt! You leave him alone, you monster!” Mirage Rock shouted and was just about to strike the bars herself. Fortunately, Barricade jumped up and dragged his mother away, remembering too well how much striking the black crystals would hurt. “Your Majesty!” Hard Shovel suddenly rose up. He got strange looks from just about everyone except King Sombra, probably for addressing the dark king like that. But the old stallion ignored the looks and walked closer to the bars. “A comforter’s service is attained voluntarily and without threat! Even you can’t ignore the laws set by the first queen and by her decree all dark ponies must follow even after her days,” he said with determination in his voice and face, challenging Sombra with his expression to dispute it. King Sombra tilted his head and dropped his hoof back to the ground. He regarded the old stallion in the cell with a curious expression, before walking closer, never taking his eyes of Hard Shovel, who somehow managed to muster up just enough courage to stare right back. “Private said you and your wife were experts in dark ponies, but he failed to mention that your knowledge even reached to Queen Odio, the first queen of the Dark Pony Empire and the laws of conduct,” the dark king remarked, now with a mild hint of interest in his eyes. “My wife and I have studied our distant ancestors almost all our lives. We even first met in an official gathering of the descendants of the refugees who came to Equestria so long ago,” Shovel responded. “And we’ve even studied you.” “Oh really now,” Sombra chuckled and sat down. “And what can you tell me that everypony else hasn’t already told me about myself?” “There is very little that you respect, but there is one thing you do respect and care deeply about,” Hard Shovel said. “Your people.” The old stallion had everybody’s attention now, even Rainbow Dash who looked utterly confused about what the archeologist was on about. King Sombra arched his brow at this statement but remained silent, clearly wanting Hard to elaborate. “You detest the crystal ponies, considering them inferior weaklings. You have a grudging respect for Equestrians. You couldn’t care less about other races in Equestria, except one. Dark ponies, their customs and their laws. You are even right now wearing a male version of the royal attire of the rightful ruler of the Dark Pony Empire. This gear or versions of it was worn by your sister the last queen, your mother and all previous rulers right down to Queen Odio,” Hard Shovel continued, then he glanced towards Private. “And I’m positive that even you will not break their customs. If you want my son to serve you personally using dark pony customs, his service must be voluntary.” “You’re forgetting something, Mr. Hard Shovel,” King Sombra chuckled and a grin started to form on his muzzle. His horn lit up and his magic aura enveloped Private who was dragged whimpering over to him. The dark king then proceeded to poke the unicorn on the temple. “I’ve been inside here. I know all about your son, his fears, his hates, his desires, his fantasies.” Hard Shovel frowned slightly in confusion, then he noticed that Private hadn’t just frozen, he was practically petrified when hearing Sombra say that last bit. Mirage looked at her son in concern. She really wanted to be holding him in her arms and comforting him. “Tell me, Hard Shovel, would you defend your son so well if, you knew his deepest and most carefully hidden secret?” Sombra said in a soft voice, grinning ear to ear as he detected the panic rising in Private. “Why wouldn’t I defend him even if I knew his secrets?” Hard Shovel snorted, clearly insulted by the very notion that he wouldn’t defend his own child. “Oh really now, are you sure, so absolutely sure? I know things he is so desperate to keep you from knowing,” the king continued. Private struggled against the magic field he was in but a spell of silence was on it so all others could see was that the unicorn was really panicking and nothing but fear shone in his eyes. “It is in fact one of his deepest, darkest fears, you know.” “Oh no, don’t you dare!” Barricade stood up. He had clearly realized what the dark pony was up to. “This is something Private should be telling them when he’s READY!” “Ready for what?” Mirage looked at Barricade confused, her more brazen son cringing as he realized his gaffe. This would mean his parents would want to know now. “I would defend my son, no matter what!” Hard Shovel declared, once again mustering courage to stare Sombra right in the face. “Even if your son is what you hate?” King Sombra asked and had to restrain himself from cackling when feeling the intense fear coming from Private and seeing the utter confusion come over the old stallion. “Sombra! I’m warning you!” Barricade growled and was tempted to hammer his hoof on the bars, but the painful lesson about that earlier was still high enough in his mind to halt him. “What are you talking about?” Mirage snorted. “We love our sons.” “Even if, what was the modern term again, Barricade? Even if he is bisexual?” The dark king was now grinning maliciously, reveling in the hatred coming from Barricade and the fear coming from Private, who was now curled up in a ball and refusing to look at anything. “What?” Hard Shovel blinked and looked at Mirage Rock, who was just as baffled by this claim. “What was it that you said once, ‘It just bothers me to see all those colt cuddlers and filly foolers snuggling each other all over town. We don’t need the boys exposed to this!’ Wasn’t that how you put it once?” King Sombra’s grin turned wider when seeing the old stallion flinch. He clearly recognized those words. His wife cringed. The magic field surrounding Private disappeared, with sound now escaping from the unicorn. Others could hear his frightened sobs. Feeling that he was free to move, Private jumped up and rushed further into the caverns in a panicked gallop. “How did you know… what I said?” Hard Shovel whispered. “Like I told you, I’ve been insider your son’s head. When he was very young, he overheard you, it stuck in his memory, festering there and as he became more aware of his dual nature, it began to turn into a fear. A very deep fear of you and how you would react if you ever knew that he fancies stallions just as much as he fancies mares,” King Sombra explained, resuming the soft voice, his grin changed into a smirk. “Then you conveniently left out that Mirage slapped me for saying that.” The old stallion’s eyes narrowed. “And told me I had damn better never talk like that again near our sons.” “Ah intriguing. Too bad Private isn’t here to hear it,” Sombra glanced at the spot where Private had previously been. Then he sighed slightly. “I suppose I better go look for him. These caverns are deep.” With that, portion of the bars reopened, Rainbow Dash was tossed into the already cramped cell. The crystals rematerialized and the tendrils binding the rainbow pegasus disappeared. “Why you good for nothing…” Rainbow would probably have tried to ram herself into the bars if Barricade hadn’t lived up to his name and blocked her. “Hurts, very much. Trust me!” the stallion warned and shook one of his still slightly stinging back hooves. The pegasus took a deep breath to calm down and nodded, realizing he was right. The mare and Barricade then looked at the old couple. Hard Shovel looked ashamed now and Mirage was hugging the youngest fillies and comforting them. Dinky and Coal were utterly confused, having no clue what was going on. “Barricade,” Hard Shovel whispered, slowly the old stallion looked over to his son. “Is it true?” “What, that Private is bi? Well I suppose,” Barricade responded, arching his brow when his father shook his head. “No I mean… is it true that Private is afraid of me? Because of… that?” the archeologist asked. “Afraid of you both actually,” Barricade grunted and cringed when realizing he had said that out loud. His parents looked at him with a horrified expression. “Why is Uncle Private afraid of grandma and grandpa?” Coal asked confused. “Hey Cara, how about we take the fillies here to one corner and entertain them there,” Rainbow suddenly said. In a blur she had already grabbed Dinky and Coal and pushed them and Cara as far away from Barricade and his parents as possible. The pegasus realized that the unicorn stallion had some explaining to do and the fillies needed to be distracted. “He’s afraid of us both?” Mirage whispered, still in shock, as Barricade led her and Hard Shovel to the other end of the little cell. “Look, mom, I don’t know all the details here, but when that bastard possessed Private, he told me that Private’s deepest fear was your possible reaction to hearing that he swings both ways,” Barricade said and sighed. “Seriously, it left him catatonic in the hospital. He seems to fear how you would react to this.” “Why would he be afraid? We love him, we love you both, despite some of your less-than-stellar behaviors,” Mirage protested and was on verge of tears now. Hard Shovel put a leg around her for comfort. “It’s my fault. Private overheard me saying those stupid words,” the old stallion muttered. Sombra found Private Iceland in a cave the dark king used for storage. It was full of crates and boxes he had accumulated during the period he had been laying low keeping a subtle watch on things. The unicorn was trying his best to cover behind the biggest one, but his muffled sobs betrayed his location. The king didn’t say a word, just walked closer and looked behind it and watched the crying pony with a critical expression. It didn’t take Private long to realize that he wasn’t alone and he glanced back. Sombra was mildly impressed that the unicorn sneered. “Your bastard!” Private screamed and shuffled away the best he could and then turned so he was facing his captor. “Why did you tell them!?” The unicorn dropped back down and started sobbing again, covering his face with his front legs. King Sombra rolled his eyes and shook his head at the question. “You would almost think my powers were fueled with fear and hate, oh wait,” King Sombra started in a mock casual tone before it changed to dry and the dark king gave the sobbing unicorn a very unimpressed glare. “They are.” “I hate you!” Private whimpered and curled up, trying his best to ignore him, flinching when hearing the metal hoof steps come closer. “Fine by me, just keep in mind, you family stays safe depending on how you behave,” Sombra reminded him. His prisoner trembled and looked up. Finally Private rose to his feet. “Why me?” the unicorn whispered and dared himself