A Tyrant To A King

by ShuTodoroki

Chapter 23: The Big Mac Question

It had been a few weeks since the last Summer Sun Celebration, now known as the Festival of the Two Sisters as decreed by Twilight, who was rapidly approaching her coronation as the ruler of all of Equestria. Sombra had helped out here and there in the preparations, even as he ignored odd looks from a few ponies who were still somewhat wary of him.

He was determined to take a break today, however, as he leaned back in a chair in his castle suite. Helping instead of ordering ponies around still made him feel somewhat conflicted, the evil side to him always protesting that he was bowing to the demands of others.

Discord had told him that it was normal for reformed villains to still have those urges, though, and the only important thing was that he wasn't acting on them. More and more ponies were starting to forget that he was ever evil, as he helped with the preparations for Twilight's coronation, which definitely felt more…agreeable.

As if the draconequus knew he was thinking about him, a burst of chaos magic was the only thing that alerted him to Discord's presence, as he appeared in front of him. Sombra scowled as he quickly got up to face the Lord of Chaos properly, instead of laying back in his chair. "You never knock, do you?"

"Nope! Surely you should know that about me by now. Anyway, no time to explain, I need your help." Without even giving Sombra a chance to respond, Discord teleported to both of them in front of Sugarcube Corner, causing Spike to jump in fright while he hovered over a basket of apples with notes attached to them. "I've got the reinforcements!"

"Unwillingly." Sombra muttered, as he was really starting to tire of Discord teleporting ponies without even having the decency to ask. Though he supposed spontaneity was Discord's specialty.

"Did you even tell Sombra what he's helping with?" Spike asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, but I will now! Long story short, Big Mac is proposing to Sugar Belle, and I need your help with putting these apples with their horribly written riddles in the right places as detailed by this map." Discord told Sombra, holding up the map while the former tyrant looked highly unamused.

"You want me to help with a marriage proposal?"

Discord rolled his eyes at Sombra's reaction. "Yes, why the long face? Not that you ever look happy, but you're acting like this is such a pain for you when you've been helping with the preparations in Canterlot."

"Because the coronation of Equestria's new ruler is an actually significant event. I've tolerated watching your Ogres and Oubliettes games despite how childish they are, but seriously? A marriage proposal? Is Big Mac not able to just ask the mare directly?

Spike looked offended by what Sombra said, his brows knitted into a frown."Okay, first of all, Ogres and Oubliettes is an epic game. Secondly, Big Mac's trying to be romantic! Even if you may not care about it, friendship is about helping your friends, even if you don't have a personal interest in it."

Sombra sighed, knowing these two wouldn't let him leave, now that he was here. He figured if he finished what needed to be done, he could enjoy the rest of his day. "Fine, let me take a look at the map."

He took a gander at the map, and with a blast of his magic, all of the apples were teleported to where they were specified on the map. "It's done."

Spike stared at the now empty basket, mouth agape since he didn't expect Sombra to do it that way. "You just teleported them? Are you sure you put them in the right spots?"

"I'm smart enough to know how to follow directions." Sombra retorted, finding it quite insulting that Spike was questioning his work. "Now, if that was-"

"Even so, we should probably double check. Just in case!" Discord interrupted with a wink, Sombra looking ready to throttle the draconequus for dragging him out here and then to dare give him more work for something so inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.

That is, until his attention was turned to Sugar Belle bursting out of the front doors of Sugarcube Corner, pursuing the Cutie Mark Crusaders who were holding what looked like an apple pie. Spike seemed more concerned about the apple, however, a grimace on his face as he picked it up.

"She didn't see the apple! What are we gonna do?"

"Well, we could just give it to her." Discord pointed out.

"Finally, something we agree on. Must everything be needlessly so complicated?" Sombra asked.

"It may be complicated to you, but the whole point is to be romantic! She needs to discover it!" Spike replied.

"Don't be such a drama dragon. I've precipitated liquid cocoa on Equestria, and herded long-limbed Leporidae. I can certainly make a pony see an apple!" Discord grabbed the apple from Spike, with a snap of his fingers taking himself, Sombra, and the empty basket with him.

Sombra soon appeared in the market in Ponyville, scaring a few ponies who didn't expect him or Discord to appear out of nowhere. "Ugh, why do I even-"

"Shhh!" Discord quickly shushed Sombra, before placing an apple with the note right in front of Sugar Belle, who was buying flowers. Yet, she seemed too preoccupied to notice, thanking the salespony as she took her flower arrangement before happily trotting away.

Discord picked up the unnoticed apple, looking quite annoyed. "You know, if she's too busy to read the horribly written clues, maybe you should just tell her!" With a snap of his fingers, the apple suddenly grew arms and legs and started making incoherent chitters. He then transported the rest of the apples back from their assigned places, making them turn to life as well.

Sombra watched this with a raised eyebrow, having a feeling anything involving Discord's chaos magic was a very, very bad idea. "You can't be serious."

