Rage of a Queen, wrath of a Mother

by Askre

Chapter 15. All ponies are different.

Chapter 15

It was morning when Sombra woke up again. Light shone through the window and he could hear voices outside his room. The Dark Pony raised his head, glancing at the magic bubble surrounding him before eyeing the door. As he gave a mighty yawn, there was a knock.

“Enter,” he simply said, still a little groggy from his slumber.

The door opened, and Dew Doe flew inside, holding a tray with food. The king arched his brow; the pegasus didn’t look as apprehensive as usual. If anything, the smile she was giving him was almost sympathetic.

“Celestia said I should be able to push the tray through,” Dew said as she landed close to the bubble. “Figured you would be hungry after yesterday.”

Well, she’s not wrong, though not quite for the reason she believes. Sombra nodded for her to proceed. The pegasus tried to push the tray against the bubble and the contents did start to go through.

Sombra grabbed it from his end with his magic and put the tray on the nightstand, which was also concealed by the bubble. Then he looked at Dew Doe, who still hadn’t moved. “I take it Princess Celestia has arrived?”

“Yes. She is downstairs. She wanted to allow you to wake up and eat,” Dew confirmed, then shifted a little nervously. “So um… you were actually dying?”

“No, it was an elaborate plot to get you to take off my magic block so that I could cast a few preparation spells just in case my mother would find me here,” Sombra said and started eating. The king glanced at Dew, who was rolling her eyes and shaking her head. The Dark Pony assumed she thought he was being sarcastic.

“You really do not like talking about things, do you?” the pegasus said.

“Force of habit. In Dark Pony culture, stallions were seen, not heard,” the Dark Pony simply said and resumed his meal, noting that Dew had grimaced at hearing that. At least she hadn’t pushed for a better answer to her previous question.

“Must have been a hard life,” Dew smiled sadly. Sombra raised an eyebrow but said nothing. The mare chuckled weakly. “Jeez and I thought getting Private to talk was hard.”

“You really care for him, don’t you?” the king replied and rose to sit fully in the bed.

“I do. Private was one of the few stallions I’ve met who never treated my sister as anything else but a pony. He never looked at me as some object to be desired. He’s a reclusive grump, but he is a reliable, reclusive grump,” Dew Doe said, her eyes narrowing a little. Sombra shook his head.

“Oh, go on, start your tirade if it makes you feel better,” he groaned, half expecting a rant coming his way about all the horrible things the dark pony had done to Private.

“I think I’ve already said my piece on that when you first came here,” the pegasus told him. Sombra looked at her confused. “It won’t help to always be angry.”

“Excuse me?” Sombra blinked; this wasn’t even close to the reaction he was expecting.

“I’m a therapist. Getting things off your chest is good and all, but words only do so much good. If the other party isn’t receptive to them.” Dew Doe rose to stand, shrugging while she did.

Sombra wasn’t sure how to respond to that, being far more used to ponies wailing at him for all the harm he’d done to them.

Movement by the door caught his attention, and he glanced at the door to see Princess Celestia standing there. Dew Doe glanced back herself at the alicorn.

“Morning Sombra,” the princess addressed the dark pony, entering the room.

“Morning,” Sombra simply replied. He watched Dew Doe turn around and walk out of the room, then turned his attention back to the princess. “She is different.”

“All ponies are different,” Celestia glanced back for a moment before looking at the Dark Pony. “So, I hear you require your dark magic to maintain that body of yours.”

“It should hold until I’m thrown back to Tartarus after mother is captured,” King Sombra said and lay back down on the bed, but kept his eyes firmly on Celestia.

“You seem sure you will be thrown back,” the princess said and really had to hold back a chuckle at the look she received from the Dark Pony.

“Oh please, you honestly expect me to believe I will be free to go after my mother is stopped? If you manage to stop her, that is,” Sombra snorted and shook his head.

“You never know. We might consider alternative sentences once this is all over. Depending on your behavior, of course,” Princess Celestia replied as she activated her magic and summoned a manacle. She sighed. “How much dark magic do you need?”

“Not much. Just enough so that it is active in my body,” Sombra shrugged. He watched Celestia fiddle with the manacle in her magic before pushing it through the bubble and putting it on his horn.

