Chapter 10. Oh a city boy.
Chapter 10
Barricade could only wonder who in his or her right mind would build an inn on a road that to him was in the middle of nowhere. Yet there it was, a modest looking two story building made out of wood and stone. A sign waving above the door identified the place as “The Crystal Ale.”
Both stallions regarded the building carefully. They could see it was open for business, lights were on and they could see ponies and other creatures inside from the windows. As they approached, they could definitely see that this place was newly built, the wooden beams still looked freshly hewn.
“This establishment was certainly erected after my time,” Sombra remarked and rubbed his muzzle thoughtfully.
“Maybe we can beg for scraps, unless you don’t care that not all of us are dead and need food and drink to continue the whole living thing we do,” Barricade grunted, they had no money, his saddlebag was at the hotel back in the Crystal Empire.
“I do in fact actually care, I still need your brother reasonably alive so I must sustain this body. But we shall not be begging for scraps,” the king said and conjured up two cloaks and threw one to his host’s twin before draping the other one over himself. “Wear this, best we do not draw attention to ourselves, news will soon spread that I have returned if I know the princesses right.”
Barricade grumbled but threw the cloak on before following his possessed twin into the inn. His eyes were met with a familiar atmosphere, reminiscent of the various pubs he frequented in Manehattan. Just in this case it wasn’t just ponies hanging around having a drink and/or eating food.
The inn was bustling with activity; the fireplace was crackling bright to keep the cold winter weather out. All kinds of creatures either sat at their tables or by the bar counter at the back. There were not just Ponies, though Barricade spotted a few, even some Crystal Ponies. There were griffons, minotaurs, elks, even a pack of Crystal Wolves had suffered to come in for a meal. Donkeys and mules also visited this place along with cattle. The Unicorn couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at seeing all these travel worn creatures, this was far more multi-cultural than he was used to. At most he saw the occasional donkey and a mule, sometimes rarely a griffon in Manehattan.
Sombra showed no reaction and paid no heed to the eyes that glanced at the two newly arrived ponies. He immediately headed towards the counter at the back, Barriacde followed, also ignoring the stares, despite the unusual amount of non-ponies, this was an environment he was at home in.
“Welcome to the Crystal Ale!” a voice bellowed cheerfully from behind the bar. Standing there was a huge brown Minotaur wearing a stained apron, he smiled widely towards his newest guests.
“Are you staying the night or just travelling through? Stopping for a bit or eat or something to drink? Maybe both? Maybe all? My establishment is at your service,” he continued.
“We are merely passing through, good innkeeper, but we require a meal and a drink and a reasonably quiet corner to sit and rest our hooves,” Sombra addressed him.
“Of course, of course,” the innkeeper nodded before putting a thumb and an index finger into his mouth and whistled loudly. Almost immediately a young light crimson unicorn mare came rushing from somewhere further inside the inn, she held a tray and a cloth in her magic.
“Spicy, show our new guests to their tables and give them menus,” the innkeeper ordered before looking at the two ponies. “Before you head to your tables, do you wish to order your drinks now?”
“A tankard of your strongest ale will suffice for me,” Sombra requested, causing Barricade to raise an eyebrow.
“Ah… do you have Manehattan Gold?” the Unicorn asked and was mildly relieved to see the minotaur nod. “A jug of that then.”
“Come with me boys, I’m Spicy Hot, I’ll be your server today,” the mare then addressed them, she levitated the tray to the innkeeper who was already making the drink order ready and put them on it. She also grabbed two menus from the bar counter before escorting the two Unicorns further into the inn towards an empty corner table.
“Spicy Hot huh? I definitely agree with the latter part,” Barricade addressed her with a coy smirk and gave waitress a wink as he sat down.
“And what’s your name, handsome?” Spicy asked smiling patiently, clearly used to such comments while placing the drinks on the table.
