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// Chapter 8 - The secret of Sky Dive 
// Story: Retirement of a king 
// by Askre 
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“I have been in touch with Mirage and Hard since our meeting." Sky Dive started talking, sipping her tea and sat next to Foxy. Private and Dew had relocated to a couch in front of them. "Although we don’t care much for what is happening, we decided to see how the week went. When Foxy came to check on Coal and reported to me that so far nothing serious had happened, we went back to Private’s parents and had another talk.”

“I was also voicing the idea with them that Coal stays with them the next week. I’m afraid a rather big fashion show is being scheduled in Cloudsdale and I have a few models there that I need to keep an eye on. There have been ponies trying to take advantage of them,” the mare snorted. Her daughters just nodded, knowing full well their mother was just as protective of the models she was the agent of as she was to her own daughters.

“Coal then asked why she couldn’t just go home with her mom, if King Sombra wasn’t doing anything. Why shouldn’t she be just as safe?” the mare continued and glanced at her granddaughter.

“How long will it take to reform him, anyway? Why am I supposed to be kicked out until that’s done?” the filly grumbled and folded her front legs in a huff.

“Coal, it’s for your own secur…” Dew fell silent when her mother raised a hoof, indicating she wasn’t done.

“Coal also pointed out that when she was captured, Sombra never really threatened her or her sisters. Only questioned them about the Dark Pony connection. I do wonder where she gets her stubbornness.” Sky Dive eyed Foxy with a knowing smirk, her younger daughter grinned sheepishly.

“Barricade is never going to buy into this,” Dew Doe pointed out, remembering last time when he barged in there and demanded that Coal be taken out of the house. She raised one eyebrow when seeing the look on her mother. “You’ve already talked with him, haven’t you?”

“He wants it known for the record that he is not thrilled by the idea, however, Coal is the one who convinced him,” Sky Dive sipped her tea. All eyes went back to the filly.

“I told him somepony had to keep an eye on you three.” Coal grinned wide, but dropped it quickly when seeing the skeptical look on the adults. “Aaaand promised I would be out of the house at the slightest sign of any trouble.”

“I still can’t believe he agreed to this,” Dew Doe remarked. Barricade could be pretty set in his ways. Private nodded in agreement with her.

“I may also have pointed out that with King Smokey’s powers, it didn’t matter where any of us were. If he wanted to do something to us, he could reach us anywhere, anytime.” Foxy smiled innocently. There were hesitant nods of agreement from the others to that. Then the maroon pegasus glanced around. “Speaking of, where is he?”

“Probably in his room." He disappeared inside ahead of us using the shadows.” Dew glanced at the living room entrance. There was no sign of Sombra. Since the others hadn’t noticed him, he must have just gone all the way to his room using that form.





What is she up to? I would have thought the princesses had shipped her to Saddle Arabia after a trial and left her to rot in their dungeons, or just chucked her into Tartarus. Sombra paced uneasily in his room.

Is mother free though? I’m pretty sure if she saw me, she wouldn’t have wasted any time heading straight for me… Sombra stopped pacing and started rubbing his muzzle in thought. He was calming down after seeing Rabia on the balcony, especially since there was some distance between him and her.

She couldn’t be in a rehabilitation program, can she? Then again, that is something Celestia would attempt to do. I recall the Saddle Arabians wanting something like that, but I dismissed it. Mother would never agree to something like that. Sombra scowled and sat down on the floor. He eyed the closed door for a moment.

Maybe I should cancel everything, just get out of here. If they are set to let her loose, the first thing she’ll do is hunt me down. She’ll have nothing else do to, no empire to run, after all. Sombra started to consider, but then realized that was a phenomenally bad idea. He was not ready to face his mother again. The king hated to admit it, but the only reason he had managed to face her last time was that he had been with Twilight and her friends. They had helped him maintain focus.

