//------------------------------// // The hunt is on // Story: The hunt for Sombra(ro) // by Firestreak2018 //------------------------------// A day like any other day, a week just like any other. Celestia sighed inwardly to herself as she sat on her throne, preparing for the onslaught of nobles that she was going to have to endure for the next few hours. She did love her subjects, don't get her wrong, but the thought of having to be the mediator of so many petty squabbles and inconveniences had led her to regularly question if intelligence of the general pony population declined with time. For her own sake, she hoped that this was a non-existent trend. "Princess Celestia!" The masculine shout as a guard galloped into the throne room snapped her out of her thoughts, and she found herself to be quite happy to see the look of panic and urgency that twinkled in his eyes. This guard was good at hiding the fear he possessed, with his stoic face making it almost impossible to any other pony to know that a storm of emotion was building up within him, but several centuries of silent analysing allowed Celestia to easily tell every feeling that they had. "Your highness! I apologize for the sudden interruption, princess, but I am afraid that I have bad news for you." Celestia's initial boredom was immediately replaced with excitement that she hid very well as her heart skipped a beat. Yes indeed, this was a week just like any other week. Equestria needed something extraordinary to happen every week, that she had observed, although she had long since given up on trying to understand why. This week's exciting event was happening now, and although she wore a mask of concern as she sat upright, her mind was focusing more on the billions of scenarios that could possibly happen: Another parasprite invasion? Princess Luna scaring another town with her arrival (some ponies just took a while to adjust)? Twilight and her friends going on some wacky adventure that she secretly yearned to join? "What is the matter, my little pony?" Ugh. Nevermind, I give up. Her practiced motherly tone coated her words, although she genuinely felt a mild disinterest for any of these extraordinary happenings today. Today was more like a 'super lazy' day for her, and all she wanted to do was to curl up in bed with her cape with the letter "SL" emblazoned on it. But as life always was, it never gave anypony what they desired at that time. Not even the solar princess herself. "Your highness." The stallion removed his helmet, looking slightly downtrodden at having to be the harbinger of bad news to the princess. "I am afraid that... 'It', has returned." It... It... What did 'it' stand for again? Celestia wracked her mind for a few seconds, face brightening up for a moment when she finally remembered, but the short moment of happiness was almost instantaneously switched with trepidation that was all too obvious for anypony to see. No... This couldn't be. He couldn't have revealed himself again like that! Not after what had happened! "Guards! Day court is cancelled for today!" Celestia, in any other case, would have been happy to say that, filled with joy at being able to shrug off her duties for the day, but this was a serious situation that needed solving. So serious a matter that she couldn't even bask in the joy of not having to entertain the nobles' quarreling for a day. The guards saluted and set about their tasks of dispersing the rather unhappy crowd, made even more furious at having wasted hours just waiting by the doors, only to be denied just when day court was just about to start. As for princess Celestia, she was more worried about the situation that presented itself to her, and that was why the next few minutes saw her back in her room, frantically scribbling out a letter to be sent to her ever-faithful student. Dear Twilight Sparkle... ----- "Coming!" The stallion sighed in relief as he finally got a response from the occupant or occupants of the building. As if standing there for half an hour knocking on a door was bad enough, the wait just had to be accompanied by the din of foals screaming and shouting within the building. Of course, he naturally figured this place to be some sort of daycare, and he thought that this town had forgotten when April Foal's day rightly was, so imagine his surprise, annoyance, disbelief and distaste when he found out that this was the boutique that he was looking for. He knocked until his left forehoof was sore, but as the saying goes: good things come to those who wait. His efforts payed off after half an hour, and the foals had quietened down as an added bonus. The clopping of