Oh my Celestia, how do I do this? How do I keep doing this? I run a kingdom, I spread love, I have a family. And Flurry, oh Flurry. She gets crazier every day, some of the things she does. I’ve put out nine fires, fixed three roofs, and ten windows, and that’s just the start of what she does! It’s getting harder and harder to cover her tracks. I’m doing the best I can, but I'm so tired. I’m a pony too, I need rest. Of course, I have the help of Shining, for that I am thankful. He is the best husband, father, and prince... But it’s all just so much. I can feel the exhaustion in my bones. It’s been a couple of weeks since Shining and I got a break. I looked over to my husband, there was no arguing with this. This is what I was doing.
“I'm calling them.”
I picked up the chalk Sombra gave me from my bedside and lifted two summoning signs out of my nightstand. I was going to call Discord and Sombra. Why could they be summoned? Well, I'm not sure. Three circles, shapes I didn’t recognize, and a couple of symbols. Those I didn’t recognize either. I’m too afraid to show Twilight. I’ve never been afraid to share anything with her. Except for my relationship with her brother, but that was understandable. I didn’t really want to, she was his sister. This though, this was different. I felt like this was private information.
I even made Shining Pinkie Promise he wouldn’t show Twilight, something I never did, I just had to be sure she wouldn’t see them. But why, why did I feel that way? I would just have to do my own research. I could start it soon, go with Shining to the library. Maybe that’s why they gave it to me? Is that a crazy tired depraved thought? They gave it to me because my husband and I didn’t know what it was? I snapped myself out of my thoughts and finished drawing the circles on the floor, they weren’t the best but the instructions didn’t say it had to be perfect. I could think on it more later, I felt like I would pass out at any point. I needed them here, passing out was no longer an option, it’s fated to happen. I watched the signs glow an array of colors and suddenly Discord and Sombra were in my room.
“Wow, you two look like shit.”
“Thank you Sombra,” I had forgotten that Sombra had been taking extra honesty sessions with Applejack. The results were mixed since now he was too honest, something that I never thought would be a problem. Let's just say it’s a work in progress and leave it at that. I could rant all day about the things he now says.
“Just sayin'.’”
I didn’t even bother to respond to Sombra's statement, he’ll get the hang of it eventually. “Can you watch Flurry? We need a nap.” I could feel my eyelids falling. It was coming, the world it was ...blurry? What? What was I thinking of?
“YES! Oh before we do”
Oh Celestia, did I have to focus on what Discord was saying? I pulled all the energy I could to focus. Focus. A whistle?
“I made this, it’ll get us here quicker and it’s less effort for you two then drawing those signs”
“Yes...” when did the world get so blurry? Discord’s voice faded into watery nothing. Was he tearing up the sign instructions? No, I don’t think I can remember them. No...no.
----------
Discord looked down at a passed out Cadence and Shining. She lasted longer than her husband but that didn’t matter. He wished they called him and Sombra sooner. They really did look like shit. Guess that means they weren’t being moderated. That was a fact that made Discord uneasy. Why not? They were still villains, why not send a nanny to monitor them and Flurry? Did Cadence...trust him? No that couldn't be right.
“I guess we’ll just take our leave,” Sombra said as he stepped over passed out parents. He was just as worried about them as Discord was. They looked so exhausted. He looked back to make sure Discord followed him. They made extra sure to step on the floorboards as quietly as they could. Although a sonic boom wouldn’t have woken them up. It would take the end of Equestria to wake them up, or the crying of their daughter.
Once they exited the royal chambers they oh so quietly shut the door. They then walked one door down. Now this hallway was long and there were many rooms but Flurry's was right next to her parents, so it was a quick trip to go get her. Discord and Sombra opened the door to Flurry’s room. Flurry smiled and bounced in excitement at their presence. “Dwaaaa,” They said as she reached out to them, her tiny arms through the bars on the baby crib. Just wide enough so she could do that but not wide enough where she could fall out.
“Hello there little Heart Crusher,” a name Sombra had come up with after learning what Flurry had done to the Crystal Heart. Something he tried to do and failed at. This tiny baby did it no problem. It was a crazy thought, somepony so young could do such damage. It only made him love her more. He levitated Flurry out of her crib and onto his back. “Now what do we do?” He asked Discord, as they had come over with no plan of what to do with Flurry.
Discord opened his mouth then closed it. What were they supposed to do? What did kids like to do? “We build a fort!” Discord grabbed the pillows out of Flurry’s crib. “It’ll be the best Celestia-damn fort to have ever existed. Let's get more! You go down that way.” He said as he pointed one claw to the left. “I will go that way!” He said as he switched the claw from pointing left to pointing right.
“Couldn’t you just snap up pillows and blankets?” Sombra suggested, and he was right, Discord could certainly do that.
