A Tyrant To A King

by ShuTodoroki

Chapter 9: Fit For A King

The night was restless for Sombra, as he could barely make out the crystals on the walls of the cavern he was imprisoned in. He tried to tell himself he was in the right, he did, but Discord had successfully sowed the seeds of doubt that festered in his mind. His eyes were closed, yet his mind was awake, and he eventually let out a growl of frustration, especially since the metal floor wasn't helping him at all in his endeavor to sleep.

That accursed draconequus said he'd convince the princesses to get me a proper room… He thought, even though that wasn't the real reason he hadn't been able to fall asleep. It wasn't the best sleep, sure, but he had been able to fall asleep without problems every other time.

He wasn't supposed to second guess what he had accomplished in his life. Taking over the Crystal Empire was a feat, and he should be proud of it. The Crystal Ponies all bowed to him, showing respect that he had rightfully earned by proving he was the most powerful, and he controlled the ones who refused.

Yet…if they had done so out of fear, was it really respect? After all, from what he had heard from Discord, respect was mutual. It wasn't a one way street. And if he was being honest with himself, he wanted to control the Crystal Empire to avenge his younger self.

But how dare Discord even try to state that they had any similarities. He didn't need friendship since he had survived without it back then, and he certainly didn't need it now. He wasn't going to become sentimental mush like Discord had become, not when he had a Crystal Empire to retake.

Eventually at peace when he made that silent declaration to himself, he was finally able to get comfortable as he curled up on the metal floor, resting his head on one of his front hooves. His red cape acted as a blanket, his silver armor making soft clangs as he fell asleep.

---

"You want to move him to a room in the castle?" Celestia asked with a neutral expression, Luna looking a bit more dubious as Discord nodded.

"He'd certainly be more open to conversation if he was under house arrest rather than being stuck underground in a metal cage with no sense of time. Not that progress hasn't been going well, but he's obviously angry about being kept in a cage like an animal. If we want to teach him about friendship, we should treat him like one, right?"

"I suppose that having a spell to neutralize Sombra's magic around the room shouldn't be too difficult, but he could always jump out of the window and try to escape if he was desperate." Luna pointed out, worried that Sombra might take the opportunity to escape their custody and terrorize the Crystal Empire once again.

"Need I remind you that you and Celestia just strengthened castle security because of Sombra? I'm sure that castle guards would be on him in no time even if he could escape. That spell blocking his magic would block him from leaving, anyway. It'd basically be a really luxurious house arrest."

Celestia and Luna exchanged a glance, before they both nodded in agreement. After all, as long as they had the spell to keep Sombra from escaping and using his dark magic to wreak havoc on Canterlot or the Crystal Empire, it wasn't a horrible idea. Ponies wouldn't be open to civil discussion if they were being treated as criminals.

"Alright. you're the one reforming Sombra, Discord, so if you think letting him have a castle suite is a good idea to further his reformation, we'll accommodate it. Of course, we'll transfer the magic from his cage to the walls and door of the room, and we'll have two royal guards stationed outside the room at all times." Celestia said with a warm smile, Discord grinning since he was certain this would help him reform Sombra.

"Thank you, Celestia! You won't regret it." Discord snapped his fingers and teleported to Sombra's cell, leaving the two princesses in the throne room.

Sombra was shocked once again when Discord appeared in front of his cell out of nowhere, though he figured that he should be used to this by now. He scowled as he was displeased at seeing who had planted those seeds of doubt within him, making a plan that he thought was so easy to enact more difficult than it had to be.

"You have some nerve, coming back here." He muttered, his armor making a metallic clang as he got up from his sitting position to face Discord.

The draconequus wasn't phased in the slightest, however, seeing Sombra's cold demeanor as nothing more than a facade. Maybe if he broke the good news to Sombra, he'd be more open to conversation. "What, me? Come on, I know you're angry, but I have news to bring, and I think you'll like it!"

Sombra regarded Discord with his usual disinterested gaze while he was in captivity, if he wasn't angry at somepony. "I was angry, and you should be grateful that I've decided to let your infringement on my personal life go. What news are you talking about? Out with it."

"Hmph! If I recall correctly, you volunteered that information and I responded accordingly, but I humbly accept your forgiveness." Discord retorted with a mock bow, before deciding to get to the point. "I've managed to convince Celestia and Luna to give you a castle suite so you're not locked up in the dungeons anymore. You can thank me now!"

Sombra was silent as he processed this information. Discord actually managed to convince them to let him have some sort of freedom? Well, then he supposed he had a reason to be grateful. Not that he was going to admit that. "It's about time that they treat me according to my status!"

