Retirement of a king

by Askre

Chapter 7 - The King and the Prince

Dew, Private and Sombra entered the throne room. Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna sat on their respective thrones. The three newly arrived started to approach, but Sombra couldn’t help but notice the stern stares he was being given by the two alicorns.

“Your Highnesses,” Dew addressed the princesses and bowed, so did Private. “We are here with the first report on King Sombra.”

“Sombra, I want to hear this report from those two uninterrupted,” Celestia stated as she pointed a hoof towards Private and Dew, while still keeping her eyes on the Dark Pony.

“So, I hope you understand when we ask you to wait outside the throne room while we hear the report,” Luna finished. Dew and Private glanced at each other, unsure, before eyeing Sombra, whose only reaction was to raise one eyebrow.

“Fine by me. Not sure why I was dragged along for this,” he snorted and turned around to walk right back outside. The doors to the throne room closed behind him, leaving Dew and Private with the royals.

“Sorry, I thought maybe it was better if he was around while giving our report,” the pegasus apologized.

“No need to apologize. This whole thing has been rather unorthodox,” Celestia assured her with one hoof raised. Now both she and her sister smiled. “Now, please, give us your report.”

Dew Doe took a deep breath, took a moment to consult the papers, glanced at Private for a moment before stepping a little more forward.

“Well, this week could have been much, much worse. Sombra has so far abided by all agreements and we have been attempting to just behave as normal as possible with him around. Kind of just getting used to having him around all the time. He does have an attitude and hasn’t given any indication yet that he’s been convinced to turn good,” Dew Doe started her report.

---

King Sombra sat in silence in front of the doors leading to the throne room. Occasionally he would shift his weight a little, examine a front hoof and dust off his silk robe. The dark pony ignored the nearby nervous guards, who kept a wary eye on him.

What exactly do they expect to hear from a weekly report, barely much happened this week, he thought and shook his head. Bleh, if it makes them feel safe, I suppose they must be indulged.

Further down the long hallway, he spotted a movement. Sombra frowned slightly and kept watching the spot he had seen it. A foal appeared on a run, went in a circle, then disappeared down a corridor. It was shortly later followed by another. Sombra was tempted to rub his eyes, he could have sworn it was the same foal.

His brows rose higher when seeing now two identical foals come running back and disappear the way they originally come from. What really caught his attention though were the dark grey coats and blonde mane and tails of the children.

There is something hauntingly familiar about them, he thought and rubbed his muzzle with a hoof.

The foals appeared again. They were clearly playing in the hallway. Then a head appeared with a black mane, red eyes, dark gray coat, but the horn was the same color as the coat and straight.

“Boys, do not run in the halls, you might trip on something,” the unknown unicorn spoke in a voice that nearly matched Sombra’s, except didn’t sound as harsh.

The head disappeared the way it came and the foals hurried after the stallion. King Sombra continued to stare, not quite believing what he had just seen, mouth half-open, an unsure scowl on his brow.

The king glanced back at the throne room doors, then returned his attention to where had seen the unicorn and the foals. Slowly he rose, intending to investigate this. The Dark Pony was sure the report would take hours. The princesses probably needed to ask multiple questions.

When he reached the hallway he had seen the unicorn and the foals disappear into, he looked in and saw multiple doors on either side of it. One was only half-closed. A foal peeked out of it.

“Barricade, come get your food,” a voice sounded from the room the door led to. King Sombra blinked, the voice was his, just softer and gentler. The foal disappeared back in.

What by the first queen is going on here? The king frowned and started to approach the door. He could still hear his voice inside, speaking quietly no doubt to the foals.

Sombra didn’t use his magic to open the door, knowing it might be detected,. Instead, he reached out with a hoof to do it. Then he looked inside and the Dark Pony couldn’t believe what he saw.

The room was clearly a parlor of some sort. On a big couch sat the unknown stallion and next to him the two foals. Both colts were munching on sandwiches, a small plate was on a nearby table with more food. The adult pony had two glasses of juice in his magic, apparently ready to give them to the boys when requested.

“Wait, is that a…” the stallion spoke as if he had detected something, then looked at the door right where Sombra now stood in the entrance.

King Sombra, of course, knew what the other unicorn had detected. Being a Dark Pony, he had felt the presence of another of his race. The king’s eyes started to narrow, while the other stallion dropped from the couch and now stood in front of it with a concerned look on his face, shielding the boys from view.

“Stay on the couch,” the unicorn whispered to the boys, but kept his eyes fixed on the king. He also put the two glasses on the table.

“I can’t even remember when I had this little dark magic in me,” King Sombra snorted and walked right in, still staring at the unknown pony. “You only have natural reserves, don’t you?”

“I have never felt any need to…increase it,” the other stallion remarked carefully. Behind him on the couch, the colts huddled together, one looking a little afraid, but the other had a tiny scowl.

“What? Never felt the pull of power?” King Sombra chuckled mockingly. He didn’t get closer, but started to circle the room. As soon as he got a better view of the couch and the boys, the other stallion immediately stepped into the way of his view.