hooves neared the door, and the stallion naturally pushed his long mane out of his face, tilting his muzzle slightly upward to maintain his smart look. However, his confidence faltered when he saw that there was no pony standing before him. Funny. He thought to himself as the door opened without the trace of magic at all. Is this fashionista invisible or- "Hello there, mister! My name's Sweetie Belle! Are you looking to buy any of my sister's outfits?" The stallion looked around initially, confused as to where the energetic voice was coming from, but a look downwards solved his confusion, as well as make him feel rather stupid. Of course... Foals would be shorter than full-grown ponies. "Or did you wanna talk to her about something? She's out at the moment, but you could always talk with my friends and I!" "It's alright, Miss Belle." He smiled, following the filly into the boutique and trying not to be too affected by the mess of the building's interior. "I have placed an order a few weeks earlier with your sister, Rarity I presume, and I was just wondering if she was done with it." He scanned the hall, spotting a dressing room, a mirror, a table in front of said mirror, and a whole lot of fabric and glitter strewn about the place. It was chaos, really, and being the perfectionist he was, he just had to get the fabrics a corner of the room, all sorted by color. "She left in a real hurry, so I wasn't really told that we would have ponies looking for their orders, but you can follow me up to the designing room to find it if you want!" The stallion nodded, a stray thought making its way into his mind about how easily foals trusted strangers here. Too easily, really. "Sweetie Belle? Who's at the door?" Scootaloo asked, wondering why she was taking so long to answer the door. The stallion was soon aware that it was only two fillies that had caused such a loud racket just now, and he had to admit that it was a huge feat by itself. Sure noise pollution was not something that is accepted wildly, but the sheer amount of noise these two could make was... Impressive. "Oh, hey there, mister! The name's Scootaloo!" "Hello to you too, dear. Just what are you doing that needs you to be hanging from the ceiling like that?" Sombra looked up curiously at the suspended pegasus, who was buzzing her tiny wings to try to lift the tension that strangled her abdomen. "Do you need help?" "Nah, I'm alright." The Orange filly waved a dismissive hoof before buzzing her wings fruitlessly again. "See?" A grunt left her lips as she buzzed more, before she let out a sigh and slumped back down against the rope that held her tightly. "Yeah, I'm stuck. Could you help me down? Please?" As Sweetie Belle set about to find the black stallion's order, the stallion went ahead to untie Scootaloo from the ceiling with his deterious telekinesis, chuckling as he saw that it had left a depressed ring around the pegasus' abdomen. He stopped as he detected a hint of sadness from Scootaloo, and decided: maybe today was the day where he would have to cheer somepony up. "Oh come now, my dear. Don't have to look so forlorn about being unable to fly that well." Scootaloo's mood went even further south, and he mentally slapped himself for the lack of subtlety. "There's so many other things that you could be good at, y'know? Just because a unicorn can't levitate does not mean he is a failure, so cheer up, I'm sure you are talented in something." "Yeah, everypony keeps saying that, mister, but I just want to get my cutie mark. Sweetie, Applebloom and I have been trying for so long, but we still haven't gotten our cutie marks!" Somehow, the act of letting out her sorrows did cheer her up by a wee bit. "I don't think I'll ever find what I'm good at." "Nothing? Really?" He asked, earning a downtrodden nod from the pegasus. "Naw, of course not. Everypony has at least something they're good at. Let's take an example: do you play any musical instruments?" Another nod, and he smiled. "Would it be drums, by any chance?" Scootaloo nodded, paused, and looked up, astonished. "How'd you know?" He merely waved a dismissive good and told her that it was a lucky guess, before encouraging her to share more about her experience with the drums. Scootaloo was more than happy to start boasting about all the feats she had done with her musical instrument, leaving out the parts where neighbors had started to complain about the loud thumping in the middle of the night. Although Sombra knew that her feats were nothing big in truth, he did not shoot her down. "You must be really good at the percussions, then." He remarked, a smile tugging at his lips as he saw