Rage of a Queen, wrath of a Mother

by Askre

Chapter 7. Hello again, Private.

Chapter 7

Private Iceland opened the front door and really just wanted to close it again. Outside stood Princess Luna, accompanied by two guards and behind them was King Sombra, smirking. The unicorn was already starting to regret this.

“Private Iceland, we bring King Sombra to be put under your care,” the princess said and gestured to the dark pony.

“Hello again, Private,” Sombra greeted the unicorn, who narrowed his eyes a little.

“Take him inside,” Private grunted and stepped aside so the entourage could enter.

Princess Luna walked inside and King Sombra followed her. He smirked down at the unicorn as he passed him. The guards remained outside. Private took them to the living room. Sombra immediately claimed the couch near the entrance and due to his size filled it up entirely when he lay on it.

The king was still wearing his usual armor and cape, along with the manacle on his horn. Princess Luna didn’t sit herself. She stood in front of the couch and was looking at Private, who was still eyeing the Dark Pony warily.

“The Princesses of Equestria entrusts King Sombra under your care for the time being. Do you accept?” Princess Luna asked Private, it sounded redundant since he and Dew Doe had already accepted, but this was clearly an official formality.

“Yeah, I accept,” Private said, frowning at the grin he received from the king.

“Then we release him to you,” Luna said then added under her breath. “Good luck.”

Thanks, Private thought.

“And you, you promise to behave yourself?” the princess gave the king a glare. He just smiled back at her.

“You have my word, Princess Luna,” the Dark Pony said with a chuckle, placing one hoof on his chest.

Luna scowled, but said no more. It was done. In order to get King Sombra to cooperate his demands had been met. She looked at Private and nodded for him to follow her back out. The unicorn didn’t need to be told twice and escorted her back outside.

“You know how to reach us if he causes any trouble. Are you sure you wish to have no guards around?” Luna asked once they were outside the house and Private had closed the door. The unicorn frowned a little. He wasn’t sure a guard would make any difference.

“We’ll see how it goes. Maybe he’ll be more cooperative if we make it feel less like a prison,” Private suggested. He knew guards would draw attention and he wasn’t sure he wanted attention. “We want to try and keep things as normal as possible, despite him being here now.”

“As you wish.” the princess nodded and gestured to the guards to come to her. Then she looked at Private again. “Once more, I wish you luck.”

Private quietly thanked her before the alicorn teleported her and the guards away. The unicorn took a deep breath and returned inside. With great hesitation, he walked back inside the living room.

King Sombra still lay on the couch, one front leg dangling lazily down. The Dark Pony was glancing around at everything in the living room. Private blinked when the king used his normal red magic aura to lift a picture frame from a nearby side table to examine.

“Wait, your magic is supposed to be blocked!” Private claimed, worried the king was just pretending that his magic was contained.

“I was granted limited use of my magic. I can only levitate small objects and well, that’s about it really. I suppose I can open and close doors, too,” Sombra said casually as he returned the picture back. He looked at Private and smiled. “You have nothing to worry about.”

“You’ll pardon me if I don’t believe you,” Private grunted. Then he realized he hadn’t really been listening when Celestia had talked about all the security that would be around Sombra yesterday, he had been so occupied with the fact that King Sombra would now be living in his home. He only hoped Dew had been paying better attention.

“Alright, so what is your game now?” the unicorn asked and found himself a chair to sit on, watching Sombra suspiciously. The king was examining another picture frame.

“No game, just offering my service to Equestria to help deal with my mother,” King Sombra said and turned the picture so it faced Private. It was of him when he was a colt, about five or six. Dew had been given it by Mirage Rock. “I remember you at that age.”

“And I’m just supposed to believe that you are doing this out of the goodness of your heart?” the unicorn snorted, ignoring the remark about the picture.

Sombra shrugged and returned the picture to its proper place. He then started to look around again to find anything else of interest. Private sighed, knowing too well that Sombra seldom indulged in the details of all his plans.