"Aw, come on, I can even give them orders, see?" Discord turned into a military sergeant, smoking a fake pipe. "Listen up! Each of you has a job to do! Take a look at your stems!"

The apples then proceeded to chitter again, doing what they were told. Obviously Discord was able to understand what they were saying, even if Sombra heard it as gibberish. "Tell me about it. But regardless, go to your designated location, deliver your messages, and make me proud! Dismissed!"

The apple proceeded to run off in different directions after being shown their places on the map, Sombra watching them run off to the surrounding ponies' horror. If the attention was off of him for once, that only confirmed his inkling that this was a horrible idea. "Even if I'm not invested in this, I'm fairly sure this isn't how Big Mac wanted Sugar Belle to get the message."

"Nonsense! Big Mac is lucky to have me as his friend. He does need Sugar Belle to get the riddles, and he didn't specify how."

Sombra rolled his eyes, as screams started to be heard around the market by ponies who were unfortunate enough to come across the talking apples. "Right, well, are you still so sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course! Honestly, Sombra, you're not even doing anything so can you really judge?"

"You took back the apples that I had transported to their respective locations and did it in your own chaotic way, what do you want?" Sombra deadpanned.

Discord opened his mouth to say something else in protest, before he saw Spike and Mrs. Cake running towards the market. "Well, it's about time for me to leave! You can explain everything." The draconequus conveniently disappeared with a snap of his fingers, right when Spike and Mrs. Cake arrived.

"What in the blazes is going on!?!" Mrs. Cake exclaimed, while Spike didn't even have to guess who was at fault here.

"I'm assuming it's Discord, right Sombra?"

"Obviously."

Discord then reappeared, sitting in a recliner and reading a book. "Way to throw a friend under the bus, Sombra. But yes, and I did my part already. Been done for quite a while, in fact!" He then looked around at the ponies who were all screaming and realized that Sugar Belle still hadn't exactly gotten the message.

"You know, thinking back, I probably could have been clearer which pony to deliver the messages to."

"You think? Didn't Sombra transport them to their rightful locations?" Spike asked sarcastically, his arms crossed in disapproval.

"Yes, well, his method of just sending them where they were supposed to go wasn't going to cut it, so-" The chittering apples running around interrupted him, and he quickly snapped them away before they could cause any more collateral damage.

"I sent them back to Sweet Apple Acres. Apples are terrible at taking directions. Couldn't even manage to stay in one location. Now, bananas…" Discord chuckled, holding a banana in his right paw before he brought it up to his right ear. "Are much better at listening!"

Sugar Belle then arrived at the market, confused by the absence of anypony. Sombra almost found it comical that she still didn't even receive the riddles, after that whole display. "What's going on?" She asked, to no one in particular. It was like she either was ignoring their presence or didn't notice.

"Apples running everywhere, and she didn't see the poem to get to the hilltop!?!" Spike said worriedly, while Discord deadpanned.

"Getting her to the hilltop is easy, and not seeing the poems is actually a blessing when you think about it." Discord booped Spike on the nose before transporting himself, Sombra, and Sugar Belle to the hilltop of Sweet Apple Acres.

Discord looked around for Big Mac, but not seeing him anywhere he quickly blindfolded Sugar Belle, in order to not spoil the surprise. "Darn it, I thought he'd be here!"

"Who'd be here?" Sugar Belle asked in confusion, since she couldn't see and really only got a brief glimpse of Discord and Sombra.

"Must you bring me wherever you are?" Sombra muttered.

"Take it as a learning experience about friendship. Well, since he's not here, we'll probably run into him in Ponyville." Discord said, quickly teleporting them back in front of Sugarcube Corner.

"Sugar Belle!" Big Mac exclaimed in surprise, not expecting her to be there.

"Big Mac?" Sugar Belle replied confusedly, Discord quickly taking the blindfold off since they had found Big Mac.

"Discord!" Big Mac growled in anger, since he had ruined the surprise.

"Mrs. Cake!" Discord replied, trying to take the attention off of him.

"What did I do!?!" Mrs. Cake asked, thinking that Discord was blaming her for something.

"Nothing. I thought we were just saying each other's names." Discord admitted.

Spike gave an exasperated sigh, figuring that at least Big Mac and Sugar Belle were together now and Big Mac could just ask her. "I guess this can't get any worse."

"As the Lord of Chaos, I'd advise against saying things like that." Right as Discord finished saying that, the Cutie Mark Crusaders along with Granny Smith ran up the path from Sweet Apple Acres to Ponyville, screaming in terror.

"It's comin'! Save yourselves!" Granny Smith yelled, before a giant apple monster appeared over a hill.

"SUGAR BELLE!!! SUGAR BELLE!!!"

Big Mac stood protectively over Sugar Belle, while Discord shrinked back in fear of his own creation. "Discord!!!" He yelled accusingly, Discord playing innocent even if it was blatantly obvious that this was his creation.

"Why does everypony immediately assume that this has something to do with me?"

