//------------------------------// // 8. "More Tea Princess?" // Story: Sweetie's Shadow // by Note Sketch //------------------------------// The room was silent as the odd duo stared off against the princesses. Nopony said anything as they each tried to process what was going on. Sombra tried to hold a relaxed smile as he looked over at the princesses, though his eyes betrayed the facade he tried to put up. He was nervous, he was unprepared, he was vulnerable. His red irises looked left and right as he tried to think of possible ways out of this predicament. If a fight were to commence at this moment he would have nothing to defend himself on other than the theory of the 'live' command from before. He in fact, had no hard evidence that that even would work or if commands lasted this long. Sombra could, however, test it. The command that brought him back to life was given at about the same time as the one to stay his hoof from the necromancer's sister. If he was unable to attack her, the 'live' command should still be valid. However, if he did attack and was able to do so, then not only would his only hope for surviving this battle be lost, but it would also be the trigger that sends the goddesses into an aggression against him. The risk was too high, then again, what else could he do? The tension between the opposing forces began to build as Luna took notice of his hard eyes. She returned the gesture as she too began to plan out her next move. Carefully they both sketched out their next action and every action and reaction after that. "H-How about some tea?" Rarity asked out meekly as she moved in between the two groups, trying to cut the tension away. "Surely thou jests ." Luna responded as she took a step to the side to keep the stallion in view. "That sounds delightful." Celestia said before any other could speak out. "The one you said was imported from Prance?" She asked out with a gentle smile. "Sister!" "Now now Luna, we're guests in this house. Let's just accept their hospitality." "Yes, it would be rather rude to cause a scene." Sombra said as he began to make his way towards Rarity whom took a nervous step back when he came close. "For you, as requested from your sister." He finished as he passed the saddle with her stolen gems. Luna scoffed at his nonchalant behavior, all too eager to begin the fight but unwilling to make trouble for her friend. "T-Thank you. Umm, Sweetie Belle, would you mind helping me set the table for our guests?" <=•=> Sipping away at his warm tea, Sombra enjoyed his moment of peace even though on the other side of the table where he was sitting were mares capable of killing him and having reason to do so. Gently opening his eyes to look at them, he was met with a glare and a soft smile. Each expression belonging to Luna and Celestia respectively. "We made cookies!" Sweetie Belle shouted out as she ran into the room with a tray balanced on her head. She trotted over to Sombra's side, though in her rush, tripped and the tray flew outwards with the baked goods each heading in their own direction. With little difficulty, Sombra used his magic to catch all of the falling objects and placing them neatly back on the tray which he put on the table. He did so with the same dexterity he had used when Sweetie Belle had thrown the chess board the previous night. "You should be more careful." Sombra said as he took another sip from his drink, barely paying mind to the filly. "Heheh, sorry." "That was very quick of you." Celestia said as she clapped her hooves in appreciation of his actions. This sent a chill down Sombra's spine. Why was she acting so nice towards him? He had thought that what happened earlier was simply because she did not want to involve the filly and mare if he and the rest of the alicorns began to fight, but they had been alone for quite a while now. She had had the opportunity to initiate an assault against him, no doubt her sister wouldn't be against it; Luna was just itching to fight. "A mere reflex." He responded, though it seemed his reply was ill taken by the Lunar Goddess who once again scoffed at him. "Sister, remind Us again why we haven't simply done away with this stallion?" Luna asked as she took a drink of the tea in front of her, her eyes closed in annoyance of the entire situation. "You would prefer to shoot first and ask questions later?" Sombra bickered back while he grabbed his cup with a hoof as he twisted his body to lean on his elbow to face away from the dark mare. "We would prefer not to be in the presence of a stallion who took prisoner an entire civilization for his own personal delight. You're nothing more than a-" "Tyrant?" He finished for her. "Isn't that the title you two gave me?" He asked as he continued to pay them no mind. "The Tyrant of the Frozen North. The Tyrant of the Crystal Empire who ruled with an iron hoof." "A fitting title for one such as thyself." Sombra chuckled as he took one last sip of his tea, emptying the cup and placing it back on the table as he threw a glance at Luna. "I never said it wasn't fitting. I am a Tyrant. I am evil and cruel. I am daunting and savage in my ways. I am King Sombra." The dark stallion said as a malicious smile spread across