//------------------------------//
// Chapter 14: Formal Request 
// Story: The Not-So-Normal Adventures of King Sombra and Pinkie Pie 
// by Harmony Charmer 
//------------------------------//

	The sun was just beginning to rise when Sombra awoke from his slumber. He yawned as he rubbed a tired eye and turned onto his side, smiling when he saw his special somepony's messy, curly mane. The previous night was too perfect for words and he could only hope for more like it in the days to come. 

He shifted his gaze to his surroundings and saw that all the candles had burnt themselves out due to their extended illumination at one point in the night. Sombra felt his cheeks grow warm at the sight of Pinkie and his clothes scattered about the room, completely disregarded.

'Where's my crown at?' he asked himself, raising a brow in questioning. He turned to look at Pinkie and his eyes widened when he saw the familiar silver band lopsidedly on her head. 'Oh, yeah...'

'Hello, you!' called out Conscious from within Sombra's mind, 'Did ya have fun last night?'

Sombra felt himself frown at the voice's inquiry. 'Did you watch us?'

Conscious was silent for a moment, then gagged. 'Gross, no! Good thing I can't eat already or you'd been cleaning up after me for hours!'

'Good,' Sombra said, then realized something, 'You haven't said anything for a while, Conscious.'

'Duh, that's cause you're not being an idiot, for once,' Conscious replied, muttering the last part.

'Are you done?' Sombra asked irritably, beginning to feel annoyed at the voice's return, 'I'd like to enjoy my morning, if that's too much for you to handle.'

'Almost, Mr.Grumpy-Pants,' Conscious told him, adding a bit of snark, much to Sombra's chagrin, 'just gonna tell ya not to do anything stupid, Stupid.'

Before Sombra could show Conscious just how "stupid" he really was, he felt the voice's presence disappear into the inner recesses of his mind where he wasn't able to disturb him. In the past month since he and Pinkie had become a couple, he had taken to learning Conscious' locations and habits.

Sombra had learned that Conscious made himself known whenever Sombra did something the presence in his head deemed "idiot" or "stupid", and that whenever the voice felt as though his work was done, he would disappear to a place where Sombra wouldn't be able to find him, despite being the owner of the space in which he resided.

With a shake of his head to rid himself of the voice's disturbance, he wrapped his foreleg around Pinkie's sleeping form and snuggled his head into her neck.

'I could lay here for centuries and still be content,' he thought to himself, breathing in the scent of her. She smelled sweet and warm, like fresh confectionery treats out of the oven.

"Mmmm..." Pinkie moaned, her eyes fluttering open as she yawned. Sombra frowned as Pinkie awoke from her peaceful state and chided himself for disturbing her.

"I didn't mean to wake you," Sombra told her, getting off of her.

"It's fine, Sombry," she said lazily, then yawned again, "how long have you been awake?"

"Not long," he told her, then propped his head with a foreleg, "how'd you sleep?"

Pinkie giggled. "I think you know the answer to that one, Sombry!" she said, then rolled over so her body was facing him, "come on, lay down with me."

"Gladly," he told her, then pulled her closer to him, resting his head on hers, then immediately jerked back up, "Ow!"

"What is it?" Pinkie exclaimed, jumping up as Sombra held his eye.

"I poked my eye on something..." he mumbled, then put his hoof down as he screwed his injured eye shut, "it's alright, really."

"What could've poked your eye?" Pinkie asked, scratching her head in thought, then stopping when she felt Sombra's crown on her head. Pinkie's cheeks went pinker than usual and she put her hoof down as she sheepishly grinned. "Oh, yeah..."

Sombra chuckled. "Let's just lay back down," he said, placing his on his pillow.

Pinkie giggled. "Okie dokie lokie!" she chirped, snuggling into him, being careful not to poke him with his crown. After getting comfortable, she let out a sigh of content before saying, "I'm so glad to have you..."

Sombra smiled as he murmured, "I'm glad to have you, too..."

And with that sleepy murmur, both ponies feel back asleep, enjoying the other's embrace.


*	*	*


The morning was peaceful for Twilight, who had decided to take advantage of the rare quietness that took over the usually bustling town. Seated at her work area, equipped with her papyrus and quill, she was ready to take on the copious amounts of studying she had failed to make good on.

