//------------------------------//
// Chapter 11. Hello again, Sombra. 
// Story: Rage of a Queen, wrath of a Mother 
// by Askre 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 11
 
With soft thuds, Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance landed in front of the house of Private Iceland and his friends. Heavier clangs behind the alicorns indicated that their guard escort were also fully descending to the ground. There weren’t many pegasi guards, more to ensure curious civilians didn’t get too close, aside from other security reasons. Cadance had brought her own escort, among them was Flash Sentry and the one other pegasi member of his squad, Blackberry.
 
“Now you just attend to your friends, let me talk with King Sombra,” Celestia told her niece who nodded.
 
“I think I can handle that,” Cadance nodded, she hadn’t minded Celestia coming along at all for this first checkup on King Sombra. She was a little worried how the situation was right now inside the house, though everything looked quiet and calm right now.
 
Celestia approached the door and was about to knock when it swung open and they stood face to face with Barricade. The unicorn looked somewhat annoyed but it washed away when seeing the two royals.
 
“Please tell me you are here to throw him out and back to Tartarus,” he said almost sounding hopeful.
 
“Has Private made that request?” Celestia asked concerned, worried that something might have happened.
 
“No, he hasn’t, that’s my problem right now,” Barricade growled and made a point of turning his head to look into the house as he did, to make sure he was heard from the inside.
 
“Will you relax, we agreed you would take Coal to stay with you since she’s on summer vacation, she’s finishing packing up,” Dew Doe came flying down the stairs and landed in the front hall, sounding only mildly annoyed. Then she smiled at the two princesses.
 
The pegasus did get to bow for Celestia, but Cadance would have none of that. After passing Barricade, taking a moment to pat the stallion reassuringly as she did, the Love Princess went to hug her.
 
“Hello, Dew Doe, is everything all right?” she asked, Dew Doe didn’t get a chance to respond.
 
“No, everything is not all right. That shit who possessed my brother and tortured the both of us is currently relaxing on their couch instead of rotting in Tartarus!” Barricade snapped and stepped aside to make room for Celesta to pass.
 
“Aside from Barricade coming here this morning to make his feelings clear about the current situation, it’s been manageable,” Dew Doe said and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She understood how Barricade felt, and frankly wouldn’t mind seeing the king gone.
 
“Hopefully, Barricade, this arrangement won’t last for long,” Princess Celestia addressed the stallion who glanced at her and slowly nodded.
 
“Barricade, instead of storming out and wait there in a huff, why don’t you go up and help your daughter pack so she can be sooner out of here,” Dew Doe suggested, straining a bit to be patient. It was bad enough to be dealing with King Sombra right now.
 
Barricade let out a snort before nodding and turned back to the stairs, going up while grumbling and mumbling the entire time.
 
“Celestia is going to be questioning Sombra, I’m more here to just make sure everything is alright, perhaps we could go somewhere a little more private and talk there?” Cadance suggested.
 
“Sounds like a good idea,” Dew Doe nodded and looked at Celestia. “As Barricade so ‘politely’ indicated, King Sombra is in the living room.”
 
“Thank you, I’ll take it from there,” Celestia assured her. She watched Cadance and Dew Doe disappear into the kitchen, before heading herself into the living room.
 
As Barricade had said, King Sombra lay on the couch close to the entrance, smirking. He had obviously overheard everything and had clearly been enjoying Barricade’s annoyance. The king turned a little more serious when the princess arrived and took seat in another couch.
 
“Hello again, Sombra,” she addressed him.
 
“Princess Celestia,” the Dark Pony inclined his head.
 
“Have you been behaving yourself?” the princess asked and took a moment to glance around the living room, it looked pretty much the same as when she was here last time.
 
“I suppose it depends on who you ask, for my part I think I have been pretty well behaved. Miss Dew Doe has made it very clear that I am on a short leash with them,” Sombra responded with a shrug.
 
“So Coal going to live with her father while you are here has nothing to do with anything that has happened?” Celestia wondered, she had been a little worried that the filly would stay here.
 
“No, Barricade came here this morning having heard the news and made it very clear that he would not allow his daughter to be in the same house as me. They have been having a private discussion about that for most of the day, ending finally in Foxy agreeing that Coal would go with him back to Manehattan. The girl wasn’t opposed to that idea,” the king told her.
 