Already Sombra could feel most of his magic being blocked, but could actually feel a hint of his darker powers. Not enough to do anything with the manacle on, but it did what he needed it to do. Celestia then expelled the magic bubble from around him.

“That should allow you to be stable. Why didn’t you tell us about this sooner?” she asked.

“I thought my body was solid enough. I was as surprised as anypony else,” Sombra shrugged and stood up from the bed now that he could. Celestia’s only response to that was to tilt her head slightly, looking curiously at the king.

“We caught Chrysalis yesterday, well, Twilight Sparkle did,” she informed him since it didn’t look like he would be indulging anything more on what had happened to him. “She and your mother attacked Barricade in Manehattan.”

“Chrysalis is working for mother?” Sombra frowned. He found this rather strange news. “That’s odd; mother hates changelings.”

“Well, clearly, she found an exception this time around. Chrysalis is refusing to speak about it so far. We still don’t know what they were trying to do. Rabia disappeared shortly after Twilight arrived. Thankfully Rainbow Dash was there as well to prevent Chrysalis from escaping,” Celestia said. “We will be continuing to interrogate her, but I doubt she will be cooperative.”

Hmm, it sounds like mother dumped Chrysalis, but she would only do that if Chrysalis was no longer of use to her… What did she want with Barricade? Sombra frowned in thought, but said nothing for now.

“Well, I must be going now that we have sorted the magic block on you. I’ll be back later when you are ready to further indulge us about your mother. Foxy and Dew Doe are around,” Celestia turned around to walk out.

"What about Private?" Sombra asked and followed.

“He went to Manehattan to check on his brother,” Celestia told him as they left the guest room.

Sombra showed no reaction to that answer. He stopped at the top of the stairs as the princess descended. He watched Celestia look into the living room to address the pegasi sisters before departing the house. When the princess was gone, the Dark Pony walked down the stairs himself.

Foxy and Dew were sitting in the living room. The maroon pony was going through a magazine while the blue one was writing on a notepad. They both looked up when the king entered.

“So, any more surprises we should know about? Heart diseases? Food allergies? Old head traumas that flare up periodically?” Foxy asked, holding back a snicker when seeing the odd look Sombra gave her.

“Foxy,” Dew glared at her sister, then looked back at Sombra. “Don’t mind her. She’s joking.”

“I will bear that in mind,” Sombra grunted and turned his attention to Dew. “Speaking of food, I noticed there was fish amongst that food you brought me. I seriously doubt that is something any of you eat.”

“Oh right, while you are staying here, we will be getting deliveries with certain foods you require. Twilight and her friends have connections in Griffinstone,” she explained, ignoring how Sombra rolled his eyes and sneered in disgust when hearing the princess’s name. Dew Doe went back to the notepad. “Speaking of food, we still have to get the ones all of us eat.”

Sombra walked over to the bookcase, not really interested in that. He started to browse the book selection, ignoring the chatter between the sisters; mostly, it was Foxy pointing out what was missing in the pantry.

“I would have thought with Private living here, there would be more history books,” Sombra muttered. He had only seen two so far, and the dark unicorn had already read them.

“He’s hoarding them in his study,” Foxy remarked, having heard him, prompting the king to glance over.

That explains it, he refrained from chuckling, even if he did find that thought amusing.

“You want to add anything to the grocery list?” Dew Doe asked since the king was now looking again in their direction.

“Me?” Sombra’s brow rose. The stallion had not exactly been expected to be included in a supply run.

“Well, you are living here temporarily,” the pegasus pointed out. “Private has a few things on this list only he wants, so does Foxy and me as well.”

“Coal gets to add to the list when she stops asking for just candy and cookies,” Foxy chuckled, prompting her sister to smile as well.

“This isn’t some half-brained attempt to make me feel included, just because you feel sorry for me after you saw me dying last night, is it?” Sombra growled and narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“Sorry we asked, well Dew asked,” Foxy snorted and made a face. She folded her legs and looked away in a huff when Dew held up a hoof towards her.

“We are just trying to make living together a little more tolerable. We don’t want you here. We have to have you here, so do you want anything specific or not?” Dew Doe asked more firmly, giving the king a hard stare.