“My mother called me Barriacde, you can call me the same,” the Unicorn said, he was feeling so at home in the inn that for a brief moment he couldn’t bother worrying that his possessed twin sat on the other end of the table.
“Perhaps I will,” the waitress chuckled and put the menus on the table.
“Before you leave to attend other duties and customers, do you serve meat here?” Sombra asked, he hadn’t been too impressed by Barricade’s blatant flirting.
“Oh yes, I hope that doesn’t bother you, but we serve all diets here, as you can see for yourselves we have a quite a variety of clientele,” Spicy said glancing at the dark king.
“Ah but it does not bother me at all, my dear,” the Dark Unicorn chuckled, smiling darkly and almost eagerly. This caused Barricade to glance at him with a frown and Spicy arched her brow. She looked mildly confused when Sombra grabbed his menu and put it back on her tray.
“I do not require the menu, just give me a generous cut of your finest meat, preferably only lightly grilled,” he said with a low chuckle.
“Wait! WHAT?” Private cried deep inside his body.
Barricade and Spicy both stared at the dark king, mouths agape. The stallion actually paled a little, wondering for a brief fleeting moment that the spirit was just making some sort of a sick joke.
“Ah… I’ll just take a cheese salad dish,” he muttered and put his menu on the tray as well. Although, his appetite was slowly fading.
Spicy just slowly nodded, smiled nervously before disappearing away, leaving the two stallions alone. Sombra casually sipped on his drink as he carefully observed the surrounding area, it took him a moment to realize that Barricade was still staring at him.
“You eat meat?” Barricade whispered, still not believing it.
“Actually my kind is omnivorous, though I personally lean towards meat.” King Sombra shrugged.
“I thought you were a pony,” his host’s brother claimed unsure.
“I am a pony, just not Equestrian pony. I’m a Dark Pony, race now mostly gone from the lands beyond Saddle Arabia,” the dark king snorted.
“And you somehow wound up here?” Barriacade asked, he was still confused about this whole thing.
“I travelled a lot in my younger years and yes did end up in the Crystal Empire.” Again Sombra just shrugged and sipped on his drink.
Barriacde took a tentative sip of his drink, wondering how his brother was reacting to the fact that soon his body would be used to consume meat. Given, ponies kept carnivorous pets like cats and dogs and thus had to feed them correctly, but most just didn’t talk about it, they respected that other creatures of Equestria had to eat meat to survive, but it was still an uncomfortable subject that generally out of respect was never raised.
Great, now that hot waitress probably thinks both of us are lunatics, he then thought and silently grunted. Deep down, due to being in a familiar and almost comfortable environment, he had hoped to score a little. Allow himself to forget for a short while that he was forced to travel with an evil spirit possessing his brother.
The Unicorn drunk from his jug and started to scan the inn, hoping to spot Spicy again, maybe he could salvage the situation. Right now the spirit seemed to be ignoring him and didn’t address him at all. However, the light crimson mare had apparently made herself scarce or was staying out of sight of the corner table.
“So what was it that the princess called you?” Barricade gave up and looked at his possessed twin. The spirit glanced at him and just smiled. “Right, you’re not answering that in a crowded inn, are you?”
“Although no one here would stand a chance against me if they were to try anything, I would prefer to not cause too much noise just yet,” Sombra said quietly. “You remember the name she called me and yes, I am he.”
“Weren’t you blown up or something?” the other Unicorn asked bluntly and couldn’t but smirk a little at the indignant expression now glaring at him.
“A very temporary setback as you can yourself see,” the dark king softly growled and drank from the tankard.
They fell silent when Spicy returned, levitating her tray in front of her. On it was a plate of lightly grilled meat, Barricade did not want to think about where that came from, and a bowl of salad. The stallions were given their orders and the waitress just gave them a nervous smile before walking away.
“You are seriously going to eat that, with Private’s body,” Barricade grimaced as he saw the spirit prepare to cut into the meat with the utensils. “You do realize he does not have the digestive track to handle that.”