'Why didn't I do this earlier?' she asked herself, cracking open her book. She didn't bother to answer her own question as she began to read, completely shutting her other senses down as she focused on reading.

Spike entered the room with a yawn and lazily scratched his back as he tiredly looked around the library. As he gazed across his home, he felt the absence of something that he had grown used to being there. Or, rather, somepony.

"Where's Sombra?" Spike asked, quirking a brow as he looked around the room again. Twilight gave no response and continued to read. Spike sighed and walked over to Twilight with a shake of his head as he frowned.

"Twilight?" he called out as he made his way over, earning the same result. "Twilight?" He was standing next to her at this point, but she still said nothing to show acknowledgement.

"TWILIGHT!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms to his sides in frustration.

"Gah!" Twilight yelled, then turned to look at Spike with a glare, "What?!"

"Do you know where Sombra is?" Spike asked her, crossing his arms disapprovingly, "I don't see him anywhere."

Twilight blinked in shock. "Didn't he come home last night?" she inquired, getting up from her studying area.

"All he said when he left was that it was Pinkie and his 'monthiversary' or something like that," Spike told her, then held up his arms in a clueless manner, "what do ya think he could be doing?"

Twilight didn't respond to his question, her eyes wide in horror as she tried to process what she had just heard.

"Twilight?" Spike asked, then waved his claws in her face, "You OK?"

Twilight chose at that moment to let out an ear piercing shriek as she put her hooves to her face in terror.

"Whoa, Twilight, what are you screaming about?!" Spike exclaimed, fearing that Twilight had experienced another mental break.

"Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew!"  Twilight squealed, screwing her eyes shut in disgust.

"What is it?" Spike questioned, giving her an incredulous look.

"I am never going to be able to get over this!" she exclaimed, "I am never going to be able to look at them without thinking about... it!"

"'It'?" Spike repeated, quirking a brow, "What's 'it'?"

Twilight froze as her face was overcome by realization of what she just said, her previous grievances silenced.

"Uh..." she drawled, then blushed as she laughed nervously, "I'll tell you when you're older."

Spike frowned. "You know what, I'm not even going to ask," he mumbled, stalking off angrily.

Twilight let out a ragged sigh. "Alright, so it may not be as big a deal..." she told herself, "they are adults, after all." As soon as she said it, she remembered the picnic at Sweet Apple Acres all those months ago and cringed as she recalled Sombra saying something similar when her friends and herself found out about... it.

Just as she was trying to force the bile in her throat to go back down, she heard Spike let out a loud belch and turned to see the tell-tale green wisps of flame dissipating into smoke, telling Twilight that she had received a letter. She rushed over to the rolled scroll and levitated in front of whilst unrolling it, then quickly read through it.

"What does it say?" Spike asked, walking over as Twilight remained silent during it's reading.

"It's from Celestia..." she murmured, then said louder, "she wants to see Sombra."

"What?" Spike blurted out, "Why?"

"I think the right question is 'Why now?'" she said, then rolled the scroll back up as she made her way towards the door, "come on, let's go get Sombra from Pinkie's."

"Why is he at Pinkie's?" Spike asked innocently, not understanding.

Twilight blinked in shock. "Uh, it's nothing to worry about," she told him.

Spike frowned. "Tell me when I'm older?"

"Yep."

"Figures."


*	*	*


As Twilight and Spike made their way over to Sugarcube Corner, Twilight kept reminding herself of one thing and one thing only:

Don't mention Sombra spending the night.

'Things have gotten weird enough as is,' Twilight thought, 'If I mention it, Celestia knows how worse it might get!'

"Twilight?"

'I mean, sure, I get why Pinkie would do it...'

"Twilight."

'Sombra's not bad-looking, once you get past the whole 'enslaved an entire race' thing.'

"Twilight."

'Maybe I can ask Pinkie about it later on...?'

"TWILIGHT!"

Twilight nearly jumped out of her coat. "What?!" she exclaimed, facing Spike.

"We're here," Spike huffed, then muttered, "we've been here..."

Twilight frowned, but more at herself than Spike. She shouldn't have been so immersed in her own thoughts as she had, but that seemed to be the only thing she'd been able to do lately.