“But what fun is there in that?” He could just snap it up, but that takes away some of the fun. The fun of gathering and looking for all the supplies, he was sure Sombra would see that. “Meet me back here for the ultimate fort.” Discord turned and went right leaving Sombra in the dust.
“Ok Flurry, I guess that just leaves us,” Sombra said to Flurry.
“Plllss fleiwoef.”
“That’s right Flurry, you and I are on an adventure to find pillows,” Sombra told Flurry as he turned left and went down the hallway. Pillows and blankets, that’s what he needed. He ducked his head into the first guest room and grabbed four pillows and two blankets. A good start but he would need more than just that.
He turned to another guest room and grabbed four more pillows and two more blankets. This was a really slow way to gather supplies and he would have to make beds after he was done using the pillows and blankets. He used his magic to teleport the blankets and pillows back on the bed. “Well, Flurry I don’t think that’s the best way to do this.”
“Eioppldplds.”
“You agree? Well thank you. I know there’s a better way to do this.” He hummed as he thought to himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he spied a maid cart. Sombra walked over it “excuse me?” He watched the maid jump. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
The maid’s heart jumped into her throat. It was former King Sombra. Cadence had told all the staff to treat him well, but that doesn't mean she wasn’t still scared. Wait did he just say sorry? “Uh, oh. It’s ok.”
“I was wondering where you keep the pillows and blankets. Discord and I would like to build Flurry a fort. Also Cadence and Shining have passed out and I don’t want them to catch anything. Could you show me where you keep them?”
The maid stuttered in her movements for just a second, “O-of course, right this way.” She said as she ushered Sombra to the closet he needed. She led him down another hallway. As she did she wondered to herself. Had Sombra changed that much? He even apologized to her, something he would have never done before. She wasn’t sure why Cadence was doing what she was doing, nor why she needed the staff's help.
Something told her it was important, very important. She couldn’t help but feel determined to help out more. Maybe she’ll have a talk to the staff about what she saw, what Sombra had said to her. Her decision was made, she would help them, just like Cadence. To be honest she should have sided with her from the start. Cadence knows what she’s doing. “Here you go Sombra, that’s what you like to be called right?”
Sombra went wide-eyed, the maid had surprised him with her kindness. “Oh yes right. Sombra is just fine.”
“Just trying to make sure you didn’t change your name to Wannabe-Ruler Slave-Driver Mc-Dispear-An-Entire-Kingdom-Son.” She snorted, she hoped that Sombra didn’t take her joke the wrong way, she was just trying to befriend him. Wow, what a thought, befriend Sombra.
Sombra saw the soft expression in her eyes and knew she wasn’t trying to be mean but funny. He snorted, it was pretty funny. “Wannabe-Ruler Slave-Driver Mc-Dispear-An-Entire-Kingdom-Son? Really rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? No, I did not change my name to that, but maybe I will.”
“Please do not, it’s a terrible name.” The maid chuckled.
“You are a funny one ms…?” Sombra realized he did not know this maid's name and he couldn’t keep calling his friend, “the maid”. That wouldn’t be right, it would also be very awkward.
“Ivy Light, it’s very nice to meet you.”
“Sombra,” he immediately slammed his hoof into his face. “Why did I introduce myself, you already knew who I was. It’s nice to meet you too.” He gave out a sigh. “Sombra King of Friendship.”
Ivy giggled, “It’s ok, don’t worry about it. King of friendship ay? Maybe you can teach Twilight a thing or two, she’s only a princess.”
Sombra gave a hearty laugh, “Oh yeah. I should definitely tutor her, she would love that.”
Ivy froze, something in his joking voice had changed. She wondered if she went too far, they had just met. Or maybe she accidentally stumbled across a sensitive subject. She changed it quickly, she did not wish to upset her new friend. “Well, I'd love to call you my friend. Please feel free to call me whenever you need help. Maid's office is just past the throne room, two doors to the right, can’t miss it.” She opened the closet door. “Here you go, just what you need. I’ll see you around.”
“See you around.” Sombra watched Ivy leave and he smiled, he had a new friend. Who would have thought, here in the crystal empire? He made a friend. He felt pride rise within him. He turned to look at the closet and his eyes grew wide. Sombra looked upon the holy grail of pillows and blankets. “Look Flurry.”
“Wheiwueriofuwo.”
“Yes, pillows and blankets. Look how many, Discord is gonna lose his shit. OOPS! Don’t tell your mom I said that.”
“Erwpirprwpeur.”
“Thanks,” Sombra said as he levitated an entire city's worth of pillows and blankets out of the closet. Three hundred pillows and blankets in total, Sombra counted. He has always been very good at math. He would have to thank his new friend Ivy later for her help. He shut the door behind him and levitated all of the pillows and blankets with him. He trotted back over to where Discord said to meet. “Come on Flurry, we have to rub our treasure in Discord's face.”