to look up at the king. Ugh, not this again, the king thought. Then decided to play along for now. “What exactly do you mean, Private?” “You said it yourself. I’m a nopony. I’m nothing, I’m worthless. The most exciting times in my life are when my nieces have birthdays. I can barely cast proper magic with that sorry excuse of a horn, the only advanced spell I know is an archeological spell that dad taught me and I can barely do it. Yes, one of my ancestors was a dark pony who married a long time ago to an equestrian. That’s about it. Surely you could select someone far better to torment like this!” Private rambled, his gaze shifting downwards again. “Surely you would have more entertainment focusing on your enemies, one of the representatives of the elements, the princesses. They are the ones that are important, they have all the magic power!” “And they were all about to lose,” King Sombra said with a snort, causing Private to look up with a frown. “Cadance’s shield was failing, the Crystal Heart was secured in a trap that even prevented teleportation. At best all the Elements of Harmony could do was banish me. Celestia didn’t even bother having them sent with the bearers. Celestia and Luna didn’t even come to prevent my return. I was winning just by sitting outside and waiting for some of the most powerful and important ponies to utterly fail in their task,” the dark unicorn snarled, his eyes twitching a little. “The most insignificant member of their company, the one most often overlooked, the one most would just ignore, laugh and mock, he took the crystal heart and brought it out so that Cadance could be flung at it and catch it.” “My victory was thwarted by the most insignificant little speck of that group, the one most vulnerable to danger - a mere child! Here is the thing, Private, you pay attention to the powerful ones, you watch those who are important, you make plans for those who are worth something and they have it all in common that they will do everything in their power to stop you. They are very predictable,” King Sombra walked closer and loomed now over Private, his intent red eyes peering at the smaller unicorn. “But the insignificant ones, the worthless ones, you can never tell what they will do. Some will run like the cowards that they are, but some will actually muster up enough courage to make some sort of a difference. They are unpredictable and I can tell you Private, that I am not going to make that mistake again, to ignore those who might on the surface be nothing.” “That still hasn’t really answered my question,” Private snorted, having calmed down a little while listening to the king rant. “Why me?” “Because you belong to me!” King Sombra snapped, causing Private to shrink back a little. “Try it, try saying I’m not your king!” “What?” the unicorn blinked in confusion. “You’re no…” Private’s mouth clamped shut. The unicorn blinked, even the thought of saying Sombra was not his king quickly vanished. Again and again he tried but nothing came out. The dark stallion began laughing mockingly. “Tell me, are your parent’s familiar with the dark ponies’ oath to Queen Odio?” Sombra asked and stepped even closer. “Oath?” Private blinked confused. “Their oath to dutifully serve the queen and her line unquestionably, through life and death? The first dark ponies who formed the old empire made this oath and even bound it to their descendants. Even thousands of years later no dark pony could consciously or subconsciously refute the royal line,” the king continued to explain. “It’s quite diluted by now since you are not a full-blooded dark pony - the most you can do is simply be unable to refute my kingship over you. Back in the day, a dark pony would simply be unable to disobey a direct order from a member of the royal line.” Sombra sighed and shook his head in dismay. Private could barely believe it. He tried a few more times, but was just as unable to. He cringed when an iron clad hoof touched his muzzle. “But that aside, we have been through this, Private. I laid my claim on you way back when you were a colt and prepared you to be the vessel for my spirit. There are no deeper reasons behind it. I own you and I either punish you or reward you depending on your behavior,” Sombra snorted, moving the hoof to be under the unicorn’s muzzle and lifted his head so he was forced to look at him. “However, I recognize the need to ‘train’ you so to speak. You are still resistant and still hold onto that delusional belief that you might be free of me, you still believe in your heroes and that they will come to save you.” Sombra snorted and dropped the hoof down to the floor. The king turned and started to walk away, leaving Private who hung his head and sighed. As Sombra was walking towards the entrance, he glanced around at all the boxes and crates. The dark pony stopped and glanced back at where his prisoner still stood. “Since you are here, you can start taking inventory of everything. I have to admit I haven’t bothered too much sorting things in here,” he ordered. “Excuse me?” Private peeked from behind the crate he was standing by, looking at the king now utterly confused. “You are my servant. Now get to work!” Sombra snarled before stomping out of the cave muttering something about slow witted idiots. End chapter 6