that Scootaloo was no longer in such a downtrodden state. His smile only widened as Sweetie Belle entered the room again, carrying the piece of headgear that the stallion had ordered. "Ah... Impeccable timing, miss Belle! Thank you so much. My compliments to the fashionista too. Just as I had imagined it to be." He pushed his jet-black mane back to reveal his glowing red horn, which glowed brighter before two objects materialized between him and the two fillies. Scootaloo sat, intrigued by these two new objects that resembled eggs held on sticks. A shake of the objects from the stallion's telekinesis made them rattle, and he brought it to Scootaloo's hooves. "A little encouragement from me, lass. These things here are called maracas, fun things to get the rythm going, if you ask me." His horn glowed again, and a guitar materialized in his hooves. "Here's a little song I made when I was a foal, and I was encouraging my fellow friends to not give up no matter how hard times may be." He gave the guitar an experimental strum, and satisfied that his instrument was in tune, nodded for Scootaloo to begin shaking up a beat. "This song's for you too, young mares. Composed by the one and only King Sombra." He paused, smiled and tilted his headgear down with a smirk. "Or should I say, King Sombrero." ------- Celestia let out a long sigh as she trotted into the room, finally glad that the events of today were over. She loved the idea of adventure, charging at the face of danger boldly and fighting anything that dared to threaten the well-being of innocents, but the truth she hated to admit was that she was getting too old for this kind of thing. And what could she do if danger presented itself? Watch helplessly as her student and her friends go about with their adventures, it seems. Just sit and wait for the results. It was the closest she'd be getting to adventure, nowadays. "Penny for your thoughts, dear?" Celestia snapped out of her thoughts of self-pity to greet the pony who entered the room, heart melting with relief as she saw him walking in without a trace of injury. The crystal sombrero perched on his head jingled merrily as the stallion made his way to the Alicorn and nuzzled her neck tenderly. The princess, however, merely continued staring ahead, refusing to acknowledge his presence. “Alright, alright. I’m really sorry for causing you so much worry, Celly. Now, will you just talk to me instead of pouting by my sombrero collection?” Sombra could see the alicorn’s shoulders shudder in an attempt to stifle a giggle, and he decided that whatever he had done was not too serious after all. Mares were such mysteries, he thought to himself as he levitated his newest addition to the glass cabinet. He had long since given up trying to guess what he did to miff her, and instead took on the strategy of apologizing first, and finding out later. “Sorry for what?” Celestia’s question made him pause mid stride, leaving him in a rather uncomfortable position as he was in the midst of settling down on one of his nearby couches. The next thought that popped into his head as he decided to just lie down was that he was going to have to develop a new strategy. She was learning his tricks quite impressively fast. “Uhhh… For freeing the Crystal Empire?” He nonchalantly offered, subconsciously smiling as he took in the sight of both the beautiful mare’s face and rear as she looked at him. He tried not to get too focused on the latter because of the situation, and he only raised a brow as Celestia gave him an almost expressionless look. He could see the hints of a smirk tugging at her muzzle, but he didn’t want to point it out for fear that she was going to get agitated by what she calls ‘Unimportant details’. “What? You can’t possibly get mad at me for getting a new sombrero, Celly! I swear to Faust, if that’s why you’re angry at me, I would rather go for Luna!” He chuckled at the last part, not even bothering to look at Celestia as his snickering escalated to loud howls of laughter. He knew that Celestia would come around with his tiny jokes, she always did. The feel of a soft coat pressing against his own and a feminine chuckle by his ears confirmed it. “So, my dear alicorn… Why are you mad at this old colt for getting this flawless crystal sombrero, hmmm?” “I honestly don’t know if you’re just trying to get on my nerves, or if you’re simply the densest stallion I’ve met, Sombra.” She giggled, pecking him on the muzzle as she materialized the tea tray that sat in her room. Her telekinesis did the honour of preparing their hot beverages as they shared another kiss. “I’m not mad at you for freeing the Crystal