“Don’t you dare put that into my mouth. Don’t you dare!!” Private screamed inside his mind but as usual was ignored by King Sombra.
“I’ll use my magic to aid in the digestion,” the Dark Unicorn simply said and put a piece of meat into his mouth and started chewing.
“Ugh… no… don’t let me taste it. BLEH. I NEED TO HURL!” Private gagged but as he was not in control of the body nothing came of it.
Sombra was really enjoying the reaction from both his host and the brother. He intentionally chewed slowly as he cut more of the meat, allowing the juice from it to spill around. Bit of if even escaped his mouth, as it trailed down his lips and muzzle.
Barricade felt sick watching this, it was just so wrong to see what on the surface looked like his brother enjoying a grilled chunk of meat. It didn’t help how slowly the spirit ate, savoring each and every bite he took.
Private must be gagging in there, he thought and slowly eyed his salad. Somehow it just didn’t look very appealing right now. Hesitantly though, the Unicorn tried to eat some of it but just another look at the dark king made him stop.
“Oh sweet Celestia, fine eat that damn meat but can you stop making me sense the taste?!” Private begged in vain, the king paid no attention to him.
“That does it, I’m going to hurl.” Barricade was paling up. He rose quickly from his table and rushed over to the bar counter, where he addressed the innkeeper. “Restroom. Quick!”
“Over there in the back.” The Minotaur glanced at him with mild concerned and pointed in the right direction.
The stallion rushed towards the back, ignoring the Crystal Wolf he bumped harshly into on his way. Fortunately for him the wolf had barely felt it due to his lumbering size and just looked around confused, thinking somebody had been patting him on the back to get his attention.
Barricade barely made it to the restroom, immediately upchucking what he had eaten of the salad and his drink. He groaned softly but felt a little better, especially now that he was out of sight from his possessed brother. He went to the sink and did his best to clean himself up a little, hoping he didn’t stink after this. just to be on the safe side he rinsed his mouth with water several times, dearly wishing for actual mouthwash.
Maybe I should just stay at the bar until that sicko has finished eating, he thought as he stepped out of the restroom to allow the next person to use it. The Unicorn was mildly surprised to be face to face with Spicy as he made his way back.
“Hi, uh Strong Horn wanted me to see if you were alright and ask if you needed anything,” the mare told him with a nervous grin.
“Strong Horn, that the innkeeper?” Barricade wondered and nodded when the receiving an affirmative answer.
“We’ve only recently opened you see and he’s still a little nervous about the reputation. It wasn’t the food or the drink or anything that made you sick?” Spicy asked and tried her best to appear calm.
“No, well technically maybe. It was seeing my traveling cohort eating meat,” the stallion grunted and tried to glare towards the corner table. However, his field of vision was blocked by other patrons of the inn. He then looked at Spicy again and put on his most charming smile.
“I could use a mouthwash or something if you have any,” he said hoping he had at least shown her that he wasn’t some crazy meat eating pony.
“I think we got something in the breakroom, come with me.” The mare gestured for him to follow, she looked a little more relaxed.
“Lead the way, sexy filly,” Barricade murmured and just gave an endearing smile when Spicy glanced back at him, having heard the comment. The stallion changed it to a grin and gave her a wink when immediately noticing that she hadn’t been offended by the remark.
The Unicorn couldn’t see the corner table, but what he didn’t know was that Sombra could see him. He could see the entire inn. Even though the possessed body of Private still sat by the table eating his meal, the dark king had been spreading his essence around the establishment using the shadows. There wasn’t crack or crevice in the building the dark king now didn’t see into.
“Oh typical, he’s ditched me for a mare,” Private grunted who could see everything too since for some reason the dark king was letting him.
“I doubt he will go far, he seems rather eager to be with us as long as I hold your body,” Sombra remarked, not really interested in Barricade’s exploits.
