The tyrant of fear and hate

by Askre

Chapter 9. How to wash and annoy your unicorn.

Chapter 9

Foxy carefully peeked out of the chamber, nothing much had changed though she could swear there were different guards now at their posts. She considered what to do, Dew was still sleeping and Emerald had earlier brought them breakfast. Foxy had already eaten her share of it.

Let’s poke around, the mare snuck out and carefully closed the door. Then she casually walked over to one pair of guards.

“Sooo, what’s the pay like?” she asked, crossing her front legs. The only response was silence.

“Great, you’re as bad as the Royal Guards at Canterlot. Let me guess, I could do a whole dance routine in front of you and you wouldn’t even bat an eye.” Foxy stuck her tongue out at them.

“And what’s with those green eyes,” she muttered and shook her head when still there was only silence from the guards.

Seeing that this was going nowhere, the mare turned and headed to the end of the corridor. Giving the guards there only an innocent smile, she passed through to the hall beyond. Foxy continued on, not really knowing where she was going, the pony had just been so bored waiting for her sister to wake up. Who knew, maybe she could find out something that could help them escape.

Foxy passed through few more halls and corridors that all looked remarkably similar. There were always guards and at some points they prevented her from going into some sections of the castle. Her roaming came to an abrupt halt when she met up with Private.

“Private!?” the mare cried and rushed over to the stallion. He had been slowly walking through a hallway and didn’t look very good, his hooves and face had dried blood and in general the unicorn looked messier than usual.

“Private, what happened?” she asked and offered to support her tired friend.

“You… don’t want to know,” he grunted but was rather glad to have some help standing up.

“Ah, yes, yes I do actually,” Foxy corrected him but the unicorn was silent. Sighing, knowing Private could out silence a statue the mare instead began helping him walk.

“We need to get you to your chamber and to the bathroom, you need a good scrubbing,” she then said. Private made no protest, that had been his plan anyway.

“Seriously Private, what in Equestria did he do to cause you be this tired and weak?” Foxy grunted as they continued to navigate the castle back to the hallway with the chambers.

Private sighed, he really didn’t want to talk about it and just wanted to forget all about it. Generally Foxy didn’t try too hard to have him speak, she knew him too well to know that was futile, however the unicorn supposed the mares should hear what was done to him so they could be more wary of King Sombra.

The stallion started to tell her about his less than stellar morning. Private shuddered at the memories and just felt queasy at the thought that he was now forced to work for Sombra. Foxy listened frowning at first but by the end of it was grimacing.

“Then something happened when we were heading back, he told me to stay and went back to the dungeon. After a while he came back, looking grimmer, told me to just go, I assumed he meant back to the chamber so I just left but he remained behind,” he finished just as they finally entered the hallway with the chambers.

“Seriously, that guy is sick. So wait, you have to work for him now?” Foxy asked concerned while she opened one of the doors to Private’s room.

“He put some sort of a spell on me that apparently will force me to do it. He can even order my body to do things without me being able to stop it,” the unicorn grunted and allowed the pegasus to take him to the bathroom.

“Jeez, can hardly wait to see what he has in store for me and Dew,” the mare said with heavy sarcasm. “Will you be okay in there on your own? Or need some more help?”

“You are not bathing me!” Private snapped and then blinked when he noticed that there was no faucet or any sign that there was running water.

“Oh right, over thousand years ago, no indoor plumbing.” The unicorn hung his head.

“Oh, sooo what are you going to do?” Foxy said and looked around. There was an old style bathtub and supplies for cleaning and in one corner there was a hole. The mare blinked when she realized what that hole was for. “It certainly gives you perspective when our bathroom back in Fillydelphia looks more luxurious than a castle from a thousand years ago.”

“We need to have water brought to us, it’s pumped from somewhere and then we need that heated, manually with fire.” Private sighed, one upside of knowing history was knowing some of the more primitive ways ponies did things.

Foxy peeked back into the chamber, there was no sign of Rubinstein but the mare wondered if there was some way to call him. Then she noticed a cord close to the bed. The mare trotted over to it, grabbed it in her mouth and pulled hard, nothing happened immediately but she assumed it would take little time. Private now glanced out of the bathroom, curious to what his friend was up to.

After a few minutes of waiting, Rubinstein came running. He was in so much hurry that he nearly tripped over himself as he entered the chamber. The Crystal Pony quickly righted himself up and stared confused at Foxy for a moment before looking at Private at the bathroom.

“I’m sorry I’m late, almost missed the bell when it rung. What can I do for you, sir?” Rubinstein asked, confusing the other two since he hadn’t been that late at all, they guessed the torture yesterday was still fresh on his mind.

“I need water to clean myself up,” Private grunted, trying to shield his hooves and legs from view, though he couldn’t do much for his face.

“Right away, sir.” Rubinstein then turned and hurried back out to carry out the request.

“He didn’t seem too bothered by your uh face, then again considering who he is working for, guess he’s used to it,” Foxy said and started to approach the chamber doors. “I’m going to check on Dew, you going to be alright?”