ponies or getting the sombrero, although I am slightly offended that you didn’t get one for me. You just had to get me worried that my subjects found you again, didn’t you?” Sombra shrugged, seemingly feeling neither guilt nor embarrassment at making his love sick with worry for him. Celestia looked over her shoulder and at the stallion for a moment, but seeing him busy with a piece of candy suspended from his horn, she gave up on trying to get an apology out of him. Instead, she settled for taking a throw pillow and mashing it onto his face as revenge. “You’re insufferable, you dolt.” “And you love me for that.” Sombra spoke through the pillow, as if he was unaware of the fabric that sat impaled on his face and muffled his voice, making what he had intended to be a deep sultry tone come out more like a zombie’s moan as it came back to life. “Wrhh dhont yhou shhr mhr shme rhuve?” “Not gonna answer if you don’t speak clearly, love.” Sombra continued mumbling incomprehensibly, and being a mare of her word, she did not even bother deciphering the muffled voice. Instead, the solar princess just let her own thoughts be known, because the stallion's ears were still uncovered. “Say, I don’t really know where your craftspony finds so much crystal. Such a huge crystal is not equinely possible.” "Indeed it is." Sombra said, taking the throw pillow off his face and settling it down against the couch. "From the element of generosity herself, actually. Did such a good job that I decided that I myself was generous enough to pardon the Crystal Ponies for mocking my hobby." "I'm glad you did it, love. Such a sentence for an entire empire is totally uncalled for in my opinion." She got a snort from the stallion, and Celestia immediately went to defend her stand. "Really! A nation should not be punished just because of defaming their ruler, love! If that was what happened, I assure you that we'll only have ourselves to take care of, with Luna being the first to banish the whole of Equestria to the moon, of course." "And that does sound desirable, doesn't it?" Sombra cooed. "Imagine... Just you, me, Luna and that snake." Celestia chuckled at the degrading term that described Discord, but let Sombra continue. "We could make life a paradise for ourselves. No politics, no petty wars to fight, no snooty nobles that have their faces so far up their plots that they break wind when they talk. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I can't say that I regret my actions, and I don't think I ever will, so remind me to thank Cadence for taking my place with her husband." Sombra took another two pieces of candy, hanging one on Celestia's horn as he ate his own. The alicorn didn't waste a second before the confectionary disappeared within her muzzle so that her coltfriend wouldn't tease her about how cute she looked like that. "Sometimes I'm glad that you're not a ruler anymore, Sombra. I don't think I could ever take you seriously with you and your silly sombreros." She straddled the unicorn, and they exchanged another kiss before she settled stop his sturdy barrel. "Now, if you don't mind, mister, you're going to play me a song as an apology for making me worry for 24 hours." Sombra could only chuckle as he looked into his marefriend's loving eyes, and with a glimmer of his horn, materialized the guitar and strummed a- "Oh hey, Mister Sombra! Hi princess Celestia! It's nice to- urk!" The sudden new company shocked the Alicorn and her lover out of their kiss, and they looked around from their awkward position to see a white unicorn filly clutching on to the guitar. She stared, slack-jawed for a few more moments before covering her eyes up and gagging, causing Sombra, who was the first to recover from the shock, to chuckle deeply. "I didn't see anything!" "Yes you didn't, Sweetie Belle. Now shoo, I'm having some private time with my princess!" His telekinesis pried the filly off of his instrument, and another glow of his horn sent her back to the boutique, where her sister was busy freaking out over how she had mysteriously vanished from plain sight. "Now that was... Uncalled for..." Celestia shifted nervously, still blushing from being seen in her compromising position with this stallion. "Looks like you did more than just collect that crystal sombrero of yours." "I... Could have made some friends while I was there. Heheheh..." "Just play me a song, you black-furred dolt." "Hmph. Wouldn't miss the chance for the world, love." The stallion chuckled as he brought the guitar back into his telekinesis again, strumming a chord as he looked into his lover's majestic eyes. "Now, where were we, Princess?"