Discord was waiting for Sombra at the meetup point, he had been waiting forever. Foreveeeerrrrr, well it felt like that, at least to Discord. It was all of three minutes. “Where have-” He started only to see the mass amount of pillows and blankets Sombra had. “Wowie how did you get that many?!” He said as he briefly glanced down at his armful of treasure needed for the fort. It seemed like so little compared to Sombra's stash.
“I ran into a nice maid. Her name is Ivy. I’ll have to thank her later for her help.” Sombra said as he realized he had no idea how to do that. “As soon as I think of a way to thank her.”
“I will help! I’m sure we can think of something, but later. Now it is fort time!”
“Before we go,” Sombra said, levitating off a single blanket off of his pile to Discord. “Could you put this on Shining and Cadence?”
“That’s a great idea! So they-”
“Don’t get sick!!” They said together.
Discord took a blanket out of Sombra's magic and slowly opened the door. Sombra rocked Flurry back and forth to make sure she stayed quiet. Slowly, very slowly, Discord walked into the room and draped the blanket onto the sleeping couple. He made sure they were nice and snug before he ever so carefully left the room and closed the door.
“Why didn’t you snap it on them?”
Discord slapped his face with his claw “Uhg, I could have done it out here. That was stupid.”
“Oh well, the most important part is they don't catch anything,” Sombra said quickly, as he noticed Discord looked a little miffed at the fact he didn’t do it exactly right. “Let’s go build that fort.”
Discord ears perked up and he went from agitated to excited in one second flat. “Yes!”
The two of them ran off together with Flurry to the throne room, it was the biggest room in this castle. So they would build it there. Plus whenever Cadence and Shining took a break they asked their advisors to not use it. Instead, all business was conducted in meeting rooms all run by advisers Cadence and Shining appointed themselves. The parents of Flurry Heart fainted quite a lot, so this system was put in for when they passed out. Their people could leave them alone, in order to let them catch up on their sleep. It was the perfect place to go.
‘Ok Flurry time to build one Tartarus of a fort.” Discord said as he picked her up off of Sombras back and onto the floor. She just toppled over onto it as she babbled utter nonsense.
“Dwaaaa,” the both of them said as they took a moment to just watch her babble at them. They watched as her tiny hooves reached out to them.
“I think I will hold onto her,” Sombra said as he put her onto his back once more. “The floor is cold and dirty. No place for Flurry.” He said as he put the pillows and blankets on the floor.
“You are right!” Discord said as he scanned the room. He suddenly remembered that this room was empty except for the thrones. He needed something to attach the blankets too. He snapped up some chairs and clips “can’t forget these.” You’d think he’d snap the chairs into existence, wouldn’t you? Well, you’d be wrong, as he teleported Cadence's entire dining hall of chairs into the throne room. Why? Well, why not? The clips he did snap up into existence, he shaped them into different animals. “This one is a cow!” He said as he waved the clip in front of her face. “This one is an ass!” He said waving a clip of Celestia in front of her face. Flurry giggled.
“DISCORD! You can’t say that.”
She’s a baby Sombra she won’t tell on us, or remember. She’s too young.” Discord turned around, just fast enough to miss Sombra's confused face.
Sombra stared daggers at his friend; he couldn’t tell if Discord was kidding or not. An “Ehhhhh” interrupted those thoughts, Flurry was upset. He’ll worry about it later. He rocked her back and forth in his magic. “Ahhhh” she cooed and it brought a smile to Sombra’s face.
Discord stepped away from a babbling Flurry, as much as he didn’t want to. Some-creature had to build that fort. He lined the chairs up against the wall, one aside another, the backs of the chairs faced Discord. He then grabbed the blankets off the floor and hovered the clips behind him. He lay the blankets one at a time over the chairs and clipped them onto the chairs. “Part one done!” He said as he snapped another pile of blankets to himself. He covered the end closest to him in blankets before making sure all holes, except one for the entrance, were covered. “Perfect!”
“It’s not very chaotic.”
“The inside will be!” He said as he snapped an array of patterns onto the pillows and crawled inside the fort.
“What are you doing?”
“Lining the floor with pillows! Chaos pillows!’ Discord said as he did just that. The floor soon looked like random patterns were thrown up onto it. “DONE!” He held his hands out but Flurry started to cry.
“Waaaaaa!”
“Oh no, what's wrong?” Sombra asked Flurry, she was crying he didn’t know why. He held her tight in his hooves. “It’s ok Flurry.” He said as he rocked her in his arms. She eventually calmed down, but only after Sombras arms started to feel like noodles. Who knew it would be such a workout to rock a baby?