Discord resisted the urge to facepalm when Sombra's ego was stroked once more, hoping that he wouldn't still be like that after reforming. "Not so fast. You're still under house arrest and the room will have a spell that blocks your magic. Oh, and Celestia said she'd have two royal guards stationed outside your room at all times, but really, you and I both know that they really don't do anything."

Sombra snorted in contempt when he heard what Discord was saying, though he figured that Celestia and Luna weren’t so gullible to let him have total freedom. “It’s so nice to know that there’s so much trust involved when your job is to teach me about friendship.”

“Don’t take it personally. Celestia had Twilight and her friends wear their Elements at all times while Fluttershy was reforming me by teaching me about the magic of friendship. It was quite insulting, actually.” Discord muttered, though he could understand why they wanted to take precautions now. It was crazy to think about how that was so long ago…

“Yes…the Elements of Harmony.” Sombra could barely keep his voice straight when he said that, his voice low in tone almost as if it was a growl. He really hated those damned things, and he was glad at the time that he had destroyed them. Not anymore, since he found out that it was irrelevant whether they had the Elements or not.

Seeing that Sombra was on edge as a result of the mention of the artifacts that had somehow managed to best him despite his destruction of them, Discord decided to talk about something else, at least until he was notified that Sombra could be moved to his new room at the castle.

“Anyway, since there’s no point in talking about them…” He started awkwardly, while Sombra looked at him with the same disinterested gaze, which didn’t help his attempts at making small talk without getting right down to business. How did Fluttershy make it look so easy?

“Do you have any hobbies? You know, besides being a king and all that.” Was that a safe question? He hoped it was, since he already knew about Sombra’s backstory and all that.

Sombra gave a snort of amusement at the question, knowing from what Discord asked that he wasn’t very familiar with being royalty. “I didn’t have much time for hobbies once I took over the Crystal Empire. It’s a lot of hard work to rule it, such as worrying about defense and things like that.”

“Oh.” Discord replied, feeling his attempts at small talk getting shot down by Sombra. It seemed that the former tyrant had lied, when he said that he had let the “infringement on my personal life go.” Oh well, maybe he’d be in a more talkative mood once he was in his new accommodation. Speaking of which, where was-

“The room for Sombra is ready. The spell is active, and the two assigned royal guards are stationed outside.”

A royal guard had come down the stairs to relay the information to Discord, as he purposely avoided eye contact with Sombra, who was only hoofsteps behind Discord in his magic proof cage. He visibly wasn’t happy about the news he was giving, not that it mattered to the draconequus.

“Great! Thank you. I’ll bring him right now. Just let me-” Discord started, before he was interrupted by an impatient Sombra.

“Open the door? Yes, please. I’ve had no space to walk, and I’m certain my hooves will atrophy if I don’t have some sort of physical activity.” He kept his expression neutral, but if Discord was so foolish as to do so, he’d immediately be able to use his magic once he was outside…

Discord deadpanned, knowing exactly what Sombra was trying to do. Maybe Fluttershy would’ve fallen for it, but a villain couldn’t deceive a reformed villain, who knew practically every trick in the book. “Nice try, but I already planned how to get you there.”

With a flash of his chaos magic, he transported both Sombra and himself to the castle suite, much to the charcoal stallion’s shock since he wasn’t expecting it. He turned to glare at Discord, angry that his plan had been foiled. “At least ask first before you use your magic on somepony else, you dolt!”

“You’re just mad that I knew exactly what you were trying to do. You can’t trick me when I’ve used trickery before. Honestly, Sombra, even if you escaped and retook the Crystal Empire, it would end up the same way and you’d be stone. I’ve told you this before, but you don’t want that for yourself.”

Sombra wanted to retort something about nothing about propaganda spewing from Discord’s mouth, but he held his tongue, instead opting to remain silent since he had managed to make it this far, and he didn’t want to ruin the progress he had made. He instead opted to observe his new quarters, since he’d get well acquainted with them during his involuntary house arrest.

It was certainly much better than his cell in the dungeons of Canterlot at first glance, the circular room looking quite nicely appointed and reminding him of what his bedroom used to look like in the Crystal Empire’s castle, except more sickeningly bright in color.

There was a comfortable looking bed with a nightstand and lamp next to it, large picture windows with nice views of Canterlot, a writing table with another lamp and a stool, and a large mirror which he didn’t look at for too long. The long time in which he was living in abhorrent conditions left him looking worse for wear, and he was looking forward to using the attached bathroom to clean himself up.

Overall, it was a substantial increase in comfort for him, and acceptable conditions for a king. It was a sign that Celestia and Luna had put some trust in him…a decision he planned on making them regret.

Comments

[Bronycommander]

nice work as always

[ShuTodoroki]

11515879
Thanks!

[Bronycommander]

11515882
youre welcome

[MarlonCalpe4000]

Ooh I have a question. Is Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow also going to be given a redemption and accept Friendship?