“I’ve also been visited by Mirage and Hard Shovel yesterday who made it very clear to me that I better not harm their son again, then Dew Doe and Foxy’s mother came along,” Sombra muttered that last line. “I’m starting to see where Dew Doe gets her spunk.”
 
“From what I know of Sky Dive, Dew and Foxy’s mother, she is not a mare to be trifled with,” Princess Celestia allowed herself to smirk, wishing she had been there for that meeting. She noticed Sombra was glaring at the living room entrance, gritting his teeth. “She is still here isn’t she?”
 
“Yes!” the Dark Pony let out a soft growl. “I believe she is helping her granddaughter pack.”
 
“Things not quite going like you had pictured them?” The Princess wondered, refraining, despite the temptation, to smile mockingly at the former king. The only response she got was an even lower growl.
 
They were momentarily distracted when there were several hoofsteps outside and voices. They did soon spot Coal passing the living room, holding a bag in her magic.
 
“Can we stop for hayburger on the way to the station, dad?” the filly called.
 
“Sure, princess,” Barricade responded as he walked past the living room, holding in his magic a suitcase.
 
“Now you behave yourself, young lady,” a third voice shouted. “And you Barricade, take good care of her.”
 
“Yeah, yeah,” Barricade could be heard grumbling.
 
Into view of the living room entrance stepped a pegasus mare. Sky blue in coat color but with a pinkish-violet mane and tail. The mane was decorated with a golden band. She was fairly thinly but still clearly healthy looking. She wore silver hoofbands on her right foreleg and left hindleg. On her flank was the image of a golden crown.
 
“And make sure she stays off the street, the traffic in Manehattan has turned abysmal lately,” the mare called.
 
“Good bye, Sky Dive,” Barricade was heard, straining to be polite before the front door was slammed shut.
 
Sky Dive snorted before glancing into the living room. Her hard features softened up instantly when seeing the Princess and she bowed. “Your Highness.”
 
“You must be Sky Dive,” Princess Celestia addressed the mare and nodded at the courtesy.
 
“I am,” the pegasus confirmed and took one step into the living room. She turned her head slowly towards Sombra, giving him a steely glare. “Just here to ensure that my daughters and granddaughter are safe.”
 
“I assure you Mrs. Sky Dive that we have several security methods in place,” the princess told her, the mare turned back to the princess, her expression softening up again as she smiled.
 
“Oh just miss, your Highness. I never married, never really believed I needed such institutions to express my love for a pony,” Sky Dive corrected politely.
 
“Of course, my apologies,” Celestia nodded, then indicated to Sombra who was himself glaring at the pegasus. “I am here to question Sombra, as per the agreement to this current arrangement.”
 
“Oh right, I shall then not disturb you, is Dew Doe in the kitchen?” Sky Dive asked, eyeing Sombra for a moment, somehow returning the glare with one eye while the rest of her was looking just as polite at the princess.
 
“I believe so, with Princess Cadance,” Celestia informed her. Sky Dive nodded, bowed again before departing the living room. The princess turned her attention the grumbling Dark Pony on the couch. “Let’s just get down to it. Your mother, why would she go about attacking the Crystal Empire like that?”
 
“A show, for you and your sister and your champions. Letting you know what she is capable of, that she’s not afraid of you and that’s she is more than ready for her next step,” King Sombra looked up with a scowl.
 
“What would her next step be you think?” Celestia said and narrowed her eyes. “Theorize if you must, we have been more than accommodating to you, it’s time for you to pay some of that back.”
 
“She would be careful, mother is probably more than aware how strong Equestria is and would not want to set you off, that does not mean she is not prepared, she’s would know that this show did tip her hoof. I would say she would then ensure that you would not be able to render assistance to Saddle Arabia once she does finally strike,” the king told her.
 
Celesta furrowed her brow as she considered this information, Saddle Arabia was fairly isolated as far as allies went. The Hippogriffs were closer to them than Equestria was but, they were only recently re-emerged back the outside world, the princess wasn’t sure what Queen Nova’s stance was regardin them. The Abyssinians were also closer, but they were still recovering from the Storm King, they would not have the means to render any assistance. It was clear that any hope Saddle Arabia had was Equestria.
 
“I’m not sure how she would make sure of that, I’ve been in constant contact with Emir Horsefar since Rabia invaded the Crystal Empire,” the princess said.
 
“Since when did the Saddle Arabians have a lowly emir ruling them?” Sombra asked confused.
 
“Ever since you slaughtered their last king and his entire court,” Celestia told him and sighed.
 