Private grunting was all the answer she needed, so with a chuckle the mare left the chamber. Foxy headed for the room she and Dew were staying in and up on entering saw that her sister was up and sitting by the food cart and eating.

“Hey, where did you go?” Dew Doe asked curiously but with a hint of worry.

“Oh just walking around a little, met Private looking like he took a stroll through Tartarus…” Foxy found herself slammed to the ground and her older sister standing right over her looking terrified.

“What happened to Private!?” she cried in panic. She became pale as Foxy gave her the abridged version of what Private had told her. Then in a blue flash she was gone from the room.

Yeah Dew you’re so totally not into Private, I can just totally see how not you are into him, Foxy grumbled and rose back to her feet. One day I’m going to lock those two up in a room and not let them out until they confess their feelings.

No wait that would be cruel. She shook her head and headed to the doors, not wanting to miss the spectacle that was Dew insisting on helping Private clean himself up. She could almost picture it in her head, the unicorn suddenly regaining all his energy to try and keep away from his not so secret admirer, shouting that he didn’t need any help. One of the few times Private would speak in a loud voice.

Foxy left the room and headed to Private’s chamber. As she looked in the mare grinned at the spectacle before her, as she expected the unicorn was now running around the room and right after him was her sister, holding a washcloth she had apparently found somewhere.

“I DON’T NEED HELP!” Private shouted as he tried to keep a distance between himself and the pegasus.

“Just let me get rid of the worst before the bathwater arrives,” Dew insisted and kept pace with the stallion.

And around and around they go, who need movies when you got this, Foxy cackled and sat down in the entrance and decided to just enjoy the show. She also knew this would probably help Private keep his mind off what had just happened, at least this was a more familiar territory for him.

“That cloth isn’t even damp, it won’t clean anything,” Private protested but then stumbled on his run and fell flat to the ground, his body finally reminding him that he didn’t really have the energy for this.

“Oh no, are you alright?” Dew was instantly by his side and helping him sit up.

Private just grumbled and rubbed the spot on his head that had hit the floor. Then he was subjected to the cloth now that Dew had caught up with him. The unicorn grunted and griped but didn’t do a whole lot to try and push the mare away from him.

Rubinstein finally arrived with the water, it was in a big tub carried by two other Crystal Ponies. Foxy rose up and stepped out of the way so they could enter. The servants immediately took it to the bathroom to prepare the bath.

“Looks like they are getting everything ready, come on,” Dew said and started pushing Private towards the bathroom.

“Hey wait, you are not coming too, I can do this myself. Dew, stop it. DEW!" Private protested but it fell on deaf ears as the mare pushed him into the bathroom and went inside as well.

Foxy rolled her eyes and shook her head. She was half tempted to go to the bathroom and watch as the unicorn made more futile attempts to protest the help until finally relenting to it, but decided against it. Private’s dignity had already suffered enough without her adding more to it. Instead the mare turned around intending to head back out, only to walk right into King Sombra.

You are wearing armor; how can you be so silent. Foxy internally screamed in rage that for the third time the king had somehow snuck up behind her. Outwardly she just stared nervously at the dark unicorn who looked rather serious.

“Where is Private?” the king simply asked.

“Cleaning himself up,” the mare responded and was half tempted to say why he was cleaning up but somehow figured Sombra didn’t care.

Foxy held back a sigh and a protest when the king immediately walked past her and headed for the bathroom. Instead she just followed, hoping against hope that Sombra just hadn’t believed her and was checking up on her story. The mare could hear voices coming from the bathroom that immediately fell silent when the king stepped into the entrance.

The maroon pony could just barely peek into the room since Sombra filled up most of the entrance. Rubinstein and the other two Crystal Ponies were standing with towels ready, Private was in the bathtub now all wet from the water and Dew had been busy cleaning him up. She had stopped when the king arrived and now all watched him with dread.

“Slaves, I take it you have a good, very good excuse that you are having my guest working instead of you three,” Sombra growled low, glaring at Rubinstein and the two other Crystal Ponies.

Oh boy. Foxy winced and hoped they weren’t in trouble.

There was a rush of movements as the three servants immediately pushed Dew Doe out of the way and took over washing Private, nervous grins on their faces. The blue pegasus didn’t dare protest, not wanting to bring more trouble to them. Private grunted and didn’t look any happier now that three ponies were washing him instead of just one.

“I will leave you to it then, we’ll speak later, Private,” the king said and stepped back into the chamber. Foxy watched him leave and figured that he had simply been making sure Private had gone back to his room. She peeked back into the bathroom, Dew had relented to allowing the other three continue working and now just sat down and waited. Suddenly an evil grin came on the maroon mare.

“Hey boys, make sure to brush him, and brush him thoroughly,” Foxy said in a sing-a-song voice. Private’s eyes opened wide in shock then he gave the grinning pegasus a withering glare.