“That’s not what I meant… ah never mind,” the Unicorn sighed and tried his best not to gag as more taste of meat came over him. He sometimes forgot how out of touch the king actually was and not quite up to speed with modern way of speaking. “Why can we see all over the inn?”
“Just a security measure,” the spirit responded without saying much more. Private wondered how much that was true considering how often the king had lied to him.
Sombra continued to eat and anyone who looked towards the possessed pony, would just see a cloaked Unicorn enjoying a rather unusual meal for his kind. However, the dark king was focusing his mind towards the six Crystal Ponies that were in the inn enjoying a meal. The spirit sneered internally as he watched his former slaves looking so happy and content.
My Crystal Slaves, he thought and within Private’s mind narrowed his eyes. They shall be the first example of what awaits those worms.
“Here, it isn’t mouth wash but it should take the aftertaste out of your mouth just as well,” Spicy Hot said and levitated a glass full of liquid to Barricade.
The stallion took it and gulped its content. He immediately realized that this was strong alcohol the moment the burning sensation hit his tongue. But being used to strong drinks, he downed it without much trouble, slamming the glass to the table he sat by.
“Ah, that was good, Mountain Spring?” he asked curiously, Spicy tilted her head looking mildly impressed.
“You know your drinks I see,” she chuckled and sat down by the table as well.
“It’s not my special talent, but I am no stranger to the pubs of Hoofington Manehattan,” Barricade smirked, rather enjoying not being in the spirit’s company right now.
“Oh a city boy, you’re far away from home,” Spicy teased lightly, earning a laugh from the stallion.
“Actually I grew up in Trottingham, I just moved to Manehattan later, set up a nice little gym and also help run an apartment building,” he chuckled, the mare nodded.
“So what are you and your… uh friend doing all the way here?” she wondered, that caused Barricade to hesitate a little. He was pretty sure Sombra would not like it that he told her much and would probably somehow know if he had told her anything.
“Alright, I’ll be straight with you as I can, but please keep this to yourself. My brother is in trouble and I’m sort of forced to travel with that guy for a little while to sort it out. Frankly I wouldn’t mind just being at home right now. Then again I’m rather glad we stopped here, the familiarity of the setting is helping ease my nerves a little,” Barricade told her and gave a little shudder.
“Well that’s the Crystal Ale is for, give weary travelers a home away from home,” Spicy chuckled a bit, she lit up her horn and levitated a flask to them, it contained the drink she had given Barricade earlier. “More?”
“Please.” Barricade grabbed the glass up with his magic and held it up so the mare could pour from the flask.
“So how did a nice looking girl like you end up here? Unless you are from around here, I shouldn’t assume,” he then asked and leaned a little to the side to take a look at her cutie mark, it was not surprisingly a pair of red peppers.
“Eh, no special story behind it. I’m from a small village north of Vanhoover, saw an ad in the paper and applied. I’ve always loved working in the food service and living all the way out here appealed to my adventurous nature,” Spicy shrugged.
“Well since you live here, know anything about a big mountain with a peak that looks like a mouth full of teeth?” the stallion asked as he downed the second drink, Sombra hadn’t elaborated much more about it after telling him where they were headed.
“Oh that’s Sombra’s Maw,” the waitress answered causing Barricade to raise his eyebrow. He could have sworn he also heard an indignant snort. “It’s practically impossible to climb except by expert mountain climbers, usually goats.”
“Sombra’s Maw?” the stallion just couldn’t believe the name, now he could swear there was an irritated growl. Spicy didn’t seem to have heard anything and just nodded.
“It used to be called simply Jaw’s Peak, but after the Crystal Empire returned, we heard that the Crystal Ponies had started referring to it by that name and we all just switched over. There is an urban legend that when the wind blows through the mouth, you can hear the angry howl of the dark king,” the mare told him and grinned a little.
“That’s some legend,” Barricade muttered and was now certain that something or someone was listening in because there was another snort. Don’t tell me the bastard is watching me?