“I claim being justified for that, that king and his troops…” King Sombra snarled but fell silent when Celestia raised her hoof and gave him a sharp look.
 
“I will not fault you for retaliating at that time, even if it was a quite bit excessive for my tastes, even the Saddle Arabians do not fault you for that. As I was saying, ever since then, the Saddle Arabians have never had a king again, considering that office tainted,” she told him. “The Saddle Arabians are really remorseful over what their ancestors did.”
 
“Be as it may, I will never forgive them,” the king growled.
 
“The king and his army are the ones guilty of destroying your people, Sombra. Should the civilians who had nothing to do with the destruction suffer? Or their descendants who now only know Dark Ponies through stories?” Celestia asked flatly.
 
“I have much doubt the civilians cried over the loss of their hated enemies,” the Dark Pony snorted.
 
“Only because they believed the propaganda about your people. That changed, yes a little too late, but the descendants of your people who escaped to Equestria and Luna and I allowed to settle with our people, have diligently worked on proving how wrong they were. Some of this propaganda was even believed in Equestria, you wouldn’t believe the hassle Luna and I had to go through just to get the refugees accepted here. Discord’s arrival certainly didn’t help matters, our subjects actually thought for a time that the Dark Pony survivors had summoned him. And you most certainly have not helped in painting a better picture of your people,” the princess responded immediately and sharply.
 
Princess Celestia expected some sort of a retort, but the king was silent. She couldn’t be sure if what she had said had gone through, yet it had certainly silenced Sombra.
 
“After we got rid of Discord, we didn’t even tell the survivors that it was you where ruling the Crystal Empire. You know why?”
 
“I assume you are going to tell me?” the king snorted, he had looked away now.
 
“Because we did not want them to know that their beloved prince, that they had hoped for years would come back to them, had turned into a vicious power hungry tyrant who had enslaved the crystal ponies. Subjecting them to the same cruel treatment and the Saddle Arabians had done to your people before you broke free of them,” Celestia said, her voice dropping a bit. “The dark pones in Equestria would always end their meals with this saying: ‘And may the prince find his way to Equestria to reunite with his people again.’ I couldn’t do it to them, telling them what you had turned into. Better they think you were just gone. I allowed the Crystal Empire to drop into obscurity to protect your people from further grief.”
 
“Why?” Sombra now looked at the princess.
 
Because the stallion I loved had turned into just as detestable creature as the last king of Saddle Arabia, Princess Celestia thought. Out loud she said neutrally. “If you have to ask, you will never understand. We’ve gone off topic.”
 



 
“He broke a chair just by sitting down on it?” Cadance laughed as quietly as she could, the kitchen wasn’t that far away from the living room. Dew Doe had been informing her on how things had been going with King Sombra under the roof.
 
“Well to be fair, it was an old chair,” Dew Doe smiled and drank from her teacup.
 
“Yes, belonged to your great-grandmother once,” Sky Dive remarked, she was pouring herself more tea. Dew Doe gave her a look. “Don’t give me that, I may have hated it, but you absolutely loved it, that’s why I gave it to you.”
 
“Yeah, when I was a little filly,” Dew shook her head.
 
“When she got in her moods, she would grumble on that chair for hours. We had to do some of the photoshoots with her on that chair, because she would go absolutely ballistic if we tried to take her out of it,” Sky Dive informed Cadance who did her best not to laugh this time.
 
“Mom!” Dew Doe protested, her cheeks flushing red.
 
“Oh right, you were a filly model,” the princess looked at Dew Doe, who nodded. “I recall you telling me that once.”
 
“Yes, then she just didn’t want to do it anymore. I’m actually relieved neither of my daughters tried going into that savage industry,” the elder pegasus said. “Oh how our agent protested when I told him Dew Doe was quitting. Kept trying to tell me to convince Dew otherwise, I would have none of that. If she wanted to quit, she could quit.”
 
“And trust me, you don’t tell her to do anything,” Dew Doe shot in, but her mother just nodded in agreement.
 
“Anyway, so there has been no serious problems with King Sombra?” Cadance decided to steer the discussion back to the original one.
 
“Oh he has an attitude that not even Barricade could brag about, he pushes to see how far he can go. I’ve had to make it clear to him once or twice that if he steps out of line, he’s going right back to Tartarus,” Dew Doe told her, ignoring her mother’s snort of contempt. “But it has been manageable. I decided to take my vacation days during this, I don’t want Private to be alone in the house with him. Private doesn’t like to admit it, but Sombra still has a hold on him, Sombra can do damage if we allowed him.”
 