Sombra facehoofed, finding this all very obvious. "Because it's a giant apple monster!"

"I LOVE YOU! YOU LOVE ME! OUR LOVE WILL GROW LIKE AN APPLE TREE! SO LET ME ASK, WILL YOU MARRY ME?"

Discord was now splattered with apple juice, Sombra lowering a magical shield he had created to prevent him from having the same fate. The draconequus wiped the apple crud off of him, looking quite disgusted. "Okay, but to be fair, the message did get to Sugar Belle."

Big Mac facehoofed, while Sugar Belle just looked sad, probably because her coltfriend's proposal was now ruined. Mrs. Cake looked surprised however, probably because she didn't know what Discord, Spike, and Sombra were doing.

"Wait. So you two were orchestrating a proposal? That's what I was doing!"

"Who are you proposing to?"

Apple Bloom couldn't believe Discord didn't get it. "Discord!"

"Me!?!" Discord said in shock, while Sombra resisted the urge to facehoof again.

"Use your brain! Mrs. Cake was-"

"I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU!"

Sombra hated being interrupted, and he destroyed the apple monster with a single beam of dark magic, leaving nothing but the burnt husk of about a dozen apples in its wake.

"You know, I would've done that." Discord muttered, while Spike looked deep in thought.

"So the messages that were in the desserts…"

Mrs. Cake finished Spike's sentence. "Were Sugar Belle's proposal to Big Mac before Spike set them on fire!"

"Oh, so I'm not the only one who messes things up, am I, Mr. High-and-Mighty Dragon?" Discord quipped.

"Hey! Those desserts were ruined way before I ruined them!" Spike retorted.

"They were not! Well, I…may have mixed up a…a few ingredients. It was such a rush." Mrs. Cake admitted.

"You should both be very disappointed in yourselves." Discord said with a disapproving expression, though Scootaloo wasn't going to let that slide.

"What about you and your apple monster!?!"

"Yes, but you all expect that of me!" Discord pointed out.

Apple Bloom sighed sadly. "All we wanted to do was make up for messin' things up the last time. Sugar Belle, Big Mac, we're really-"

All of them then realized that Sugar Belle and Big Mac had disappeared, Sweetie Belle wondering aloud "Where'd they go?"

"Okay, this time, it really wasn't me!" Discord insisted, while Sombra decided to be the voice of reason.

"How about we all just meet up at Sweet Apple Acres, where they probably went?"

"I'm sure I can bring whatever desserts we have left!" Mrs. Cake said excitedly, though Discord just wanted to get a move on with things.

"You know I can just make us more apple desserts in an instant, right?" Discord said as with a snap of his fingers they were closed to the intertwined apple and pear tree in Sweet Apple Acres, complete with a table full of apple desserts.

They had arrived just in time to see Sugar Belle and Big Mac holding hooves, which probably meant that everything worked out. "Well, we've all made up, and we're here for a do-over. And this time, thanks to me, we've got it right. So, why don't you two…you know?" Discord alluded to the couple kissing, while looking sort of disgusted since he wasn't really interested in romantic things.

Sugar Belle and Big Mac hugged lovingly, Spike flying over as he decided they probably needed alone time. "Uh, I think they did okay without us."

---

Somehow, Sombra was roped into attending the wedding since he had technically saved them from the apple monster that Discord created, and although he initially thought it would be the most boring thing he would attend in his life, dare he say he found it…slightly heartwarming?

Of course, he didn't show it outwardly as he sipped from a mug of apple cider at the reception afterwards, everypony having fun and mingling. Something was nagging at him though, which was the fact that he hadn't told anypony about Grogar's return, which was the true reason for why he was here.

He initially brushed it off as unimportant since it had been months since he had been brought back from banishment, and nothing had happened. Perhaps Grogar's plans had failed and he returned Equestria's villains to their rightful places, but from his newly developed conscience as a result of his exposure to friendship, he felt that it was right to at least tell somepony.

And who better than to tell his first friend, Discord? Yes, the draconequus got on his nerves, but he was the only other reformed villain of similar severity that he could somewhat relate to. He quickly found the draconequus in a similar position, eating a slice of the wedding cake as he watched Sugar Belle and Big Mac share a romantic dance.

"Ah, Sombra! Enjoying the party? I know you said you weren't one for parties, but there must be a reason why you've stayed this long."

"I'll admit, it's not the worst thing in the world." Sombra muttered, before he quickly got to business. "I was hoping to speak to you, in private."

Discord raised an eyebrow, but he complied, motioning over to a group of apple trees away from the reception where they could talk. "Well? Lead the way."

Sombra walked away until they were around 50 feet away from the wedding reception, when he decided to say what he wanted to say outright. "I wasn't entirely truthful with you, when I was imprisoned. I escaped banishment because Grogar brought me back."

Comments

[Bronycommander]

gave me a good laugh

[Crystal Night]

Too bad Sombra doesn't know he's talking to the wrong creature.

[ShuTodoroki]

11554935
He'll know soon enough.😉