Tales of a Brighton Phoenix

by The Stainmore Phoenix

25

After several days down in the medical ward, I was released and walked with Sombra to a large door, which opened onto a steep spiral upwards.

“A chariot will be collecting us,” he said.

“Yeah,” I said, registering what was said.

He turned to me.

“Phoenix, I wanted to ask you something,” he said.

“Shoot,” I said.

“How did you come to meet your current friends? The friends you came with,” he said.

“We met over a race,” I said.

“What kind of race?” he asked.

“A Railway race,” I said.

He raised a brow. I chuckled.

“You don't know about devices called computers,” I said, hiding the fact that he was clueless.

He chuckled the familiar chuckle of being had.

“I know about computers,” he said.

“Remind me to put vinegar in your tea later,” I grumped.

He chuckled softly and gave me a light nudge with his front left hoof.

“Your Somerset is rubbing off on me,” Sombra said. “He's in fact been helping your dad understand you. While Skyla tried, she kept stumbling over her words and he cut through all the stumblings and gave us the facts.”

“That's good,” I said.

Sombra nodded. We soon arrived at the top, where a chariot waited. Everfree Vineyard and two guards were also stood there.

“Ready?” she asked.

“Yes,” Sombra said. “You should consider coming back some time. Cadence misses you. As for her husband, he has yet to meet you.”

She nodded softly and climbed aboard. For a Royal Carriage, it was as cramped as a broom closet. To paint that for you, Everfree Vineyard had her front left hoof situated in front of my chest while Sombra's entire body rested against us and the back wall. With such arrangements, trying to move was impossible. Oh and did I mention, we were in for a 15 hour journey back home? We were, so try to imagine being being in the position of a statue for that long a journey, with no stretch breaks.

“I think we should invest in a bigger carriage,” I heard Sombra growl. “This is ridiculous.”

“I know dear,” replied Everfree Vineyard. “However, this was a repair job on the old chariot.”

“I see,” he said.

We rode the rest of the way in silence. The scenery flew by and the carriage bounced roughly a couple of times, as it hit clouds. The jolts were painful to say the least. Every bump caused us to bounce around and slam into each other.

“ Can't these royal carriage bearers dodge clouds?” Everfree asked.

“They can, but they choose not to,” Sombra grumbled. “They think that it'll be quicker.”

No more was said. The carriage bounced on some more clouds and jolted as it scraped a tree top. I grunted as we banked sharply left.

At long last, we reached the Crystal Empire's castle. Once safely on the ground, Echo opened the carriage and Inkwell dragged Sombra out, trying hard to not injure him. After he was out and stretching, Inkwell pulled out Everfree, then I was pulled out.

I stretched and cracked all my stiff joints. To say my Grandparents were disgusted would be an understatement. They looked ready to empty their stomachs.

“Sorry, when stiff, every joint needs cracking,” I said.

“Oh,” Sombra said.

I nodded and after stretching out some more and getting limber, we walked in. Somerset and Luna were walking side by side and talking about something. I didn't catch it as I was lead straight into mom and dad's quarters. As I entered, mom lunged over at me, wrapping a smothering hug around me.

“mmmpphphpom!”

It didn't seem she heard me and I thought she would never let go. It wasn't until I managed to push her off and catch breath

“Mom, you don't need to kill me,” I said.

“Sorry,” she said. “It's just....”

“You were worried?” I said.

“Yes,” she replied.

“I needed some time to clear my head,” I said.

Cadence chuckled, then gently nuzzled me. Once done, she wanted to know how I met my friends.

“Wait until tonight,” I said. “It's best to have them around.”

They agreed. After dad returned, he and I walked through the garden.

“Your just like several colts I knew in the Academy,” he said. “They were all about their duties being the key definition of their existence.”

“What happened to them?” I asked.

“Worked themselves into their graves,” he said.

“Oh?” I said.

He nodded. I tried to not look down and show the fact I messed up royally. He noticed.

“It's an honest mistake,” he said. “Try to understand something, please.”

“I'll try,” I said.

“We all make mistakes,” he said.

“I see,” I said.

“However, that doesn't mean that we don't love you or even find you and your friends' crazy antics funny,” he said.

I chuckled.

“Thanks,” I said.

“You ought to have seen Cadence,” he said. “She wanted to hire Somerset and Dorset to kidnap Twily for a mock horror scenario.”

“What horror scenario?” I asked.

“Something called “Saw”,” he said.

I rolled my eyes.

“Jumpscares and cheap scares,” I said. “I prefer the old Black and White psychological and classic monster horror movie scares. Give me Dracula and Frankenstein any day.”

Dad just chuckled. He and I walked through the grounds, with Sombra catching up to us. He and Dad talked about military tactics while I hung back to give them time to talk about training maneuvers. While it interested me, I was no longer working as a drill sergeant, so I had no need to hear this information. After they finished, they turned to see me hanging back.

“Aren't you going add anything?” Sombra asked.

“No,” I said. “I have nothing to add.”

They nodded. Dad changed the subject.

“So, I heard from a little birdie that you're dating a Wonderbolt,” he said.

“That's true,” I said, trying to hide the blush.

“It's okay,” Dad said.

“I suppose you heard the events surrounding his little lovefest with Blaze?” Sombra quizzed.

“Yes,” Dad said.

I tried to crawl under a rock. Dad didn't sound too happy. Sombra just chuckled as Dad turned to me and proceeded to tell me exactly what he thought of that stunt. I nodded and said I understood.

“As long as it doesn't happen again,” Dad stated.

I agreed.

“Anyway, we heard you play games with your friends?” Sombra said.

“Yes, we do have get togethers,” I said, perking up.

“What kind of games do you play?” Dad asked.

“Generally we play card games and computer games,” I said.

“What kinds of computer games?” Dad asked.

“Generally, multiplayer games,” I said. “We already know each others strengths and weaknesses, so we can fill each others roles.”

“Ah,” Sombra said.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Are you guys a danger to each other?” Dad asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“This we'll have to see later,” Sombra said.