“Can’t say I have,” was the response from the younger unicorn.

“Now, what is Celestia up to? I am seeing how I looked over a thousand years ago, before, well, this.” The king stopped for a moment and gestured to himself.

“I was pulled to this world in some sort of an accident I still do not fully understand. My wards and I are Princess Celestia’s guests while that is being sorted out,” the younger Dark Pony responded. He blinked when Sombra disappeared into the shadows, only to reappear right behind the couch, staring down at the colts.

“Your wards look very familiar,” King Sombra remarked. He made no move as the other stallion swiftly turned around, grabbed the colts in his magic and quickly backed away, placing the startled foals on his back as he did. All the king did was chuckle.

“I take it my reputation already precedes me, judging by your reaction, prince. That’s what you are, aren’t you?” The king walked around the couch. The prince backed away further into the room.

“I have been briefed.” Prince Sombra nodded, glancing at the boys who huddled on his back. The king started laughing.

---

“Well, I’m glad to hear there have been no outstanding issues and that your family is backing you up,” Princess Celestia said and nodded in satisfaction.

“But I am curious how you plan to convince him, that is the reason he just invited himself into your home after all,” Princess Luna pointed out.

“We are still working on that,” Dew admitted with a sigh and Private nodded.

“I suppose we can’t expect too much happening within one week.” Celestia looked at her sister. Granted other things had happened, but as far the Sun Princess was concerned, it had nothing to do with this particular issue.

“Might as well let Sombra in, see if he has anything to add.” The white alicorn lit up her horn to open the doors to the throne room, expecting to see a bored Dark Pony on the other side. Everyone was shocked to see nothing.

“Where is Sombra?” Luna asked and rose up from her throne, as did her sister.

The two alicorns swiftly spread their wings and flew over to the entrance. Dew and Private hurried after them, but the hallway beyond was empty, save for the two guards.

“Guards, where did Sombra go?” Celestia asked them.

“Uh… he saw your guests, your Highness…” one guard spoke up, but fell silent when seeing the alarm come over both Luna and Celestia who immediately raced off, forcing Dew and Private to run after them.

Celestia and Luna hurried to the parlor. Both knew Prince Sombra would be in and rushed inside just as King Sombra was finishing laughing. The prince stood further inside the room with the two colts on his back.

“King Sombra,” Princess Celestia snapped, using his title so that there was no question who she was addressing. The king glanced at her with an amused smirk.

“Celestia, I see you have a replacement ready in case my retirement plans don’t pan out,” King Sombra chuckled mockingly as he gestured to the prince, who snorted in indignation.

“His arrival was an accident that is still being investigated. It has nothing to do with what you are doing,” Princess Luna stated as she stepped over to stand in front of the prince.

“Two Sombras?!” The attention was diverted to the entrance. Dew and Private had caught up and the pegasus was slapping her own mouth with a hoof, having accidentally cried out loud what she was thinking. Private was looking between the two Dark Ponies, his jaw nearly scraping the ground.

“So much for keeping this under wraps, sister,” Luna whispered and cringed a little. She could only imagine what was going through Private’s mind right now.

“Prince Sombra, I am so sorry, I did not intend for you to meet your other self.” Celestia, however, did not lose her composure, addressing the prince first who remained silent. Then she looked at the king and pointed to the door. “And you, please step outside. This has nothing to do with you.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it.” King Sombra just chuckled and rolled his eyes, however, he complied and used the shadows to vanish and reappear outside in the hallway. Luna then gently managed to coax the two stunned smaller ponies out of the entrance and took them outside.

“Are you alright? Are the boys unharmed?” Celestia quickly turned to the prince, who had let out a sigh of relief once everybody was out of the room.

She didn’t get a response right away. The prince was taking the boys to another couch in the room and putting them down there and took a moment to reassure them, especially Piat. Barri reached to hug his brother, a scowl still on his little face.

“I-I’m fine…he just talked and well, he figured out quickly who I was.” Prince Sombra then turned back to Celestia. The princess frowned in worry as the Dark Pony looked frightened. “No Dark Pony should be that saturated with dark magic.”

“I can only apologize again that you had to meet him. His custodians were here to give their first report on his progress. They didn’t know and brought him with them,” the princess said and watched as the prince turned back to the boys. Piat whimpered and wanted to be held and the Dark Pony obliged him. Barri looked more sure of himself and started to jump around on the couch as if the past minutes hadn’t even happened.

---

“And then Celestia brought them here to stay as a guest while his sudden arrival is being looked into by the proper experts,” Luna finished her explanation to Dew and Private as they walked along the hallways of Canterlot Castle, King Sombra trailing behind them.

Dew looked unsure at Private. The unicorn still looked stunned. This had certainly been an unusual twist on what had just been a trip to give their first report. The pegasus then glanced back at Sombra, who still looked amused by the whole event.

“The boys are actually younger versions of Private and Barricade?” she whispered and turned back to Luna, who nodded her head in confirmation.

