Retirement of a king

by Askre

Chapter 5 - More questions than answers

Prince Sombra stared down at the book. Slowly he flipped a page. On the table in front of him were also scrolls and illustrations depicting various events in history. Close by were Princess Celestia and Twilight. Doctor Whooves sat at a more respectful distance.

Starlight had agreed to watch over the boys as things were finally explained to the Dark Pony. It had taken some time though to get Piat to accept to stay put. He hadn't seemed very happy to leave the prince, even if it was for a short while.

“I… change into that?” the prince glanced at an image that showed King Sombra battling Princess Celestia and Luna, shortly before he was banished and the Crystal Empire disappeared.

“Our Sombra did, yes. He’s returned a few times after that…right now though he is in a program that will eventually reform him,” Princess Celestia told him. She decided not to confuse the issue even more with that it was strictly speaking an attempt to convince the king to retire.

The prince looked horrified as he gazed at her for a moment. Slowly he turned to where Whooves sat. The Time Pony still looked very apologetic.

“And you said I would turn out like that?” the prince whispered. Whooves sighed and nodded. The Dark Pony started to tremble. “Why would I do that…I would never…I mean I was just looking for the boys’ home, their parents…”

“Your world and this world are…well were…similar, but still different. You would, yes turn into a similar King Sombra, but…” Whooves bit his lips as he tried to think up the right words. “Your heart was never quite in it?”

“I still don’t understand,” the prince muttered. “How did I send the boys back in time, if they weren’t even born when I did it?”

“Our Sombra did something similar. He was pulling back ponies in time to infuse them with spells so they could serve as hosts for his spirit in case he was defeated. At one point he pulled back a young colt named Private Iceland. You, however, seemed to have pulled back his brother Barricade as well,” Princess Celestia explained, but kept her tone gentle. She could see the prince was having a very hard time accepting this.

“So, it was my fault,” the prince hung his head and sighed sadly. “I ruined their and their parents’ lives.”

“No. You see, as I told you earlier. You succeeded in sending them back to their parents, without them realizing they were ever gone,” Doctor Whooves pointed out. Then he looked down at the map table. “But something happened, something that was not your fault. This map is the key to finding out what happened.”

“You appeared from the map. What could have caused that?” Twilight agreed as she thought back to the incident.

The prince made no reply. He just rose up and walked away until he sat down in front of a wall with his back turned to them. Celestia saw he was still trembling; the princess rose up and walked over to him.

“I can’t believe I turn into a monster like the Saddle Arabians always painted us as,” the Dark Pony whispered when he became aware that the princess had sat down next to him. Tears were forming in his eyes.

“You haven’t turned into that monster, and maybe you never will,” the princess told him reassuringly. The prince looked at her sorrowfully.

“You heard the Time Pony, they can see the future. He said it himself that I would,” he protested and hung his head again.

“He also said that you succeeded in bringing the boys back home, but something prevented that. You are still Prince Sombra right now,” Celestia pointed out.

“Wait, she was the cause of that time havoc we detected a few years back?” Doctor Whooves was heard shouting. Celestia looked back and saw that the Time Pony and Twilight were still examining the map table. Apparently, the Friendship Princess had just finished explaining to him what Starlight had done here before she had become Twilight’s student.

The Sun Princess ignored it for now, focusing instead on the upset Dark Pony next to her. In one way she regretted revealing King Sombra to him. Judging by his reactions, it was clear he had not even reached the stage that caused the king to turn towards darkness. She thought back to the kitchen scene, the prince had been far more concerned about the boys and wanted to protect them. He hadn’t even threatened to use his magic, more ready to just use physical force.

That’s the prince I remember, she smiled a little. It turned sadder when remembering also what Whooves had said. The prince’s world was gone.

Celestia rose up to her hooves and walked back to the table. Whooves and Twilight were talking and figuring out how the map worked into this accident.

“Doctor Whooves, did I hear right that his world is,” Celestia really did not want to say the next bit. “Gone?”

“I’m afraid so, your Highness,” Whooves responded with a sigh. His cutie mark started glowing and the Time Pony frowned and looked forward, almost as if he was listening to something or watching something. His brow arched. “No wait… oh dear.”