“I still don’t understand why Private agreed to this,” Sky Dive said with a heavy frown. “No disrespect intended, princess, but wouldn’t one of you be more suitable to be his custodian or whatever it was called.”
 
“I wish it was so simple,” Cadance looked at the older pegasus regretfully. “For him to cooperate, King Sombra made it clear that he would name his custodian and he made it a deal breaker. Then Queen Rabia invaded the Crystal Empire with little effort just to collect the coffin of her dead daughter. I hate to admit, but to deal with her, we need him.”
 
“Mom, you know Private, he never would never agree with something like this without a good reason. I mean if the Princesses had dropped in here and asked if we wanted to try and reform him, Private would have absolutely said no, but Queen Rabia is clearly a serious enough threat for Private to suffer Sombra again if only for a little while,” Dew Doe told her mother.
 
Sky Dive didn’t look convinced but said no more. At that moment Foxy came into the kitchen. The maroon pegasus slumped down on one of the chairs, looking grumpier than usual.
 
“Are you all right, Foxy?” Cadance asked while the newly arrived pegasus grabbed a cookie and started munching on it.
 
“Still getting over it that Barricade had a better point then me,” Foxy grumbled, her sister reached over to pat her on the back.
 
“You can’t blame him, Foxy, unlike Private, he never got proper therapy for what King Sombra did to him until recently. He was never going to be sold on the idea of letting Coal live here while his tormentor is staying here,” Dew Doe told her.
 
“Never thought I would say this about him, but I’m in full agreement with him. Coal should have been sent out the moment you all agreed to this,” Sky Dive remarked.
 
“Twilight did offer, it’s Foxy who refused,” her older daughter pointed out. Dew clamped her mouth shut when her mother gave her a very hard stare.
 
Cadance wondered if she should change the subject, but before she had a chance to, Princess Celestia stepped into the kitchen, prompting everyone around the kitchen table to look over at her.
 
“I think I’ve gotten everything I can for now,” Celestia announced and glanced at everyone in the room. “Where is, Private Iceland, I wish to speak with him before we leave.”
 
“He’s up in his study, it’s the second furthest door to the right when you go upstairs, your Highness,” Dew Doe told the sun princess who nodded and departed the kitchen.
 
“Wonder why she wants to talk with him,” Foxy wondered, Cadance shrugged, not even she could think of a reason.
 



 
“Come in,” Private glanced unsure at the door. Dew Doe usually knocked then just came in, Foxy would often knock and then make a joke about breaking down the door, Coal would just come in but since she was gone now, she wouldn’t be knocking. The unicorn half worried it was Sombra.
 
He sat up straight when it opened, revealing Princess Celestia. Then he rose up and did a bow. When he looked up again, Celestia was walking and made sure to close the door after her.
 
“Uh… Something I can help you with?” Private wondered, not quite sure why the Princess had come upstairs to his study.
 
“You are already helping me a great deal more than I ever wanted to ask,” Celestia said with a warm smile. “But I wish to speak with you.”
 
“I should warn you, I’m not much of a conversationalist,” Private said and sat down again but was facing the alicorn.
 
Princess Celestia nodded in understanding, she refrained from coming too close though. Being already well briefed on Private Iceland, she was well aware that he preferred his solitude and sometimes did not like company at all, so she kept a respectful distance.
 
“I hope this situation isn’t causing a rift in your family, I would rather transfer Sombra away than having this arrangement causing trouble,” she said, feeling some relief when Private shook his head.
 
“I was expecting Barricade, Foxy was being a bit too stubborn on insisting that she and Coal were staying. Mom and dad have decided to trust me on this, especially after Dew and I explained that I could cancel everything and the security, Sky Dive was placated when Barricade came this morning to demand Coal out of the house,” Private explained. He was actually relieved that his brother had come. Foxy was being stubborn enough to defy her own mother on the issue.
 
However, as Barricade had pointed out, he had some rights as Coal’s father and he was not sold on the idea of Coal being in the same house as King Sombra. Dew had then pointed rightfully out that this time Barricade had a reasonable cause to get child service involved. Foxy had not been happy but finally relented.
 
“Do you know why Foxy Stripes was being so insistent?” Celestia wondered, she would have thought that as a mother, Foxy would have wanted her daughter far away.
 
