Chapter Sixteen: Realized Ambitions
Security was certainly increased as the pair clip-clopped up the palace steps, guardsponies moving in pairs this way and that. Sombra’s head was on a swivel, causing Amber to giggle. She knew him well enough to pinpoint exactly what was going through his head.
“You’re looking for their patrol patterns and guard stations, aren’t you?” The mare asked with a smile. Her words caused Sombra to flatten his ears, cheeks red with embarrassment.
“Maaaaaaybe….” Was the half-muttered reply.
Amber suppressed a laugh, and she nuzzled the stallion under the chin.
“You’ll have your own armor soon enough, I know it.”
Her encouraging words cause a smile to meander onto Sombra’s features, the doors to the main assembly hall opening before them. Cadance and Shining Armor sat upon a regal yet elegant throne of bejeweled crystal, the two of them perking up with matching smiles as the pair entered the hall. The doors closed, only a few guards remaining in the room as Amber and Sombra bowed.
“Oh none of that, please.” Cadance called out, walking over to the pair and shaking a hoof at them.
“This kingdom has done enough groveling, us or anyone else. We’re working on breaking that-anyhow, so good to see you have recovered Sombra!” She continued, Shining Armor walking over to join her.
“We spoke with both Princess Celestia and Luna last night, and they have a theory of what happened to you Sombra, when you saved all those ponies.” The prince spoke up, leading them down a side hallway to a smaller, more secluded and private room with a few couches. After sitting down, Cadance couldn’t help but grin as Amber leaned on Sombra’s shoulder, the stallion gaining a slight rend tinge to his muzzle, but otherwise not showing any reaction.
Well, aside from a hoof sliding over to nudge Amber’s.
“The two princesses analyzed the magical energies from the erm, incident, and had a rather compelling idea of what happened.” Shining remarked, clearly trying to suppress a smile of his own.
“From what they can tell, your magic got a boost, simply put, but from a different realm. You said that you ‘took’ the demon’s power, correct?” To this, Sombra nodded slowly.
“That makes sense. You didn’t only take its power- you tapped into its entire realm. The amount of magic you had at your disposal was enough to make Celestia and Luna uneasy. Being mortal, they suspect your body would give out before you exhaust it, so there is a limit, a lethal one.”
Sombra blinked, trying to digest Shining’s words with a furrowed brow.
“I don’t even know how to do that again, use that kind of power…” He mumbled, glancing to the floor with a combination of puzzlement and uneasiness.
“They suspect only in extreme stress or, as they put it, ‘dire situations’ that your own magic will be exhausted. In other words, nobody really knows how you did it, even yourself it seems.” Shining concluded, shrugging briefly.
“In any case, we never got a formal chance to thank you. We could have a ceremony; in fact, we plan on it, but we think it should be combined with another event.”
The Prince had a rather decent poker face, but even such an expression crafted over years of training began to crack into a smile as he smoke.
“We think your acceptance into the guard would be a rather fitting event to coincide with the honors. Do you agree?”
Sombra blinked, staring at the royal pair with wide eyes.
“Wait. You….what?” He stammered, looking back and forth between Cadance and Shining.
“Once you feel up to it, you can start an accelerated version of the basic training. Pass the laws and physical tests, and you’ll be a royal guard. Your previous training is rather out of date, but it still counts as something.” Shining remarked, tossing over a small crystal medallion.
“That will get you into the training area for the physical tests. We already sent a stack of the new laws and regulations to Amber’s home. I doubt you’ll have any trouble acclimating, but let us know if you have any problems.”
The stallion’s jaw worked up and down, but no words came forth, other than a strangled squeak. Finally, a few forced their way out.
“Just like that? You mean, you’re willing to…” Sombra’s voice was clamped by emotion as he looked to his hooves, one of them holding Amber’s in an iron grip.
“I can be...a guard again?” He finally whispered, more stating than asking.