“What?” Twilight asked, worried something else was happening. The Time Pony took a deep breath, then glanced at each princess.

“Look, we Time Ponies are hyper aware of not just the time stream, but alternate realities as well. That is how I could feel it when the prince and the boys were brought here and could rush over. While I was rushing over, I traced them back to their world of origin and saw their intended timeline, saw the intended events. Saw the zebra help Sombra get the boys back home, and later events that ended with that Sombra pulling the boys back in time,” he started speaking but more quietly. He really did not want to upset the prince more, even though it was doubtful the Dark Pony was listening right now.

“That Prince Sombra turned out a bit different from King Sombra. Not quite as brutal and not quite as uh, sadistic. Still tyrannical. He did take over his Crystal Empire, but it was like his heart just wasn’t in it; more like he just squatted and forced the Crystal Ponies to serve him. His messing with time magic was more halfhearted, like he was just toying around, bored. When he does the whole pulling ponies back in time, it’s by accident and only once, resulting in the two boys that are now with him. That shakes him out of it. He’s horrified when recognizing the boys and that they recoil in terror of how he looks. He attempts to send them back, messes up and sends them further back in time, to the point when he’s still a prince. Are you following?”

“I think so,” Princess Celestia furrowed her brow as she took this information in. Twilight contemplated this as well, rubbing her muzzle thoughtfully.

“Well to make it short, it’s basically a classic stable time loop. King Sombra takes them back in time, Prince Sombra sends them back home. However, something broke the loop and…” Whooves sighed and looked at the map table. “And breaking that loop, broke his world.”

“Alright, but what did you see just now?” Celestia brought the topic back to Whooves earlier remark.

“It’s the biggest problem with time magic, when the time stream fixes a mess, it’s not always very neat. This is why Prince Sombra and the boys didn’t just cease to exist when the time loop broke. Our timeline and our reality is now his timeline and his reality. He belongs here now,” the Time Pony responded, but this time very carefully, almost as if he had anticipated the stunned and confused reactions of the princesses. “Don’t think too hard about it. You will just get a headache.”

“I think I already have,” Twilight groaned, rubbing her forehead with a grimace. “But how did this happen?”

“This is only a guess, but the way you describe the vortex and what you later told me about what Starlight did, I would say it was a time aftershock from when the time stream was fixing the damage she had been doing to it,” Whooves told her.

“But that happened years ago,” the Friendship Princess protested and quickly glanced around, thankfully Starlight had not entered the room. She was not sure the unicorn could handle the news that she may have caused even further disaster with her actions back then.

“That’s another problem with time magic, sometimes the fixes are instantaneous, other times you won’t notice until a long time afterward, or you already saw it happening sometime in the past and didn’t know that is what was happening. That’s why you sometimes have déjà vu. That’s the time stream correcting something,” Whooves told her and shrugged.

“Look, as much as I hate doing it. I’m going to the Time Pony Council to hear what they have to say about it. Even I can only do so much. Just be thankful I’m not the madcap version of me in the blue box,” he grunted with a shake of his head, causing yet again some confusion from the Princesses.

“Well, I don’t think we are going to be getting a better explanation for now. Very well, you go to the Time Pony Council.” Princess Celestia nodded and looked towards the prince, who still sat further away, facing the wall. “I’ll take care of Prince Sombra and the boys for now.”

“What about our King Sombra? When he hears about this and I’m sure he will…” Twilight asked worriedly.

“Well, he’s in Fillydelphia for now. Let’s hope Private and his friends can convince him to retire,” her former teacher said as she headed back to the prince.

---

Fillydelphia

Dew Doe peeked into the living room. King Sombra sat on a chair and was reading a book. The pegasus walked in and sat down on the couch opposite of the Dark Pony. She furrowed her brow and started rubbing her muzzle thoughtfully as she regarded him.

“Can I help you?” Sombra asked without looking up from the book.

“I was just thinking.” Dew Doe dropped her hoof and glanced towards the floor for a moment. “Chocolate or strawberries?”

“Excuse me, what?” The Dark Pony lowered the book, he stared at Dew with a mildly confused frown.