Maybe I should just confess what I'm actually doing. But would they want me around if they knew? Would they even come to my aid if my mother was to come to do something? He cringed and for a moment glanced at the shadows as if he expected Rabia to pop out of them any moment.

“She attacked Barricade the last time she was looking for me…she might go after Private next.” Sombra rose to his hooves, old memories from back when he was still in the empire as a prince started to surface. Remembering when he had been showing Private around, neither knowing the two of them would meet several times again.

“No! I will not allow it. She will have to go through me first. I will never see him hurt again..." Sombra froze when there was a soft knock on the door. Okay, calm down. Mother would not just knock politely on a door.

Sombra quickly composed himself, put on a hard look, and walked over to open the door. Standing outside was Dew Doe. She looked apologetic.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, but mom wants to see you,” the pegasus told him.

Well, that is not the mother I was worried about. Sombra hid his relief, yet already felt irritated, remembering the last time he had met Sky Dive in this house.

“I take it she’s thought up some more remarks to send my way?” the king grunted and walked past the pegasus, figuring he might as well get this over with. He walked downstairs, Dew Doe right behind him.

When Sombra entered the living room, he was mildly confused to see Coal there. He was quick to ignore that for the moment and focused instead on the thin, elderly sky-blue pegasus mare.

“Sky Dive,” he addressed the pegasus. “You wished to speak with me? Have something more to say regarding my stay here?”

“Well, aren’t you presumptuous,” Sky Dive rolled her eyes and just calmly sipped from her cup. “But can you blame a mother for being concerned about her children? Then again, you wouldn’t know how that is.”

“Mom!” Dew whispered sharply, before quickly stepping away from Sombra, who was starting to scowl harder. Foxy, Private and Coal looked just as alarmed as the pegasus.

“However, I used to not know that either,” Sky Dive shrugged, seemingly unphased by the murderous glare she was being given by the king. Now her daughters and Private looked at the elder pony a bit startled. Only Coal looked confused, not knowing what her grandmother meant.

“What are you talking about?” Sombra snorted. It bothered him a little how calm and collected Sky Dive was. It had also bothered him when he was here the last time they met. It really infuriated him how with just a few words, this pegasus could get under his skin.

“You think you are the only pony estranged from their parents?” Sky Dive looked at Sombra. The king stopped glaring but remained suspicious.

“Please sit down already. I’m not here to bother you with the usual speeches I know you’re tired of hearing.” The pegasus said and continued to drink her tea as if everything was perfectly normal.

There was silence for a moment. Sombra did sit down, but continued to stare suspiciously at the elder pegasus. Sky Dive then glanced at Coal before giving Foxy a look. The maroon mare blinked, then took to the air, snatched her daughter up and flew out of the living room.

“Hey what’s going on!” Coal protested as she disappeared from the room with her mother.

“Nothing there for young fillies to hear,” Foxy responded in a sing-a-song voice.

King Sombra dropped his scowl as he himself had been a little surprised at this turn of event. He looked at Sky Dive again, who was using one hoof to brush against the coat on her side, bending the fur so the roots could be seen. They had the faintest sign of being a darker shade of blue, more like Dew’s coat color.

“You can just about see it, but my current appearance is not the natural color of my coat. I am actually the same shade of blue as Dew Doe is,” Sky Dive explained. When hearing this, both Private and Dew Doe looked shocked. Both knew this was not something the elderly mare told just anyone.

“Fascinating, I take this is going somewhere?” Sombra dryly remarked, arching his brow when Sky Dive chuckled.

“I have had some time this week to ponder what Dew Doe told me about you. Especially the relationship you had with your mother,” Sky Dive now sighed and looked uncomfortable as if bad memories were surfacing. Sombra remained silent. He wanted to see where this went. Dew Doe went over to her mother and sat down next to her, putting a hoof on her back.

“My mother was a model; she was very popular and well known. To the outside world, she was charming and sweet, she was a role model for so many young fillies.” Sky Dive’s face darkened, and her lips started to twitch. The king tilted his head, now he was interested in hearing where this was going. The elder pegasus took a moment to calm down before continuing, with a shake of her head.