“Celestia and I have been calling them, Piat and Barri to avoid confusion amongst ourselves, since we know the adult versions, though the prince addresses them by their full names,” the Lunar Princess told her.

“You know, if you need any help looking into this,” the king spoke up, causing Luna to glare back at him while the other two ponies glanced more skeptically.

“What? I’m as curious about this as you are. It's not every time you get to meet yourself without the aid of a mirror.” Sombra chuckled at the looks he was being given.

Luna was of half a mind to just outright refuse the offer, not believing for one second it was genuine and he didn’t have some ulterior motive. However, considering the king was now in a reformation program, it might not look too good if she just dismissed him like that.

“We will consider it,” the princess said as they started to step through the gate of the castle.

“Let me guess, don’t call us, we’ll call you,” King Sombra gave the midnight alicorn a knowing smile. Dew shook her head tiredly, Private resisted an urge to roll his eyes.

“Something like that,” Luna retorted, stopped her walk and turned to face the two smaller ponies. “Private, Dew, my sister and I will look forward to your next report and any progress you make.”

Dew just nodded and bowed. So did Private. Sombra just snorted. The three of them continued onwards towards Canterlot city proper to get to the train station. Luna returned to the castle.

King Sombra took a moment to glance back towards the castle. He stopped his walk when spotting something on a balcony of one of the towers. The Dark Pony felt a tinge of dread come over him.

She’s no longer locked up? He thought and had to really struggle to not cringe. He hurried after Dew Doe and Private, who hadn’t noticed he had fallen behind. How did she manage to manipulate herself out of her cell?

On the balcony in question, observing the three departing ponies from a distance, was Queen Rabia, her face expressionless as she watched her son spot her then rush off. The neutral facade broke for a moment, turning into a sad frown. With a deep sigh, the Dark Pony Queen returned inside.

---

“Sheesh, you are suddenly in a hurry,” Dew Doe called as she and Private hurried after King Sombra, who had unexpectedly overtaken and gone right past them. It was more difficult for the pegasus due to her more pronounced belly.

“What, would you want to hang around a place you know you aren’t welcome?” the Dark Pony snorted, but did slow down his pace a bit.

The two ponies behind him glanced around and did notice that others passing them by were giving the king nervous looks, apparently backing up his claim. Yet Dew wasn’t completely convinced that was the reason. There was something about Sombra’s body language that was different.

“In fact, why take the train? I can easily teleport all of us back to your house. Besides, you shouldn't be walking this much in your condition, Dew Doe,” the king then remarked, trying to sound like he wasn’t in a hurry to get out of Canterlot.

“Private, when has he ever cared if ponies want him around or not?” Dew whispered to her coltfriend. Private’s expression told her everything, the Dark Pony never cared, if anything, he had always found it amusing to overstay his ‘welcome.’ And they weren't buying it that Sombra was concerned about Dew's pregnancy.

“I guess we could teleport…” Dew Doe started and jumped back a little when King Sombra swiftly turned around to face them, looking oddly happy.

“Good, then that’s settled,” he declared, immediately wrapping the two ponies in front of him in shadows and the three of them disappeared.

They reappeared outside their house in Fillydelphia. Sombra didn’t even wait for the door to be unlocked, just sunk into the shadows again and went inside. Dew and Private still stood outside, mildly dazed after the sudden transportation.

“What has gotten into him?” Dew snorted, flailing one leg in agitation, her wings slightly raised. Private could provide no response, yet he couldn’t help but feel that Sombra’s behavior was very familiar.

“Last time I saw him acting like this was when…” Private hesitated and eyed Dew Doe. “His mother was causing trouble.”

“Oh my gosh, you’re right!” The pegasus gasped and placed a hoof over her mouth. “She’s in Canterlot Castle in her own rehabilitation program. Did he spot her? Does he even know that’s what she’s doing?”

“Would it matter if he knew?” Private wondered. Dew looked at him.

“Probably not. He is scared of her. He told me last time that the reason he’s sought so much power was to be stronger than her." The pegasus started towards the door with Private following.

“Let’s let him calm down. I don’t dare imagine what hurricane of emotions he’s experiencing right now,” Dew then said as the two entered the house. Voices from the living room caused them to pause for a moment in confusion, they immediately headed over and peeked in, both were shocked to see Coal sitting on a chair and Foxy was on a couch.

“Hiii, we’re back,” Foxy waved, grinning innocently. Then gestured to her daughter with both front hooves. “She can explain.”

“Whaat!?” Coal gasped in shock at her mother. Foxy just folded her legs and gazed towards the ceiling.

“It was your idea, you get to explain it, kiddo,” the maroon pegasus pretended to snort, though anyone who knew her knew Foxy wasn’t being serious.

“I’ll explain it,” Sky Dive declared as she came from the kitchen with tea, walked past a stunned Dew and Private and entered the living room.

“Grandma to the rescue,” Coal whooped, throwing her front legs into the air.

“Spoilsport,” Foxy grumbled, her daughter giggled and Sky Dive rolled her eyes but was smirking.

End chapter 7