“I’m baking a cake.” the pegasus looked back at him and shrugged. “Do you prefer chocolate or strawberries?”

“Is this cake specifically for me or…?” Sombra wondered, still not quite understanding why this was important.

“Not you specifically no. I just felt like baking a cake and Foxy likes chocolate, Private doesn’t care either way, I like strawberries, that leaves you,” Dew Doe told him. “And do I also need to put a disclaimer that this isn’t a half-assed attempt to convince you? You happen to live in this house right now. This is a simple matter of sharing. I’m making a cake and everybody in the house gets cake.”

Sombra gave Dew a funny look. The Dark Pony really had to conceal how absolutely confusing the mare was to him right now. Slowly he raised the book up again. For a moment there was no sound except the shuffling of paper when he turned a page.

“Well, if it matters that much, I prefer chocolate after I learned of its existence,” he finally muttered, still raking his brain over what the Dew was really up to. This couldn’t be that simple in his mind.

“Oooh, chocolate strawberry cake, perfect.” Dew Doe beamed, jumped down from the couch and trotted out of the living room.

The king lowered the book again and stared for a moment after the departing mare. Finally, he put it on the table, scowling as he thought this over.

What is going on here? I told them to convince me that retiring was worth it. Where are the speeches? Where are the lectures on friendship and harmony? The tiring spiel about how their morals are superior to mine. He narrowed his eyes. So far nothing was going as he had pictured in his mind. The king had expected long discussions with them, debates even. So far, none of it was happening. The other three ponies just went on with their lives and he just hung around the house, waiting.

I had had it all planned out. I would listen to their tirade and arguments. Let them run in circles trying to figure it out. The king stepped down from the chair and started pacing around in front of the coffee table. Then I would...

“Hey big dark and spooky, you okay?”

Sombra stopped pacing and glared at the living room entrance. Foxy was peeking her head in. The king narrowed his eyes again, wondering if he should break his agreement with Celestia and invade their minds, pulling out what they were up to.

“Your insults are pathetic,” Sombra snorted and sat back down, still glaring at the mare.

“And your retorts are just as biting, so any reason you were going around in circles?” Foxy grinned a little.

“Foxy, don’t antagonize.” Dew Doe admonished from the kitchen.

“Antagonize? Moi?” Foxy put a hoof on her chest, pretending to be absolutely shocked at the accusation.

“If she calls that antagonizing, I wonder what she called what I was doing,” Sombra commented with a snort. Then he rolled his eyes. “Don’t answer that, I have a long list of ideas of what she would call it.”

“Heard it all, huh?” Foxy trotted into the living room and just sat down on the floor.

“You could say that,” the king grunted and resumed his glare. “So, what do you three hope to accomplish by behaving like everything is perfectly normal?”

“We three? Wasn’t the deal just with Dew and Private? I’m just here for the ride.” Foxy shrugged and glanced back at the living room entrance. “Plus keeping an eye on those two.”

“Alright then, what do they hope to accomplish?” Sombra growled. The temptation to just use his powers was coming back.

Foxy just shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno. Like I said, just here for the ride,” she grinned wide. “Besides, what are you complaining about? It’s not like they are lecturing you about being good. You said you've heard it all, so it’s not like hearing the same old blather of friendship and happiness will convince you if it didn’t before.”

Sombra opened his mouth to respond but the words froze in his mouth when he realized the pegasus had a point. Hadn’t he himself praised Private for not boring him to tears with the kind of spiel he expected from Twilight and her friends?

Foxy stood up and left the living room leaving the king with his thoughts. The mare headed into the kitchen where Dew Doe was busy making the batter for the cake.

“Can I scream already that we have one of Equestria’s biggest enemies living in our house full to the brim with his dark powers,” Foxy whispered sharply, letting go of her calm façade for a moment.

“We have to stay strong, Foxy. If this is going to work, we are just going to have to do the same as Fluttershy did with Discord. Accept him as he is,” Dew whispered back and kept busying herself with the baking. "We are still in the, 'getting used to having him in the house' phase."

“You’re a nervous wreck, aren’t you?” her sister commented while watching the blue pegasus go about the kitchen.

“You should see Private,” Dew muttered and looked around before locating the sugar she needed and picking it up.