Both Twilight and Spike entered the bakery, both stopping when they saw Pinkie sweeping up what appeared to be rose petals. The party pony looked up from the floor and was surprised to see her two friends at the doorway.

"Oh, hay, Twilight!" Pinkie greeted, then went back to sweeping. Spike and Twilight exchanged a look between one another, but refrained from saying anything to the other.

"Uh, what's with the rose petals?" Spike asked, pointing to the floor.

"Oh, last night me and Sombry celebrated out monthiversary!" Pinkie exclaimed, tossing the crumpled petals into the trash.

"Why rose petals?" Spike questioned, not understanding the meaning.

Pinkie blinked in surprise, then looked at Twilight with a knowing look. "Tell him when he's older?"

"You guessed it," Twilight replied, sneaking a grin at Spike's expense.

"Oh, ha ha, laugh it up!" Spike snapped sarcastically, then crossed his arms as he hunched over, "Just get to why we're here."

"Oh, right!" Twilight called, then looked around the bakery, "Where's Sombra at?"

Pinkie frowned. "Aw, you're taking him already?" she pouted, her eyes getting large.

"Well, no, not exactly," Twilight told her, "we got a letter from Celestia requesting his presence in Canterlot."

"What?" a voice said. All three turned to see Sombra making his way out of the kitchen, holding a steaming cup of coffee.

"Why is Princess Celestia asking for Sombra?" Pinkie asked, standing next to Sombra defensively.

Twilight frowned as she recognized Pinkie's resigned tone and use of Sombra's given name, rather than her nickname. She was frightened that he was going to be taken away from her, Twilight realized.

"Well, in the letter, she said she wanted to see Sombra's 'progress' for herself," Twilight explained, then put her hoof to her chin in thought, "can't imagine why, though."

"I agree," Sombra stated, then glanced at Pinkie, "you report everything that happens between me and Pinkie so often, it'a almost as if she were here!"

Twilight's eyes widened as her jaw became slacked while she droned out a, "Uhhhhh..."

"You did tell Princess Celestia that Sombry and I together, right?" Pinkie asked, raising an eyebrow in questioning.

"Uh..." Twilight continued, "maybe not?"

Both Sombra and Pinkie gaped at Twilight while Spike smacked his hand to his forehead.

"You said you could handle those on your own, Twilight!" Spike exclaimed, letting out a groan of aggravation.

Twilight narrowed her eyes as she frowned. "I forgot, alright?"

"How do you forget that one of your best friends in the entire world and a former tyrant of the icy north are dating?!" Pinkie exclaimed, then spared Sombra a light, "No offense, Sombry."

Sombra shrugged. "None taken."

Twilight sighed. "Alright, alright, I messed up," she admitted begrudgingly, "we can sort this all out when we get to Canterlot."

"'We'?" Pinkie repeated, "Do you mean we're all going?" 

"Duh, do you really think Princess Celestia would believe that Sombra got a girlfriend if she wasn't there?" Spike said, then laughed at his own quip.

"He's doing better than you," Pinkie countered.

"Pinkie!" Twilight exclaimed, while Spike gave her a wide-eyed stare.

"Shots fired," Sombra stated, then gave Pinkie a grin, "you've learned well, young apprentice."

Twilight frowned. "I really wish you wouldn't insult others through your marefriend."

"I'm the Element of Laughter," Pinkie said simply, "not Kindness."

Twilight sighed. "Just get your things ready. We'll be heading off in the morning." Twilight looked over at Sombra and nodded her head at the door. "Come on, Sombra, we got to go."

"But-" Sombra tried to protest.

"Don't worry, you'll see Pinkie soon enough," Twilight assured him, causing him to frown.

"Don't worry, Sombry!" Pinkie chirped, then pulled him into a one armed hug which nearly cut off his air supply, "like Twilight said, I'll see you soon!"

"Still getting used to the hugs..." Sombra rasped, then took a generous intake of air when PInkie released him.

"I gotta get back to work," Pinkie told him as he rubbed his neck, "I'll see you later, OK?"

He smiled at her. "Can't wait," Sombra said.

Pinkie smiled, then kissed him on the cheek before bouncing off while humming merrily.

"Come on, loverboy," Twilight teased, grabbing Sombra's foreleg before dragging him out of the bakery, "we got packin' to do."