his lips, a white flash crossing his eyes. Sombra was taunting her. He felt no remorse for his past actions and even accepted his title of Tyrant. It boiled at Luna's blood as she glared at his cheeky smile. She simply couldn't take it anymore. At the end of her patience, Luna spread her wings and with a strong flap lifted herself up before launching a bolt of energy at Sombra. The stallion saw the attack coming and as he sat in place he felt a surge of energy. It was like the warning the curse sent him from before, only this time it didn't stun or hurt him, it energized him. Luna meant to take Sombra's life and the spell he was under was reacting against it. He wasn't allowed to die. His eyes burned in purple flames as his felt his dark magic grow inside of him. He quickly jumped off his seat and got on all fours before readying himself to pounce but something stopped him. <=•=> "Do you think this was a good idea?" Rarity asked as she placed freshly made sandwiches onto a tray. Looking over at her friend was getting ready some more tea, she flopped down her ears as she waited for a response. "What? Having Princess Luna and Princess Celestia here? Of course it is! They'll know how to undo the spell and have Sombra back in the afterlife in no time." Twilight said with a smile as she walked over to the white mare and nudged her to up her spirits. "Don't you think so?" "Yeah, but you saw them just a moment ago. It looked like they were ready to rip each other's throats. I really don't want Sweetie Belle to be here if they fight." "I doubt Princess Celestia would let any harm come to her, besides, even if they do start a fight, Sweetie Belle could stop Sombra dead in his tracks!" Twilight said before realizing what she had said exactly. She cleared her throat as placed a hoof to her muzzle. "No pun intended." "I guess you're right. Still, I don't like this situation at-" "Become my shadow!" A voice echoed out from the room over, causing the two mares to pause their conversation. Sharing a glance at one another, they quickly ran to the room where the Princesses and Sombra had been drinking their tea only to find Luna staring off....against Sweetie Belle. "What trickery is this?" Luna asked out as she looked over at the filly who was standing her ground against the Goddess. "Don't hurt Mister Sombra!" Sweetie Belle shouted out as she leaned down in an offensive stance, though it was more like a kitten facing off against a lion. "Not to hurt- Filly, Doth thou understand who that stallion truly is? He is Sombra, the Tyrant of the Frozen North and barbaric dictator of the Crystal Empire!" Luna tried to reason with her, though it didn't seem to be working. Sweetie Belle didn't let up from her stance. "Sweetie Belle!" Rarity called out as she ran over to her sister and hugged her. "What happened?" Doing her best to breath under the suffocating embrace of her sister, Sweetie Belle responded. "Princess Luna was about to hurt Mister Sombra! I made him turn into my shadow before she could do it though." "How is that even possible! What kind of sorcery hath Sombra placed upon thee, child?" The dark alicorn asked out as she looked her over. "Haven't you figured it out yet Luna" Celestia said as she took one last sip from her tea. Gently putting the cup down on the table, she looked over at her sister with a gentle smile. "Sombra is bound to her by a spell." "What!?" Luna asked out in shock. "What doth thy mean? What hath Sombra done?!" "It...wasn't Sombra who did anything." Twilight said as she slowly stepped towards her fellow Princesses. "Sweetie Belle bound him to her shadow. How she managed to do so is beyond me, but I was hoping that perhaps you knew of how to break this spell. " Celestia finally stood up from the table to get closer to Sweetie. With a soft smile she spoke to her. "Would you mind calling Sombra back out again?" "S-Sure." Sweetie Belle said as she began to lower her guard. Celestia's smile brought a sense of serene stillness that gave her a sort of peace. "As long as Princess Luna doesn't try to hurt him again!" Looking over at her sister, Celestia waited for her to reply. Though first rather against it, she finally gave in with a sigh. "Fine. We shall stay our magic for now." Sweetie Belle wasn't fully convinced about it, but she decided to adhere to the request of having Sombra back out. After all, if things got messy again she could just recall him to her shadow. "Sombra, come out." She said softly. At once her shadow moved away from her as it jumped out and took the shape of a tall stallion. Landing rather roughly on the ground, Sombra was cast back out in the mid-pouncing position he had been in before forced to the filly's shadow and finally finished the landing. Stretching out his back to pop some bones, Sombra looked over to the Sun Goddess who was still holding a smile towards him. "How did you figure all of that out so fast?" He asked before taking a few steps towards her. "When you two first appeared I noticed Sweetie Belle was without a shadow. That, and you two gave off the same magic that I've seen countless times before." "What kind of magic?" Rarity asked. "The kind of magic ponies use when they try to revive fallen loved