“So why was I chosen to be in charge of you?” he asked, not really expecting a straight answer.

“Well, you Equestrians are all about friendship and harmony, rainbows and happiness,” Sombra chuckled mockingly and rolled his eyes. “And from a certain point of view, you are my only friend.”

“We’re not friends,” Private narrowed his eyes on the Dark Pony, not forgetting that he had been forced into Sombra’s more intimate service the last time they had met.

“I did say from a certain point of view,” the Dark Pony pointed out and pulled up his dangling front leg so he could cross it with the other on the cushion. “So where is that lovely little mare you've always pined for?”

“At work and for the record, we are together now,” the unicorn growled a little. “And I warn you, you touch her and I will have the Princesses toss you back into Tartarus.”

“You’re together now? Well I’m impressed. You are a lucky stallion,” Sombra smirked, ignoring completely the threat from his host. “Wasn’t her sister and daughter living with you as well?”

“Foxy is also at work and Coal is in school. However, we are seriously considering letting them live somewhere else while we host you,” Private responded. He still couldn’t believe Foxy had insisted on staying.

“I assure you, both of them are completely safe from me,” King Sombra said and again placed a hoof on his chest. “I’m telling you, Private. I’m not the one you should be worrying about.”

That remains to be seen, Private thought and glanced to the entrance of the living room when hearing the front door open. Sombra did as well.

“Private, I’m home.” They heard Dew Doe call. “Is…”

“We’re in the living room,” King Sombra called before Private could. There was dead silence, then slowly Dew Doe peeked inside.

“That answers that,” the pegasus muttered, giving the king a stink-eye before entering fully.

“Greetings Dew Doe. You are looking as lovely as ever,” Sombra greeted her, grinning at the unimpressed expression he received.

“I came from work early, figured you would need some help settling him in,” Dew Doe turned her attention to Private, walked over to him and gave him a small kiss which he returned.

“Thanks,” he muttered, relieved he wouldn’t be alone with the king for the rest of the day.

“As for you.” Dew Doe finally turned to the smirking pony on her couch. “There are going to be some house rules.”

“Well, Private and I were going over some of them already, but by all means let’s hear more,” Sombra said and gestured for her to go on.

“You help around the house. Each pony here has a designated area they are responsible to clean. We rotate it every week,” the pegasus started and sat on a chair close to Private. Sombra arched his brow at hearing that, but said nothing. “We’ll only make an exception for cooking. Usually we adult ponies rotate daily who cooks dinner. We are not sure we are ready to trust you with making a meal for us.”

“That sounds reasonable. I don’t know how to cook anyway,” the Dark Pony shrugged, hiding his relief. Cleaning was one thing, but he had been a little worried if he was expected to prepare a meal.

“We will be giving you the guest room as your own. That will be your private space. We will not barge in uninvited. However, we expect you to do the same regarding our rooms,” the pegasus continued. Sombra hid his surprise at that, merely raising his brow a little.

“Can you elaborate on this a little? What do you refer to when you mean it will be my private space?” the king asked, hiding it well that he was a bit puzzled he would be given privacy at all.

“We all need our privacy and since we are all living here together, we do need a place where we can have some peace and quiet from the rest from time to time. You didn’t think we were going to let you sleep on the couch in the living room, did you?” Dew Doe explained to him.

“Well, it is a nice couch,” Sombra remarked and looked down at the furniture he lay on.

Dew Doe gave Private a glance, unsure if she had heard it right, the king making what almost sounded like a genuine, non-mocking joke. If this had been any other pony, she would probably have giggled at it, even.

“The point being,” the pegasus said, turning back to the king. “The room is for you. It’s not your jail cell. It’s yours. You can have your things in it, decorate it after your tastes, within reason.”

“And I am not one of your things,” Private quickly snorted when noticing Sombra suddenly grin when hearing Dew refer to ‘his things.’

“I never said a word,” the dark pony smirked, the grin getting wider when receiving the unamused glares from the couple.

