//------------------------------// // Afternoon Tea // Story: The Return of the King // by MisterEdd //------------------------------// Celestia winced slightly as the brush tugged through her pink tresses, which was not helped by the fact that her mane was still wet from her twenty-minute bath, a daily routine that normally took only ten minutes at the most. The change in her bath time was due to her washing her mane twice, her coat three times as well the use of a new shampoo and conditioner, giving her the appealing aroma of passionfruit, wild berries and citrus. Contrary to popular belief, neither Celestia's nor Luna's manes were consistently flowing with ethereal energy. Such a unique trait could be switched on and off and washing their manes kept them looking pristine and healthy once reapplied with magic. Keeping up with their royal duties sometimes meant that Celestia and Luna had to keep their ethereal manes whilst sleeping. Waving over her mane with a hair dryer, Celestia brushed every strand into compliance, ensuring that not a lock was out of place before setting aside her brush and hair dryer aside to look upon her reflection in the vanity mirror. Her coat was sparkling clean, her royal regalia polished to a near-blinding shine and her wings preened and spotless. After applying lip balm, mascara and some face powder, all that was left was her mane. Light golden specks adorned her head like a corona of tiny stars, dancing and racing through her pink mane, levitating it around her as if by an invisible breeze. The majority of pink hair vanished, leaving a single strip as it was soon joined by segments of blue and green while it all took on a more mist-like, iridescent texture. An impressed hum left Celestia's lips as she double-checked her appearance, wholly satisfied with the final product and eager to let everypony see her. Or rather, one pony in particular. Ivory cheeks reddened at the thought and she had to chastise herself for her schoolfilly-esque behavior. I'm over a thousand years old AND a princess! I'm going to fawn and swoon like some maiden with a crush. And yet, deep down, Princess Celestia knew that she had it bad. As was the norm, Celestia was accompanied to the royal gardens via royal guards, though there was no way in Tartarus that she was ever going to complain. The royal guards had been tasked with guarding her and the other nobles since their inception and she prayed for each and every brave soul that put on the armor in service of their nation. The sun was high in the sky by the time they'd arrived, shining its rays onto the guards' golden armor and allowing them to glisten and sparkle. A table, some chairs and a large parasol inserted into the table's center had all been set up for her little rendezvous. A scullery maid finished decorating the tabletop with plates and silverware just as a butler gingerly arranged a still-steaming teapot near the table's center, along with various sweets. "Well done, everypony, well done!" Celestia beamed, earning her deep bows and satisfied grins from her servants. "You are both dismissed. Thank you." The two servants left without a word and Celestia eased herself into a polished, white-oak chair. She poured herself a cup of tea but let it sit to allow it time to cool off and to wait for her guest to arrive. The cookies looked and smelled scrumptious but it was the intoxicating scent of cake that left her mouth watering. It was no secret that the Princess of the Day had a fondness for cake, one that followed her from foalhood to the present and she tried her best to limit herself on the amount she consumed day and night. The keyword was "tried." It was just too hard to resist. A chorus of metallic clacking drew Celestia's attention as a small cadre of royal guards entered her line of sight. Forming the rough formation of a house-like shape, they stopped ten feet away and the guards in the front parted, revealing a heavily shackled and muzzled Sombra at the formation's center. His large, crimson eyes were narrowed, not in anger but rather from the light. Celestia had forgotten that he'd spent the last few months indoors and in dimly-lit dungeons so the sunlight would be torturous for him. The iron shackles and thick leather muzzle wouldn't be helping either. Celestia noted, catching the beads of sweat trickling down Sombra's brow. Flash Sentry stood erect beside Sombra, one hoof planted on his shoulder. Sombra was noticeably shaking, his eyes twitching to inspect the guards situated around him, his teeth bared and his face stuck in an intimidating scowl. Given his assault at the hooves of the crooked guards, Celestia couldn't blame him for his mistrust of the gold-clad sentinels. The only one who appeared to be exempt from this appeared to be Flash Sentry, though this could've come from his familiarity with the young stallion. I chose his new guard well it would seem. "Private Sentry, please bring Sombra forward." Flash solemnly escorted Sombra towards Celestia, their progress slightly hampered by the bonds on the prisoner. The other guards stood by apprehensively, their eyes locked on Sombra, their weapons aimed at him and ready to strike him down at the slightest sign of aggression towards their monarch. Sombra, meanwhile, kept his gaze solely on the alicorn sitting serenely before him, his eyes unblinking and caught between a mix of suspicion and anger. The latter seemed to vanish by the time the two arrived at the end of the table, instead replaced by an emotion Celestia couldn't quite place. With some help from Flash, Sombra was seated and staring puzzlingly at Celestia. "Thank you, Private Sentry," Celestia said softly before directing her attention to the other guards as well. "You may all take your leave." Hesitantly, the other guards bowed and slowly filed out, leaving the three of them alone. "You can take a seat as well, Flash Sentry." This caught the pegasus off guard. "Um, th-thank you, Your Majesty," he stammered, taking a seat on the left side of the table between Celestia and Sombra. He reached for a tea cup and saucer but stopped abruptly, not moving until Celestia nodded and magically filled his cup for him. "You're quite welcome, Flash. Oh, I almost forgot!" A flash of golden energy momentarily