“That bad?” Foxy nodded and sighed. “Not sure we really can keep this up.”

“If it works, we eventually don’t have to.” Dew Doe looked at her for a moment with a reassuring smile.

“And if it doesn’t work?” the maroon mare questioned with an uncertain expression.

“I’m…trying not to think about that,” her sister grunted as she rummaged through the fridge for strawberries.

Foxy nodded, then eyed the kitchen entrance when hearing hoof steps. Sombra appeared, halting his approach before he was fully inside. Dew stopped working on the cake and the sisters looked quizzically at the dark pony.

“I was just going to get myself something to drink, then I recalled the last time I was here, we bought a bottle of red wine, but never got a chance to drink it due to mother arriving at the house. I don’t suppose it is still available?” he wondered.

“I had completely forgotten about that,” Dew remarked. She spread her wings to fly up to the upper cupboards in the kitchen, struggling a little due to her extra weight. She rummaged for a bit then pulled out an untouched wine bottle.

“Jeez, that’s been up there all this time?” Foxy was mildly surprised. Then again, neither she nor her sister drank wine that much except on very special occasions and she couldn’t recall Private ever touching alcohol.

Sombra grabbed the bottle from Dew in his magic and opened it. Then he conjured up a crystal wine glass, poured himself some wine and started to sip.

“You’re supposed to let it breathe before drinking it,” Foxy pointed out, receiving an odd glance from the Dark Pony.

“I’m supposed to what now?” The king had no idea what pegasus was on about.

“That may not have applied a thousand years ago, Foxy,” Dew hid a chuckle.

“I take it you didn’t study wine culture while hiding away,” Foxy asked curiously. She tried hard not to laugh at the indignant face that came over the king.

“It’s a drink. Are you telling me ponies have invented a whole culture simply to have a drink?” Sombra rolled his eyes. Finding this topic way too ridiculous he left the kitchen for the living room, taking the wine bottle and glass with him.

“Actually, it was the Abyssinian cats who invented…” Private was walking down the stairs and just caught what Sombra retorted.

“Oh, be silent, Private!” Sombra snapped as he stomped into the living room.

Private arched his brow, trotted over the kitchen entrance and peeked in. Foxy and Dew Doe were barely holding back giggles. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know what had just happened.

“Calling him names won’t phase him, but this makes him steam?” Foxy peeped as she tried so hard to keep her laughter down.

“Well, Sombra has a very pragmatic view of the world. I can see why he might find wine traditions to be absurd. Probably just views it as something to drink and be done with it - at best a luxury item.” Private shrugged and noticed that his marefriend stopped silently giggling and looked at him surprised.

“What did you say?” Dew Doe asked. Her sister and coltfriend could almost hear gears clicking into high gear in her head.

“I said, Sombra is pragmatic?” The unicorn was now unsure what to make of this.

Dew Doe suddenly grabbed a glass from a cupboard, filled it to the halfway point with water from the sink and flew out of the kitchen, leaving two unsure ponies behind. Her flight took her straight to the living room, where Sombra had sat down again with the book, the wine bottle and glass resting on a side table next to his chair.

Sombra slowly lowered the book to see the blue pegasus put the glass on the coffee table without taking her eyes off him.

“I am probably going to regret the headache I will get from asking, but what are you doing?” the Dark Pony grunted and put the book aside for now.

“I want to do a small test,” Dew Doe said and pointed at the glass. “Half full or half empty?”

Sombra narrowed his eyes, eyeing the glass for a moment then the pegasus. He was starting to think this whole thing had just been one big mistake.

“Why is that important?” he finally asked wearily. His eyes were starting to tint green.

“Just answer this one question and I won’t bother you for the rest of the day,” Dew Doe offered. The green disappeared from the unicorn’s eyes.

“I fail to see the relevance, it’s a glass with water in it. What does it matter whether it’s half full or half empty? However, if we must be technical, it’s both. Any nitwit could see that,” Sombra snorted, grabbed the book and resumed reading. He didn’t see the stunned look on Dew Doe’s face.

Oh wow, that...that explains so much. Dew Doe silently grabbed the glass and hurried back to the kitchen.

End chapter 5