Discord looked back at the fort, what did she not like about it? He looked closely and noticed that it was very dark inside. “I think it’s too dark.” He snapped and suddenly fireflies appeared inside the fort. “Flurry look over here, look at Discord. Look! Look!” He cooed at her to get her attention “It’s ok Flurry. I promise. Hey, hey.” After a bit of cooing, he got Flurry to take another look at the fort. He saw her eyes go wide and knew it would be ok to bring her inside. He took her out of Sombra's arms and brought her into his. He crawled inside with a giggling Flurry.
Sombra looked down at the fort, he was at an odd angle and couldn’t see inside. He got down on his hooves and his eyes went wide too. The place was like a wonderland. The floor was chaotic patterns that would have made Rarity faint. Sombra thought they were beautiful, the way the fireflies flickered adding even more chaos as shadows of all shapes danced along the floor.
“Look at what Discord did Flurry. See? It’s safe in here.” Discord told Flurry as he turned her around. She just giggled “You like my chaos? Hmm? I knew you were gonna be my favorite princes the minute I laid eyes on you!” Discord chuckled.
“I…it’s beautiful in here,” Sombra said, mesmerized by the shapes and colors that danced around him. It really was something else.
“Oh? Uh….thanks.” Discord said awkwardly, he didn’t really receive compliments on his chaos all that much. He really wasn’t sure what to say to Sombra other than what he already did. So he quickly switched topics as soon as Flurry started to fuss.
“It’s nice and cozy in here, how about we read to her? I heard that it’s good to read to babies.” Discord didn’t wait for an answer; he snapped his fingers once again. Inside the kitchen fridge, a bottle of milk teleported away and into the hands of Discord. “Eat up, you need to grow big and strong. Then you can help us take over Equestria.” He laughed and attempted to give the bottle to Flurry. She teleported it out of his hand and held it in her own magic as she brought it to her mouth and sucked on the top. “Wow, Cadence really wasn’t kidding. You are one strong magic horse baby.”
Flurry Heart burped in response.
“Apparently a hungry one,” Discord snorted as he snapped up Flurry's favorite book. Cadence had mentioned it to him once; Poohpony: Pegasus has breakfast. He gave the book to Sombra, so he could hold Flurry.
“Hello said Poohpony,” Sombra started as he levitated one of the pillows up and cast a shadow onto it. A pegasus showed upon the pillow, Sombras eyes turned a greenish-red as he made the pegasus fly around. Flurry giggled with gleeful abandon; it made both of them smile.
“Give me the book, I’ll read. You keep doing that, she loves it.” Discord smiled as he picked up the book. He put Flurry on the ground in between him and Sombra as he started to read. “My name is Poohpony what is your name?” Discord said his voice low, before he switched it to a higher one as he spoke the next line. “My name is Pegasus, I am a Pegasus. What are you?”
He switched back over to a lower voice once more as he said, “I am an earth pony. What does a Pegasus eat? You don’t eat me right?!” He said as he tried to sound scared, but not too scared as to frighten Flurry. He delved deeper into character as he switched his voice once more. “Me?! Oh no?!” Why would you think that?” Discord said, surprised, just like the character.
Sombra made the shadows dance as Discord read, making sure that they acted out everything Discord was saying. He was glad Discord took over reading. He wasn’t sure he could focus on both reading and the shadows. This was taking more effort then he would like to admit, but it made Flurry happy. It took so much effort he hadn't noticed Cadence behind him.
She sat there in awe. She had no idea Sombra's magic could do something so...innocent. And Discord, he always kept Flurry’s attention, she had no idea they would both be so good at this. She couldn't help but watch Sombra’s dancing shadows, she would hate to interrupt such a nice moment, plus his shadows were so enthralling. Discord’s voices only made it more interesting as he was deep into acting the characters of Flurry’s book. Soon she forgot they were reading a kid’s book and she just enjoyed the show.
----
Shining armor looked down at three adults and one baby inside a pillow fort. They were all snoozing, he rolled his eyes and smiled. His wife told him about the situation with Discord and Sombra, how much they needed this. He trusted her very much. If that’s what she said they needed he believed it. Though what was unbelievable is that it was Discord and Sombra. If a few years ago you’d tell him that in the future a reformed King Sombra and Discord were helping his family, and his family were helping them, he’d call you crazy and run away.
But here he was in the future, with them, on his floor, with his daughter, and it was cute. Call him crazy, but he sided with his wife, he could see at this moment that they did need this. Of course, he couldn’t wrap his head around why they needed specifically this, but the peacefulness on their faces spoke volumes in how happy it was making them. He hated that he was going to have to wake them up, it was time to go back to work. He poked his wife in the side only to feel her hooves around his neck as she dragged him into the fort.
“Shhhh.”
He smiled at his wife, wrapped his hooves around her and joined the cuddle puddle. A cuddle puddle with his family, old and new. The kingdom would be just fine without them for a single day. And it was.