“Be a guard again? You never stopped being a guard!” Shining remarked rather forcefully, his bemused and pleasant expression offsetting his tone, a grin continuing to force its way through his stony expression.
“You completed the training, and were part of the elite guard of this empire. Consider this an upgrade to your station. You just need to be brought up to speed.”
A few tears fell from Sombra’s eyes, the stallion unable to say anything. He couldn’t help but be ashamed of the moisture running down his cheeks, but he couldn’t help it. They had no idea how much this meant to him; only one pony did...
And said pony was currently holding his shaking hoof, and resting her head across his neck, his own bowed down to try and hide the tears.
“Thank you.”
It was Amber’s voice that carried across to the royal couple, Sombra hiding under a hoof as a few more sobs surged to the fore.
A few minutes passed before Sombra managed to compose himself, straightening up to bow his head.
“Thank you, thank you both.” He spoke softly, then taking a deep breath, a determined smile on his face, despite wiping off the dampness of his tears with a hoof.
The pair smiled, Shining Armor walking over and offering his hoof, which Sombra gladly took as he stood up as well.
“You are most certainly welcome. You know, it is us who should be thanking you for saving so many ponies. It’s the least we could do.” The prince remarked as they headed back to the main hall, Sombra’s grin threatening to split his face in two now that the news was finally sinking in.
“A good night’s rest, and I can probably come in tomorrow. I’m out of shape, but should be able to manage the basics.” The stallion admitted.
“I’ll have to look over those laws too.” He remarked in afterthought, prompting Shining to nod.
“Tomorrow or the day after, whenever you feel up to it. As long as you can pass the basic tests, you’ll be good. If you want, you can try sparing as well, if you want to try for a more specialized area of the guard.” The prince’s words caused Amber to roll her eyes, a good-natured smile gracing her features as her stallion began to bounce with each step. He loved a challenge…
“I’ll do that. Thank you both, thank you so much.” He remarked softly, bowed briefly before the pair, despite their protests.
“It’s the least we could do Sombra. Oh, and Princess Luna wanted to pass this message along. She said; you have earned this, despite what you may think.” Cadance added, smiling as the stallion threatened to tear up again. But, he stood his ground shaking both their hooves as they bid their farewells.
“You’re going to arrive early to warm up, aren’t you?” Amber asked, as they left the palace, Sombra seeming to glow with joy as they walked the streets.
“Maaaaaaaybe.”
-
As the moon climbed higher in the sky, a robed guard slid into a side-alley of the palace, the small corridor only usually used by servants to travel hither and thither without being seen by the ruling parties.
“He’s well enough to train for the guard, he should be here the next few days.” He reported, the receiving pony masked by darkness, a pen writing across a rough sheet of parchment. The ‘ink’ was blood red, turning purple in contact with the air.
“Very good. Take this note to your group underground. We strike when he is still recovering. And remember, no fatal wounds. I would hate to have anyone else oppose our final goal. Unless, of course, you object to this?”
The feathered pen was flung across the room, skidding across the floor at the guard’s hooves before shattering on contact with the metal-shod appendages. The ragged ends of a pony’s vein protruded from the instrument, blood leaking from the broken container.
“N-no, of course not….” Was the stammered reply, and hasty retreat.
“That’s what I thought. Now go. We move within the week.”
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Great update. I'm so happy to see that Sombra is going to have a bit of action
Someone or something is planning to go after Sombra while he's in the midst of training. That could end badly.
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Or AWESOME!
7050234
I sense bad things coming soon...
I wonder if sombra will meet princess purple smart in this story
So, is that a new color? Funny I’ve never heard of it.
Yeah, that end word’s not right…
‘couldn’t help’ is used one too many times, I think.
‘sparing’ is to be frugal, ‘sparring’ is the word you want here.
Eek! What was that at the end. Maybe a bit too much info. Yeah? (I don't even know what emoticon would fit here.)