“Oh yes, that brings us to those house rules.” Dew narrowed her eyes to slits. “No means no. If any of us show any discomfort with your behavior towards us. You. Back. Off!”

“My dear Dew Doe. I am hurt you would think I plan to cause any of you any discomfort or insinuate that I wish to do anything indecent towards you.” Sombra put on an indignant expression and looked away.

Dew Doe arched her brow, then she looked at Private with a completely deadpan face. “Well we tried. Call the Princesses. He’s going back to Tartarus.”

King Sombra blinked and swiftly returned his attention back to the couple, looking utterly astonished. Private was already rising out of the chair, he hadn’t even said a word about Dew’s declaration. The Dark Pony quickly realized that the mare was serious.

“Wait!” the king cried holding up one hoof, there was mild panic in his voice and face. Private halted and both he and Dew looked at him. Sombra grimaced and put his leg down again.

“Fine! I will behave. I swear,” he snapped, sneering a bit as he turned away from them.

Dew Doe nodded to Private who sat back down, then the pegasus mare regarded the king once more with no small amount of disdain.

“You are not the only one who likes to prepare, King Sombra,” she snorted. “Frankly as a therapist, I shouldn’t even be allowing this to happen, the abuser living in the same house as his victim who happens to be my patient and I’ve had to do damage control on.

“So let’s just make this absolutely clear. You are here while the Princesses need you to help with your mother. Once that is over, you are out!” she snapped and stood up. “I think it’s time to show you to your room.”

King Sombra said nothing, just rose from the couch and followed the mare out of the living room. He didn’t even spare Private a glance as he left. Shortly later, Dew Doe returned alone. The pegasus returned to her chair and hesitantly glanced at the unicorn.

“We can still call it off. Princess Celestia told us we did not need any reason to call it off,” she told him.

“I’m tempted, but no. We committed to this. Besides, we’ve both met Queen Rabia, you back when we traveled back in time with Doctor Whooves, and I met her a second time when Sombra abducted me and my family,” Private said and frowned heavily.

“She was genuinely frightening. She frightens Sombra. Whatever she has in mind for Saddle Arabia, it will not be pleasant. She needs to be stopped and if we can help, if only by tolerating that King of Jerks, then so be it.” The unicorn reached out to put a hoof on Dew. “Look, I can take it. You have done a wonderful job with me and he frightens me far less than his mother does. Besides, he told me something that on proper reflection was a good point. In some odd, twisted way, I am the closest thing he has for a friend.”

“You were friends with Prince Sombra, not sure so much about King Sombra,” Dew remarked, but then sighed and nodded. “Very well, the final decision will be yours.”

---

Sombra sat down on the floor in the room he was now in. Now that he was alone, the king breathed a sigh in relief. He hated to admit it, but that had been uncomfortably close. He had not seen this coming at all.

Have to hand it to your little blue mare, Private. She is a shrewd one. Sombra glanced around the room - it had a bed in one corner, a closet and a desk, not much else. He had a feeling this was meant to be a guest room, or they had emptied it since it was now intended for him.

The king arched his brow as he recalled Dew’s words how this room was now his, not quite sure how he would go about decorating it after his tastes. He had a feeling the ponies living in this house didn’t have the budget for his more expensive likings.

Right, better update my plan. They say I have this room. As for privacy, they will not barge in here, still perhaps I should be careful what I do and say in here. A child lives in this house and children are very curious, Sombra rose up and walked to the desk. It was a fairly simple one, but did have two drawers in it. The king tilted his head and opened both drawers. Both were empty.

Hm, perhaps asking for some writing materials wouldn’t be too much. He closed the drawers and turned his attention to the bed. It looked new and seemed to have a pony with his size and build in mind.

Sombra glanced towards the door when hearing a faint slam and voices. His sharp ears picked up a young girl’s voice. The king figured the young child was home from school. Out of force of habit, he tried to sink into the shadows to slink out, only for nothing to happen. The king growled and stalked to the entrance of the room, using the little magic he was allowed to carefully open the door.