King Sombra narrowed his eyes even further; Dew still maintained the same hard, firm look on him.

“I doubt you can afford it,” he finally said and eased up his expression but looked very skeptical.

“Try me,” Dew Doe challenged.

“I wouldn’t mind wine of some sorts,” Sombra said, figuring that was something far outside her expenses.

“Applewood, Crystal Empire, Abyssinian, there is Saddle Arabian, but I don’t think you want that,” Dew Doe counted up without even blinking an eye. The dark pony had to restrain his jaw from dropping.

“There are also some brands from Ponyville; Canterlot has a brand, didn’t Dodge introduce a new one a few years ago?” Foxy shot in as she tried not to laugh at the look coming over the king.

“Are you particular to red, white, rose, sweet, or sparkling?” her sister then asked for further clarification.

“How do either of you know about wine?” Sombra finally asked, completely stunned.

“Please, it isn’t a thousand years ago, Sombra. Wine is much cheaper these days. Granted, some brands are expensive, but even us ‘filthy commoners’ sometimes indulge in a little wine drinking. That aside, you have met our mother. She is a former model and now a model agent; she rubs elbows with high society ponies and attends parties,” Dew Doe finally let out a small chuckle, then wielded her notepad. “Soooo, any preferences?”

“Red will do, I suppose,” the king muttered and returned to the bookcase. His mind was no longer on the books; he was raking his brain over what he had already learned of modern society and what he thought he already knew. Sombra had been positive he had figured it out already for the most part, but this tiny revelation just kept nagging at him. He wondered what other items considered a luxury back in his time were now just commonplace.

Sombra started to glance around the living room. He knew Private was an historian, a scholarly position, respected, could pay decently if sponsored. He looked at the mares, Dew’s attention was on her list, and Foxy was sunk into her magazine. He heard talks about therapy; now that he thought about it, he had no idea what that was.

More glancing around told him they weren’t badly off. They were not working-class, or so he figured. Frankly, now that he thought about it, the king was surprised they weren’t living in a bigger house considering the massive number of things in the living room. Bookcases, couches, tables, that contraption called a grammar phone, all kinds of pictures on the wall.

The mares finally noticed what the Dark Pony was doing and looked up. Watching him go in circles as he examined the living room. Dew exchanged glances with Foxy, both wondering what was going on. Finally, Sombra left the living room, and they heard him leave the house.

“Err, is he allowed to leave the house?” Foxy asked, not quite sure how to read into this situation.

“I don’t know, actually. We never discussed that,” Dew responded. She put down the list and took to the air, flying out of the living room and out the still-open front door.

Sombra hadn’t gone too far. He still stood in the front yard and was staring towards Fillydelphia. He had a thoughtful expression on his face as he regarded the slightly distant city center.

“What’s gotten into you?” Dew asked as she landed right next to the king.

“Where does one buy wine?” Sombra just asked.

“Well, for the more expensive brands, we buy them in wine stores, though cheaper brands can be bought in any grocery store,” the pegasus answered, a little confused by the question.

“You just buy it in the store? Just like that?” Sombra frowned hard.

“Why does that bother you?” Dew raised her brow a little. What she wasn’t expecting was the king cracking a smile, easing his frown, and chuckling slightly.

“It doesn’t. I just realized suddenly how old I am,” he said, still staring towards the city. “And how much I have missed. Not just because I was exiled and then dead, but just because I ignored most of it due to my…”

Sombra clamped his mouth shut and eyed Dew Doe, who looked a little surprised at this almost heart-to-heart talk. The king sneered and turned around to head back inside, silently berating himself.

“Sombra?” the pegasus addressed him.

The Dark Pony stopped on his way and glared back at Dew Doe. The pegasus stared right back, a neutral expression on her face.

“Do you want to help me go get groceries?” she asked, though the mare figured he would refuse. “And no, this is not a half-brained scheme to make you feel included because we feel sorry for you.”

“Fine,” Sombra grunted. He was bored anyway, and this gave him something to do. Besides, he needed to play nice and he figured this was part of helping around the house as he was required to do.

“Let me just get my list and saddlebag,” Dew Doe said and trotted back into the house.