blinded the two stallions. When they blinked away the spots and regained their vision, they noticed with shock that Sombra's leather muzzle and shackles were gone. Feeling around his pasterns and throat, Sombra stared open-mouthed at Celestia, his eyes as wide as dinner plates. She had to giggle at this new expression of his. "There's no need for restraints here. This is just a regular tea party." There was another burst of energy, this time conjuring a full tea cup and a plate full of cookies in front of Sombra, who stared down skeptically at everything as if expecting an attack. What a notion! Killer tea cups and homicidal cookies. Celestia then reconsidered this. Then again, there WAS that one world Star Swirl and I encountered during one of our trips through the magic mirror... "You look...different." Celestia yanked herself out of her musings upon registering somepony addressing her. Smiling broadly at Sombra, she blushed, "Well, I was just feeling like making myself extra nice today." "You look very pretty, Your Majesty," Flash managed through a mouthful of almond cookies. "Oops, sorry." "It's quite alright, Flash and please, just 'Celestia' will do for today. And thank you." Her eyes never left Sombra's face. "What do you think, Sombra?" She asked with a light eyelash flutter. "Nice, I suppose," Sombra muttered into his tea cup. "Nice"? Well, at least he didn't insult me. Still, would it kill him to...-? "So why am I here?" "Pardon?" Sombra folded his forelegs. "You lock me in the dark for months, barely acknowledge my existence and feed me slop that a pig wouldn't accept. Now you feed me gourmet meals, bring me out for fresh air and invite me to tea parties. What is it that you want from me?" "I just want you to love me again, Sombra." Celestia's hooves flew to her mouth. Why did I say that? I didn't want him to know that! Flash choked on his tea, violently banging on the table until he could breath again. Sombra, meanwhile, was staring at Celestia, his expression changing from righteously indignation, to confusion, and finally, to jaw-dropping shock. Celestia could swear she felt her heart stop from the embarrassment. The silence was deafening to say the least. A cricket could chirp from fifty feet away and they would all hear it. "You...what?!" Sombra finally sputtered. "I love you! Faust, I've always loved you and it wasn't until recently that I realized that!" Celestia blurted out. "Seriously, how do you do it?!" This time, Flash was the one to speak. "First, you end up with Princess Celestia, one of the hottest mares that I've ever seen, then you get Twilight Sparkle to fall in love with you." Flash "eeped" and shoved another cookie into his mouth. Sombra glared at Flash. "I don't know! As a foal growing up in the Crystal Empire, I thought I was too book-oriented and solitary to ever get a marefriend." He clamped his mouth shut, only for it to stretch open and the words to pour out. "Then I landed the princess with a flank big enough to crush mountains before going head-over-hooves for the one whose eyes drive me crazy!" Mouth agape, Celestia took a moment to inspect her rear end. "You...think I have a big flank?" "Everypony knows it!" Flash shouted. "No, I didn't mean that!" "Yes you did! That's partially why I was excited when our parents arranged our marriage in the first place!" Sombra ranted, yanking on his mane. "I...I've always loved big-flanked mares! In fact, when we were together, I also noticed how nice Luna's was." He smacked his head on the table with an audible thud and began swearing in his native tongue. A vein popped in Celestia's forehead. "You were attracted to my baby sister?!" "Well, can you blame him?" Flash's teeth clattered together. "Apart from you, she's the hottest ruler Equestria's ever had!" Several white sparks exploded all around them and a serpentine being materialized, his boisterous laughter echoing throughout the garden. "Oh ho ho, this is just too priceless!" Sombra exhaled loudly. "Great, now I'm hallucinating that Discord's here." The draconequus grinned, "Hmmm, well as a hallucination, you couldn't have picked a better-looking one!" Celestia rubbed her forehead. "Discord, what are you doing here?" Discord popped right beside Celestia, a tall green top hat bearing the headband "In this style 10/6" perched atop his head as he sipped from a tea cup missing its bottom. He tapped his chin with a bird's talon. "Because I adore tea parties! Say, why is a raven like a writing desk?" Flash rubbed the back of his neck. "Um...because Edgar Allan Foal wrote on both?" Discord stared at the pegasus. "That's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard." "WAIT A MINUTE!" Sombra roared, pounding both hooves on the table as he rose from his seat. "Are you telling me that Discord is actually here right in front of us?" "Yep! I also added a truth serum to your tea. Juuuuust to spice things up," Discord chirped, the tea cup and top hat vanishing as he lazily swam on his back through the air. Sombra narrowed his eyes at Celestia. "What...did you...do?" The venom in both his gaze and his tone sent knives of pain into Celestia's heart. "I...asked Twilight Sparkle and her friends to reform him. I thought Discord could be a major ally-..." "So...." Sombra's hooves twisted atop the table. "You had me imprisoned and later executed for taking over one kingdom and yet he conquers all of Equestria and you decide to set him free and give him another chance...." "That pretty much hits the nail on the head!" Discord chipperly added. "Sombra, listen to me-..." "No, I don't have to listen to a single bölvaður word you have to say!" His head snapped over to Flash. "Sentry, take me back to my cell. I've lost my appetite for tea and cookies." Celestia could only watch helplessly at the two departed, Sombra not even throwing her a passing glance as he marched away and Flash Sentry trudging alongside him. She sagged into her chair, her head hurting and her chest aching. This wasn't how this day was supposed to go. How could things spiral out of control like this? Tears raced down Celestia's face, smearing it with mascara but she didn't care. What...what have I done? Discord inched next to Celestia, placing his lion's paw on her shoulder. "Was it something I said?"