Dew chuckled and as if to make a further point, grabbed the nearby brush having it ready when the servants had finished drying the stallion. Private glared at the brush as if it was a knife. Foxy was desperately holding back her laugh, it always amused her much the unicorn hated brushing his mane and tail.

Then again, maybe we shouldn’t be tormenting him considered what happened this morning, she then thought and suddenly felt a little guilty for not considering that Private probably wasn’t in mood for company or teasing.

“Okay sorry, that was too much, Dew drop the brush,” she said with a sigh. Dew glanced at her but did as she was told without questioning it.

“Sorry, Private. I forgot we aren’t exactly at home and are prisoners of a sadistic tyrant,” the maroon mare then apologized with an uneasy grin.

Private rose up from the bathtub and stepped out of it. The servants immediately began drying him up, the whole time though the unicorn kept staring at Foxy, he had actually been mildly surprised that she had called the brushing off. He glanced at the brush that now lay on the counter. Using levitation, he grabbed it up and floated it right back to Dew Doe.

Oh you big softie. Foxy chuckled to herself as her older sister squealed in delight and went straight to brushing the stallion’s mane once the servants were done drying it.

“So Private, since you did get to see the Doctor, did he tell you anything?” Dew asked as she continued her work, removing tangles from the mane and making everything nice and smooth.

“We didn’t get to talk for too long, but he did tell me that King Sombra’s power come from fear and hate and that’s he’s been messing with my mind. My guess is, he’ll probably try something with you two as well,” Private told them. “I also told Foxy that he roped me into helping him unseal some sort of a magic book. I have absolutely no idea how he wants me to help.”

The servants finished drying up Private, then they emptied the bathtub using the hole in the corner before leaving with the water tub and the wet towels. The other three ponies relocated themselves to the chamber, Dew continued there to brush Private’s mane and tail.

“You know next to nothing about magic, why would he want your help to unseal a book on magic?” Dew Doe wondered with a frown.

“I think he thinks my knowledge of history will help,” Private grunted. “Or he’s going to do some sort of a ritual that requires a ritual sacrifice and I’m it.”

“Let’s hope it’s the former then,” Foxy cringed at the thought of her friend being sacrificed to open a book.

“We need to get the Doctor out and escape before he opens that book, according to him it will enhance his magic and this guy seems too powerful enough already for me,” the unicorn snorted and glared at his collar.

“Well, have any brilliant plans how to do that?” the maroon pegasus asked, arching her brow as she did.

“Absolutely none,” Private sighed and hung his head. Dew finished brushing him and rose to return the brush to the bathroom.

“It’s all fine and dandy to say we need to get out of here, but if we are going to make any process, we need to stop saying it and start trying to come up with something,” Foxy pointed out. “Since you have been down there now, do you know the way to the dungeon?”

“I could probably trace myself back,” Private shrugged but then sighed deeply. “But I don’t think Sombra is going to give me a lot of opportunities to go there again. He’s probably eager to have me start helping him open that book.”

“Can you describe the way? I assume it’s mostly downwards,” Dew Doe asked as she returned from the bathroom, she sat down close to the unicorn.

Private furrowed his brow as he tried to summon a clear picture of the way he had gone with King Sombra to the dungeon. However, his memories were spottier for that as he had still been in shock from having his face cut up and magic spells forced into him. The stallion did his best to describe the way but did confirm that the way was mostly downwards.

“Alright I must admit that I hate the idea that we have to split ourselves up to try and find a way to get out of here, but since Dew confirmed yesterday that our movement’s aren’t too restricted, I guess I must relent to it. I’ll try and get to the dungeon and see if I can help the Doctor,” Foxy volunteered though with some reservation in her voice.

“But Rubinstein was right, there are several guards there and I dunno if they let you through unless Sombra is with you,” the unicorn mentioned.

“I’ll worry about that,” Foxy said with a chuckle, then she looked at her sister. “You have anything planned?”

“I actually I have something in mind,” Dew said but didn’t clarify, she didn’t want to tell them just yet that she had managed to talk with Amber. The mare wasn’t sure if doing so would help them at all but she at least wanted to have another go at it.

Foxy didn’t question it, figuring her sister knew what she was doing and even if she did question it the blue pegasus would just use her older sister authority. Private frowned a little but also did not speak up, but he looked a little worried as he glanced at Dew, remembering how silent she had been when asked if she had met the king yesterday.

“That only leaves Private, but I think he’s already said what he’ll be doing,” the maroon pony glanced at the gray one who snorted.

“I’ll see if I can delay Sombra from going anywhere, no promises though,” the unicorn grunted. “Because he’s currently in control of me and if he orders me to shut up, I’ll shut up whether I want it or not.”

Oh crud, that also means he might order Private to tell him if we are up to something. Well guess we can only hope he doesn’t, Dew thought and suddenly felt nervous as the implication hit her that Sombra was in control of her friend. She really didn’t want to think it but Private was a liability now.

End chapter 9