---

Luna was waiting for Celestia in the throne room. The Moon Princess watched her sister approach the throne. Both sisters gave each other a knowing look.

“He was lying through his teeth; the moment I put the manacle back on, I detected many spells he must have cast while none of us were looking,” Celestia told her.

“I thought as much. I decided to play along because I wanted to see what he was up to. I didn’t buy that his body was disintegrating for a second. He would have been a shapeless form in Tartarus if it were still unstable and just fueled by his dark powers,” Luna snorted and rolled her eyes.

“The fact that Sombra didn’t notice that you weren’t actually buying it is quite commendable. He is not easy to fool,” her sister pointed out with a proud smile.

“Thank you, sister. I think it was high time we pulled a fast one on him,” Luna chuckled slightly, clearly very proud of her acting ability. Then she scowled. “This begs the question, though, why didn’t he just bust out of my magic bubble and make his escape? Sure, it would have alerted me to it, but he’s certainly powerful enough to manage to escape before I arrived.”

“Because he really is hiding Luna. He does think his best bet is to stick around where he is for the moment. No, Sombra really is fearful of his mother. He would rather be somewhere where we know he is instead of somewhere secluded where he might risk running into her. He does not want to face her alone,” Celestia told her sibling and took a seat on the throne. Luna turned to face her, looking mildly confused.

“The spells I detected were defensive in nature; also, there was one that looked like an alarm spell. I have a feeling if Rabia approaches Sombra, we will know it,” the Sun Princess explained and smiled ruefully. “To think, all we needed to keep Sombra in check was to have his mother around.”

“I do not understand. How can she have such a powerful hold on him? Sure, she is powerful and frightening in her own way, but…” Luna scowled as she tried to piece this together. When her sister turned solemn, the lunar princess arched her brow.

“Because you never spoke with Prince Sombra alone,” Celestia quietly whispered. “He would clamp his mouth shut the moment he thought his mother might be around. He would always glance around to make absolutely sure she wasn’t there. Every time he even just said the word ‘mother’, the only feelings towards it were resentment and fear.”

“Don’t you remember when we captured him? He said he felt safer letting us capture him and punish him. As much as we resented him for all the pain and torment he had caused, he knew we would be far kinder to him than anything his mother would be. At least that’s how his mind works.” Celestia shook her head.

“I see your point. We are not going to keep others in the dark about this, are we?” Luna asked and let out a breath in relief when Celestia shook her head.

“I have already explained it to Private, Dew, and Foxy, but told them to play along. The manacle is still in place; Sombra is still depowered. Let us allow him this reprieve and think he has played a fast one on us. He’s been surprisingly cooperative, all things considered. Granted, he could be more cooperative, but it is Sombra we are talking about,” Celestia told her. “For once, he is preparing for his mother, not against us.”

“One thing though bothers me. How could he do this?” Luna wondered with a heavy frown. “His show was very effective.”

“Sombra is pretty creative even with only very limited magic. I told him what little magic I granted him couldn’t affect living things, and nothing he did affected the living. He just figured out how to cast a very minor illusion spell; he just couldn’t control it effectively with the magic block on him,” Celestia said. “He would probably have had it much subtler if that was the case.”

Luna nodded. Now that she thought about it, what had tipped her off that this had been all a play, was the excessive amount of cracks and smoke coming from him. It had been enough to fool Private and his friends, though, none of which had great knowledge of magic.

“Well, I better go to bed. This has been a long night,” she then declared, having realized it was almost mid-morning. Celestia nodded and smiled.

“We’ll speak more when you wake up. Have a good sleep, sister,” Celestia told her and watched her depart the throne room. Then she summoned her secretary to begin her more regular mundane duties for the day.

---

Foxy Stripes scrutinized the magazine she was holding, then she held it further away and stared at it skeptically. Then she held it closer to her face as she continued to examine the contents of the page.

“Has this pony even made cloud sculptures before?” she muttered and turned to a new page. “Ooh, puzzles.”

The mare looked up and grinned when seeing that Dew had left the pencil behind on the coffee table before going to the store. Foxy leaned over, grabbed it in her mouth, and pulled herself back.