“He’s in the room we gave him. Do not bother him!” he heard Dew Doe tell someone downstairs.

“But he’s allowed to bother us?” a girl’s voice complained. Sombra recalled her name was Coal.

“No he is not. We have already told him so,” the mare responded. Then there was a much quieter voice that Sombra couldn’t quite make out that was no doubt Private.

I keep forgetting how quiet Private is, the king thought, already missing being able to subtly connect to the unicorn’s mind. That wasn’t possible with the manacle on.

Sombra glanced back into the room, since there wasn’t much to do there right now except sleep. The king opened the door fully and walked out. He descended down the stairs and stopped at the bottom. Everything had gone silent, no doubt they had heard the clanging of his metal-clad hooves.

King Sombra approached the living room and entered. Dew and Private still sat on the chairs further inside of it, close to them stood Coal. The black filly had a school bag on her back. The girl looked over, scowling. The adults looked more reserved.

The Dark Pony didn’t address them, just took a look around and then spotted a bookshelf. The king walked over and started to look at the titles. He heard a snort and then tiny hoof steps heading out of the living room.

“You can take some of these books to your room, if you want. Just return them when you are done reading them,” he heard Dew Doe tell him.

“That shouldn’t be an issue,” Sombra said and glanced over to the chairs. “Actually, I was wondering if I could be provided with a journal book and something to write with.”

“You'd like to keep a journal?” Dew Doe asked, sounding a little curious now.

“I have a habit of logging down the events of the day, yes.” The king nodded.

“I think I have an empty book in the study,” Private said and dropped down from the chair and trotted out of the living room.

Sombra turned around, intending to follow. He stopped when noticing the sharp glare Dew Doe was giving him. The king looked at her quizzically.

“Private will be alone with you as little as possible, preferably not at all, but that is unfortunately impossible since Private does a lot of his work at home,” Dew Doe narrowed her eyes on the Dark Pony. “I expect you to respect that.”

“Yes, yes, you have already made it abundantly clear that I am to behave,” Sombra sighed and kept his temper in check, knowing he had to play along for now. The king turned back to the bookshelf, holding back a grumble.

After a short search, the Dark Pony found no title that really interested him. As he turned around again, he saw Private return to the living room.

“I put the book in your room, along with a quill set and ink,” the unicorn informed him.

“Thank you, I will leave you lovebirds then,” Sombra said and started to walk towards the living room. As he passed Private, who was heading back to the chair, the king stopped and looked at the unicorn with a small frown.

“Tell me, when did you two get together?” he asked, unsure.

“Um… shortly after I was rescued from you, not that it is any of your business,” Private grunted and continued over to the mare and sat down next to her.

“Wait,” Sombra arched his brow in surprise. “Are you telling me you caught on?”

“Caught on?” Private asked and exchanged confused glances with Dew.

“Ugh, Private. Have you forgotten what I told you companions were doing in their service?” King Sombra shook his head, almost looking disappointed. Inside he was actually hiding a smirk.

“No I haven’t. In fact some parts I am trying to forget!” the unicorn grunted, glaring now at the king. Dew Doe was narrowing her eyes again.

“Not that. They were learning. Why do you think I kept bringing your little mare up? It wasn’t just games, when companions eventually left their service, their masters usually arranged for their marriage. Tell me, have you consummated yet?” Sombra asked, catching both ponies completely by surprise.

“That is none of your business,” Dew snapped, her wings rising a little in irritation. Private was hoofing his face.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Tell me Miss Dew, were you surprised how knowledgeable Private actually was considering his lack of experience?” the king hid a smirk, really holding back a chuckle when seeing the expressions on both ponies. “Well, who do you think taught him?”

With those words, Sombra quickly departed the living room, once out of view a huge grin was plastered on his muzzle. He swiftly made his way back to his room and disappeared inside. Even if they would send him right back to Tartarus for this, that had been just too well worth it.

End chapter 7