ones. The magic of Necromancy." "I'm not a Necromancer!" Sweetie Belle shouted out as she felt the attention go to her. "And how, pray tell, doth thou even know what that is? Actually, a better question is how thou managed to use Necromancy in the first place." "Like I said, we don't know how it happened. Sweetie Belle said she read a book from my library, but I don't have anything like that in my collection so there's no way I could even have given her the wrong book." Twilight said as she tried to clear things up, but it only brought up more questions. She was about to talk again when she noticed her former teacher raise her hoof, a gesture to hold a moment. "Sweetie Belle, would you mind telling me what it was that you did before Sombra became bound to you?" "I was reading Twilight's book." "And what else? Surely you had to have said something out loud." Placing a hoof to her chin, the filly began to think about what it was she had done action by action. "Well, I didn't say anything, but I did sing." "Sing?" "Yeah! The book said that doing something that calms you down before you talk helps with public speaking! So I sang a song." "What song was it? What were the lyrics?" "I uh, don't remember. I sorta made it up as I went along." She replied with a light blush. "Art thou saying thou simply sang out the chant to a powerful spell by mistake?" "Yeah?" "She's telling the truth." A voice said, quickly making everypony turn to look at Sombra who had made his way back to the table and poured himself more tea. "I remember hearing a song. It was hypnotic in nature, but it called out to me." "My, you're rather nonchalant about the situation you're in." Celestia said in what anypony would say was a teasing manner. "I could say the same thing about you." Sombra scoffed. "You have an old adversary in front of you. A stallion who had 'tortured millions of ponies' to 'achieve his evil goals'. Yet you talk as if you were talking to an old friend." "Would you rather I fight you head on again?" "It would make more sense if you did." Sombra said as a smile crept on him. One he did his best to hide. His theory was proven correct, and had it not been for the filly calling him to her shadow, he might have done quite a number on the Lunar Princess. If they were to begin another battle, no doubt he would be able to escape, if not win altogether. "Become my shadow!" Sweetie Belle shouted out again. With an annoyed face, Sombra was once more forced into darkness that trailed its way to her. "Stop trying to hurt him!" Oye! What do you think you're doing filly? Sombra's voice echoed in Sweetie Belle's head. It was a side effect of him being her shadow that she had forgotten about. "I'm making sure they don't hurt you!" The filly shouted out, causing all the mares around her to look at her in confusion. I require no protection. Let me out so I may face them. "No way. It's Princess Luna and Princess Celestia we're talking about here. They'll hurt you pretty badly!" "Sweetie Belle?" Rarity asked out, concerned for her sister's sanity. First off, it was your sister and her friends that killed me. The Royal Sisters only managed to banish me when we fought. Secondly, do you really think, I would let myself die so easily? What do you think of me?! "Wait, so you fought against the Princesses and survived? Wow! You're really strong." Sweetie Belle said out loud with a grin. Those around her were finally starting to piece everything together. "Sweetie, are you talking to Sombra?" Twilight asked. "Huh? Yeah. When he's my shadow, I can hear his thoughts in my head." The filly responded with a smile, oblivious to the indications of such a thing. Quietly they all looked at one another as they studied the filly. "Sweetie Belle, would you mind bringing Sombra back out again?" Celestia asked. "No! You'll try to hurt him again." Ay por el amor de dios. Quickly Sweetie's shadow began to move on its own as it converged out of the ground. Pulling himself from the ground, Sombra came to his hooves as he forced his body to obey him. "Stop asking the filly, I am capable of coming out on my own." "What?! Since when!?" Sweetie Belle shouted out in surprise. "Since always." He said as he dusted himself off. "Then why did you never do it before?" "Never felt the need to." Sombra responded back in a quick back and forth that was rather strange to see. After all, who would have guessed that the all powerful dark lord would be bickering with a filly. "Well perhaps you can shed some more light into the situation." Celestia said as she stepped close, an action that Sombra disliked greatly and it showed in his face and reluctance to respond immediately. "How did you come to be bound to Sweetie Belle. This isn't the normal revival most ponies go for." "I don't remember." "Most likely a lie, sister." "I do not lie." Sombra responded quickly as he glared at Luna. "I may be a Tyrant, but I'm no liar. Or have you forgotten the letter I wrote?" "Letter?" The mares asked out. "You mean the one you wrote to Canterlot when you were King?" "If We recall correctly, thou hath spoken of us possessing something thou wanted and if we did not give it to thee, thou would take it by force." "I do not beat around the