While she sunk herself into her puzzle, she didn’t notice a shadow pass by the window of the living room. The mare scratched her head, trying to figure out the solution. A soft knock on the door finally prompted her to look up.

“Cooooming,” she sang out and threw the magazine and the pencil to the couch. The pegasus rose from the chair and trotted out of the living room and to the front door, briefly wondering who was coming at this time in the morning.

Foxy opened the door and blinked at the sight in front of her. Queen Rabia stood there, a small smile on her muzzle. The pegasus blinked some more, not quite clicking with her who that was even though her clothing looked awfully familiar. “Errr… hi?”

“Greetings, I understand my son is staying here,” Rabia spoke softly, never losing that smile.

Oooh crud, is that Queen Rabia? Foxy froze when she realized who it was. Then she chuckled nervously.

“I’m terribly sorry. You’ve got the wrong building.” She immediately tried to slam the door shut, but Rabia’s magic held it back. The queen chuckled and pushed her way in, forcing the pegasus to back further into the hall.

“I don’t think I do,” Rabia said, grabbing Foxy up in an aura of magic as she slammed the door shut after her. “Where is he?”

“Not here right now,” Foxy tried her best to grin, masking how absolutely terrified she right now was. Rabia frowned and carried the pegasus to the living room and promptly dumped her on a couch.

“Where is he?” the queen asked again, her eyes turning green and red.

Foxy sunk in the couch; now, she was thankful that Barricade had come to demand his daughter be removed from the house. It didn’t help her current situation, but the mare took what she could.

“He went shopping,” the pegasus whispered and closed her eyes, expecting all kinds of things would happen. When nothing did, she carefully opened one eye. Rabia’s eyes had stopped glowing, and now the queen looked mildly befuddled.

“Shopping?” Rabia repeated after her skeptically.

“Yes, my sister got him to go help her shopping downtown,” Foxy explained quickly, still fearful something was going to happen, so she braced herself with her wings.

Rabia snorted and promptly sat down on the opposite couch of the pegasus. Foxy slowly looked up, still wondering when things would go more downhill than they already were. The queen looked almost annoyed now as if things hadn’t quite played out as she had anticipated.

“Then we wait for him to return,” Rabia claimed.

“Greaaat….” Foxy chuckled nervously and sat up more properly. “So… uh, you’re Sombra’s mom, huh?”

“I am his mother, yes,” Rabia confirmed with a nod. Foxy nodded, nervously clapping her hooves together, eyeing furtively around.

“Are you going to torture and torment me?” the mare then asked.

“You have responded to my questions without the need for such excessive encouragement, though we are currently testing the truth of your statement that he is indeed only out for a little while, shopping,” the Dark Pony stated and started examining her right hoof guard.

“Well, since we aren’t going anywhere… I was kind of wondering,” Foxy gulped and kept glancing around before eyeing the queen again. All Rabia did was arch her brow. “Who is Sombra’s dad? I mean, you are his mom, of course, but uh… you know, it takes two to tango and all that.”

Rabia raised one eyebrow high when hearing the question. “I do not understand what you are referring to with tango, whatever that is. However, if you are asking who Sombra’s sire was, his name was Vago. He was the Captain of my royal guards.”

“Oooh, really,” Foxy slowly nodded, recalling the distant discussion she and her friends had had about Sombra’s possible father. The mare was just trying to keep herself from freaking out right now, and usually, she did that by talking. Right now, Rabia didn’t seem interested in harming her. How long that would last was another matter entirely. “What was he like?”

“He killed me,” Rabia simply stated, her expression turning darker.

“Ah…” Foxy immediately detected that she was treating dangerous territory. Alright, Foxy girl, don’t piss off any further the mare who gave birth to King Darky… let’s live to see another sunrise.

“Should I just shut up now?” the pegasus asked, knowing her mouth did sometimes have a habit of getting her into trouble.

“That would be very much appreciated,” Rabia growled softly. Foxy’s only response was nodding furiously that she understood perfectly.

Well, I was always wondering when it was my turn to be face-to-face with a powerful mad pony, the mare thought and glanced at the clock, wondering how long it would take Dew and Sombra to shop.

End chapter 15