“Foxy is a good pony and a wonderful mother, however she can be a bit stubbornly defiant. I think she wanted to show King Sombra that she and Coal weren’t afraid of him,” Private shrugged, he didn’t really have a full answer for this but it was the closest he could figure for now.
 
“Well, at least your niece is somewhere safe,” the princess said, then her smile turned more solemn. “Now, regarding Sombra. I gave you a good opportunity to just refuse my offer, yet you accepted. Why?”
 
“For one, if anypony knows anything about Queen Rabia it would be him… and you will probably need him,” Private said quietly, glancing towards the ground, struggling to find the right words.
 
“We would have found a way to deal with her, with Sombra’s help or not,” Celestia pointed out.
 
“You were hoping I would have said no, weren’t you?” Private looked up again. The princess sighed and then nodded.
 
“Cadance, Twilight and Luna were absolutely against this idea and for my part I didn’t really want to entertain it. Twilight and I went ahead to ask you, hoping you would say no and we could just tell Sombra there was no deal. I was hoping he would then re-negotiate a different deal to be let out, he was desperate to get out of Tartarus, I have a feeling his mother threatened him and he didn’t want to be in a location she knew he would be in,” she explained.
 
“She did, I kind of got Sombra to tell me the real reason why he’s helping you. He’s basically trying to hide from his mother,” the unicorn revealed, causing Celestia to arch her brow a little.
 
“How did you manage to get him to confess that?” the princess asked half stunned.
 
Private rubbed his forehead a little, then told the princess how he had figured talking about the past always seemed to open the king up a little. Especially if it was about Timido, his former servant.
 
I really should not say it, but us princesses might just be the wrong ponies to get Sombra to talk about his mother, Celestia thought as she processed this revelation.
 
“How… open is Sombra to you if you start reminiscing about the past?” she asked with some hesitation.
 
“Surprisingly open actually,” Private confessed. “Why?”
 
“I was just downstairs, questioning Sombra. He did give me the reason for Rabia’s attack on the Crystal Empire and a theory of what her next step is, but he was not very detailed and we then ended up veering off topic and when I tried to get him back on subject of his mother, he became silent, so I decided to call it good for now,” Celestia told him.
 
“He was very guarded and I have a feeling questioning him like this might take days if not weeks, time we probably do not have,” the princess shook her head.
 
“You want me to try?” Private wondered unsure.
 
“I shouldn’t ask you to do that, I’ve already asked far too much of you just by housing him to get him to cooperate,” Celestia said, not even wanting to form the question.
 
“You could come still to question him, I can then fill you in on what he hasn’t told you,” the unicorn offered, surprising the princess.
 
“Private, you really don’t have to…” she started to protest, she was feeling guilty enough about this whole situation.
 
“No, if it gets him out of the house quicker, then I’m all for it. Besides, I haven’t told you the second reason I actually agreed,” Private interrupted and hung his head.
 
“You’re still in love with Prince Sombra,” Celestia remarked, sporting a knowing smile when Private snapped his head up to look at her shocked. “Doctor Whooves told me.”
 
“Blabbermouth,” the unicorn muttered, the princess heard and chuckled softly.
 
“We share something in common then, we love Prince Sombra and have both been hurt by the pony he ended up becoming,” she said and smiled when seeing the expression on Private.
 
“Wait, you loved him?” he blinked and his jaw dropped a bit. His astonishment didn’t diminish when the princess slowly nodded.
 
“Prince Sombra gave you a gift didn’t he?” she then asked. Private nodded, using his magic he opened drawer and took up a silver necklace with a flat medallion on it, depicting a unicorn head with a curved horn.
 
Celestia smiled, using her magic she summoned an almost identical necklace. Private’s jaw now almost scraped the ground.
 
“Dark Ponies only gave this kind of necklace to a pony they care about, deeply,” she then whispered to him. Then she unsummoned her necklace and sighed deeply and became more graver. “Very well, I’ll accept your proposal. You try and open him up more, I’ll come and do some token questioning and you’ll fill me in on the rest.”
 
“Yes, your Highness,” Private slowly nodded as he put the necklace back into the drawer and closed it. Celestia was already turning around to leave, the unicorn looked at her.
 
“I think he still cares about you,” he told her, causing Celestia to look back at him.
 
“I know,” was all the princess said before leaving the room.
 
End chapter 11