bush Princess, but instead of a simple response letter, I am greeted by an army at my door step." "Thou had threatened us! Luckily we caught thou at a time when thy army was nowhere to be seen." "Oh they were to be seen. They were in the mines." Sombra said as he gestured with his hoof, not really coming to an understanding at how he sounded at the moment. "You put your army in the mines?!" Twilight asked out, immediately imagining the guards from the Crystal Empire having to work in the mines. "We were behind schedule as it was! We needed to excavate as many crystals as we could in order to survive the winter that was to come." "You lived in Frozen North." Rarity spoke out. "It's always winter!" "You clearly haven't seen a winter in the Empire then." "So wait. Are you saying that you willingly fought us and our army on your own?" The Sun Goddess asked. "I had no choice. The empire would not have survived otherwise. Not that it mattered it seems. Your goal was to 'relieve' of my position as King. Luckily I managed to place the Empire at a standstill while I was banished, saving it from starvation." "Thou speak as if thou were a savior." Luna said as she sent a hateful look in Sombra's direction. He responded in kind and they were once again in a rather lethal staring contest. The dark stallion's eyes began to spark in flames as his guard was suddenly raised by the curse he was under. The Princess had killing intent in her gaze, powering him. It was exactly what he wanted. "Cookie?" Sweetie Belle asked as she jumped between the two clashing forces with a tray balanced on her head again. Both of them were taken by surprise at her antics and took a step back. "Take one Mister Sombra." She said with an innocent smile. Bound to follow her instructions, Sombra used his magic to levitate a cookie and take a quick bite out of it in frustration. Again she had interrupted his plans to use the curse to his advantage. "W-We'll take one too." Luna said as she tried to move away from the tense atmosphere she had created, but as she reached for the trey, Sweetie Belle moved it out of reach. "No! You keep trying to hurt Mister Sombra!" Sweetie Belle said as she took a stand beside Sombra who couldn't help but smile at having somepony at his defense, even if it was just a filly. It was definitely nice to be able to smirk at the expression Luna was making for being rejected a cookie to take. "W-What!? Such a thing is uncalled for!" "You can have one if you apologize." The filly said with her chest out, the same expression she had given when she had demanded the same action from Sombra. "Thou wishes for Us to apologize to a Tyrant?!" "You were at fault here Luna." Celestia said with a giggle. "Not thee as well!" Luna shouted out, her face red in frustration. "Thou would act the same way if thy mind was not filled with memories of thine past lover." In a fraction of a second Celestia calm demeanor was turned into a flustered one as she turned blood red at the face. "H-H-H-He has nothing to do with anything!" "He hath everything to do with it! Why else would thou be so calm to see Sombra? Thine mind is plagued with 'lovey dovey' memories!" The two sisters began to bicker with one another in a 'lovingly' sister way, leaving Sombra and Sweetie Belle rather confused with the situation. The mares to their side soon began to undertsand what Luna had meant and their faces shined as they recalled a small detail in one of their adventures. "Oh right, Celestia fell in love with an alternate version of King Sombra." Twilight said as she smacked one hoof against the other in realization. "Don't say that in front of him!" Celestia shouted as she tried to cover Twilight's muzzle, but it was too late, Sombra and for that matter, Sweetie Belle had heard. "Really!?" The filly squeaked out. "Princess Celestia likes Mister Sombra?!" "N-N-N-No! It was an alternate version of Sombra!" The Sun Goddess tried to explain, but there was no reasoning with the filly. "So do you like her back?" Sweetie asked as he nudged one of Sombra's hooves. His only response was to look away in annoyance and take another bite of his cookie. "Ha. Me fall for one of the mares who tried to murder me? Nonesense." Celestia remained motionless as she heard him speak. She wasn't sure how to take it. Whether to be happy that he didn't seem to take interest in her little secret, or sad that she was rejected so quickly by a version of her former lover. The snickering at her back by her sister was of no consolation either. "Quiet Luna! This is all your fault!" "We are not to blame that thou art not capable of captivating King Sombra." She teased back. With a heavy sigh, Sombra took a step towards the filly as he began to shift his physical form into darkness. "Call me when their petty feud is over." He said as he returned to Sweetie Belle as her shadow. The filly, of course, paid little mind to his words as she looked over in a giggle fit at the Royal Sisters. Dumbfounded, Twilight and Rarity stood still as they too looked over at the situation. This was certainly not what they imagined would happen when the Princesses arrived. Sighing, Rarity lowered her head as annoyance took hold of her. "I'll go make more tea..."