Then he noticed that his glass had been filled again. The Unicorn smirked and figured he knew what was going on. He glanced at Spicy who tried to look rather innocent. Barricade downed the third shot and then peered at the mare with a knowing expression.
“I should warn you that I can drink an entire bottle of this and just end up feeling lightly buzzed,” he said with a chuckle.
“Crud, there went the ‘drunk until passed out and make you think something happened’ plan for the leery comments,” the mare grunted a little. She raised an eyebrow when Barricade started laughing.
“You’re not the first one to try that, let me tell you that, baby,” the Unicorn said after he regained his composure. “But look, if you’re not interested nothing will happen. I’m maybe a jerk but I have some standards. I won’t apologize for the comments, but I won’t try anything.”
“Ugh, well I’m sorry I tried to do this. If I had a bit for every time a leery drunk stallion made a pass at me, I could open my own inn. You were just the sixth guy today and when Strong Horn told me to help you because you appeared to be sick, I thought you were drunk enough that I could get away with it,” Spicy sighed and took a sip from the bottle itself.
“Forget it about it, I’m just glad to be away from that creep I’m travelling with, if only for a little while,” Barricade shrugged and frowned a little when he definitely heard an evil sounding chuckle. Oh now I know he is listening in.
In the inn itself Sombra finished his meal, Private still felt like hurling but as he had no control could only just hope that feeling would go away. The spirit just sat now and by all appearances seemed to be enjoying the rest of his drink.
Nobody paid attention to him and or the two different tables that had three Crystal Ponies each sitting at them, wearing traveling cloaks and winter gear. The six ponies had just moments earlier been chatting happily away, eating their meals and enjoying their drinks.
No notice was taken when one by one a Crystal Pony fell oddly silent and stopped moving. Some started to lean back in their seats while others leaned forward on the table. One even ended up resting her head on it.
Private started to notice though as he like Sombra could still see everything through the shadows. He had just learned earlier that he could ignore it, since the Unicorn wasn’t forced to do it. But now he couldn’t help but spot the six ponies who just seemed to have fallen asleep by their tables and found it odd none of the other patrons or inn staff paid any attention to it.
The Unicorn tried to take a closer look. The closest he could see was the one Crystal Pony whose head now rested on the table. Private managed to peek under the hood and gasped in shock at what he saw.
The Crystal Pony’s face was twisted into expression of horror, the eyes were bloodshot and blood trickled down from her nose and mouth. She didn’t move and wasn’t breathing. Private felt sick as he realized that the mare was dead. The Unicorn looked over at the rest of the five ponies and felt cold as he realized none of them were breathing.
They were all dead.
Underneath the cloak, King Sombra had a shark like grin as he heard Private give a cry of terror. The eyes of his host’s body were green and red and subtly a purple smoke streamed from the corners. The meat hadn’t been the only meal the king had dined on this day.
End chapter 10
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6732053 Creepy is the name of game for the Shadow King
Thanks for reading 
6832656 Indeed it does and I'm glad you're liking the story so far. Thanks for reading
6832687 It's strangely painfully easy for me to write married couples, considering I'm single. I suppose I just draw from the various interactions I've witnessed from married family members, we are very close knitted bunch so I quite often witnessed how they interacted, because many of them where not shy of bantering even in public. It also helps that I love Shining Armor and Cadance, they are on my top tier favorite MLP characters.
I found it fitting that the scariest looking mountain in the Crystal Empire was named after our King
It always made sense to me that the horn would be the gateway to the possession, since Unicorns channel their magic through it.
I just simply drew his crazy preparedness from the Crystal Empire two parter. The layers of traps he had laid for the Crystal Heart just told me that this was a guy who prepared for just about everything. He struck me as someone who would plan for his death and be powerful enough to do something about it.
Okay, so this was some spooky mood whiplash. Sombra's control is certainly growing.