“If only they knew her as I knew her. Controlling and manipulative, she would spread false rumors about other models to get rid of them. She would threaten to quit a shot if it was supposed to be with someone she didn’t like. She would steal jobs from other models, and that’s just how she treated others.” The old mare looked at Sombra.

“She of course wanted her only daughter to follow in her hoofsteps and she made sure of it, whether I wanted it or not. I was forced into shoot after shoot. If the clothes didn’t fit, I was starved until I was thin enough to fit them. If I even made a peep of protest…” Sky Dive halted, her eyes were starting to twitch. Dew Doe draped a wing around her mother. The older pegasus took another moment to calm down and sipped her tea. Then she looked at Sombra neutrally.

“But I suppose you're not interested in hearing some sob story from a pony like me.” She shrugged and reached to give Dew a gentle pat on the cheek and smiled at her daughter.

“No, please, continue.” All eyes went to Sombra. The king showed nothing outwardly but was no longer scowling. Dew glanced surprised at Private, who was just as confused as her.

“Well, if you insist.” Sky Dive shrugged.  Dew retracted the wing from her.

“There is not much more to say, though. I was beaten and starved into submission.  For the longest time I was more like an automated carnival attraction, just did what mother ordered me to do, fearing anything I said would cause me to be struck or they would withhold my food,” the pegasus continued.

“It was my great-uncle who eventually saved me. Axe never was in the model industry like the rest of my family. He told me that he had tried to save his niece, my mother, from his sister when seeing how she was treating her, but failed. When he saw history was repeating itself, he came determined to save me.” Sky Dive smiled, as did Dew Doe.

“Axe was of course alarmed when I returned to the modeling industry, but I was determined to do it my way, not mother’s way and once my daughters were born, I was determined not to do what my mother did. Considering neither of them are models and doing what they want, I believe I succeeded,” the old mare chuckled.

“What happened to your mother?” Sombra wondered. He almost expected to hear she had taken some sort of revenge.

“Living out her retirement in a home in Cloudsdale, still not understanding why her only daughter never visits or speaks to her,” the old pegasus snorted in contempt.

“Have you ever visited her?” the king asked. Sky Dive had not struck him like a pony who didn’t enjoy rubbing her successes in someone’s face, especially if she disliked them.

“I did once, just to make it clear to her that I wanted nothing to do with her anymore. She honestly still believes what she did to me was for my own good,” the mare shook her head.

Yeah, I know how that feels, the king thought and found it really off-putting he could actually relate to this mare.

“Alright, Sky Dive. I will assure you that both your daughters and granddaughter are perfectly safe from me, as is Private. I am still waiting for them to convince me and I have promised them an ample amount of time to do so.” Sombra rose up and walked out of the living room, heading back upstairs to his room.

The three ponies watched him leave, then the younger ones looked at the older one. Sky Dive had put down the teacup, but still looked just as calm as before.

“I half expected you to tell him that your original name was Golden Crown before changing it,” Dew Doe said, still a little surprised how well this had gone.

“Well, I can’t be sharing all my secrets,” her mother chuckled before looking at the younger mare more solemnly. “I was being serious. I thought over what you told us at our meeting. I still don’t like that this is happening, but I also trust you and Private. If anypony can convince that dark grump to retire as he put it, it will be you two.”

“What? No explosions?” Foxy Stripes and Coal peeked into the living room, the maroon mare remarking on how calm and quiet everything looked.

“You promised me explosions.” Coal pointed an accusing hoof at her mother, giving her a mock glare.

“I promised no such thing,” her mother protested and stuck her tongue out at the filly.

“Then again, those two might just end up running him out of the house,” Sky Dive smirked, causing Dew to giggle and even Private smiled.

“Hey!” both Foxy and Coal shouted, glaring at the other three ponies in the room.

End chapter 8