Chapter 1. Hello again, my son.

Chapter 1

“Hey, Neighbor. Wanna be friends?” the light pink pegasus filly asked the uncertain centaur in the cage next to her before producing a sinister grin. It vanished and was replaced by a scowl when from the third cage there came a mocking laughter.

“What was that supposed to be?” a dark voice addressed her; the occupant of the cage turned. A large dark gray unicorn with a red curved horn, wearing red cape and regal armor. His legs had chains on them and around his horn was a manacle.

“This is your infamous prodigy, Lord Tirek? The one responsible for the magic drain?” the stallion gave the filly a skeptical look before glancing at Tirek.

“And who are you?” Cozy Glow asked, though she did find something familiar about the unicorn.

“That is King Sombra, the former tyrant of the Crystal Empire,” Tirek answered, putting some emphasis on the word ‘former,’ but there was no reaction from the unicorn he gestured towards while his eyes were on the girl.

“Oh yeah, wait weren’t you kind of blown up?” Cozy frowned, she did recall now reading about the Crystal Empire in the friendship school.

“Merely a temporary setback,” King Sombra shrugged. “I take it my return was not covered in that school of yours.”

Cozy shook her head, but the dark pony wasn’t really surprised. His return had happened in the Crystal Empire but he had left it rather quickly and after being defeated, had laid low for a very long time before striking again and that had merely be done to delay his enemies. Then he was sent to Tartarus.

Sombra turned away from his fellow inmates and laid his head back down. Cozy arched her brow and glanced at Tirek who had also turned away, as he used one hand to stroke his beard, mulling over the current situation.

“I’m afraid the good king isn’t much of a conversationalist,” Tirek explained, aware that the filly was looking at him.

“So he just lies there all day?” Cozy asked pointing towards the king’s cage. The only answer she got was a nod from the centaur.

“Not like there is much else to do,” he then finally grunted and sat down himself.

Cozy sighed and rested her back against the bars of her cage. The filly figured she might as well get used to this as well. Unlike most children, who would probably be feeling pretty rotten at their current situation, she was actually feeling a little good about herself to be considered such a danger to be locked up here. She was considered on the same level as Tirek and Sombra, that just boosted her ego.

It didn’t take the filly long though to become bored. Sombra looked like he had fallen asleep, his only body movement was steady breathing. Tirek was still stroking his beard and thinking.

“Psst, Tirek?” She scooted closer to the side of her cage closest to Tirek’s prison.

“What is it?” The centaur let out a exasperated sigh, he was still a bit sore that his plan and by proxy Cozy’s plan had gone down the drain, he really just wanted to sulk in peace. At least Sombra wasn’t mocking him about it.

“What did Sombra do? I mean after he got back, they didn’t blow him up again but still caught him,” Cozy asked, though she was recalling news articles about a curse in Ponyville, but that had happened before she came there.

“Well, if you really must know.” Tirek turned to face her. Telling the filly what he knew would at least pass the time somewhat. He didn’t want to admit having a soft spot for the girl, the fact she had executed his advice on how to drain the magic of Equestria so well, had impressed him.

“The king had a fairly well thought out plan in case he did expire. His very spirit was tethered to his horn, waiting for any pony unlucky enough to find it. But that wasn’t all, he had ensured a pony would find it, pulling ponies back in the past when he still ruled the Crystal Empire and imbued them with spells so that if he died in their time, they would seek out his horn,” the centaur started to explain. Using what little magic he did have, he started to produce crude visuals of what he spoke of.

“And one of those victims did indeed find the horn. Sombra possessed that pony and used the unlucky host to accumulate his dark magic, feeding on the fear and hate of those he passed by, until his dark magic was potent enough to create him a new body,” the centaur continued, then he snorted. “Of course the princesses were right on his tail and managed to rescue his hostage, but the king escaped and went into hiding, biding his time.”

Cozy watched attentively as the faint magic figures showed Sombra's horn meld with a crude pony figure, then that same pony going around swallowing energies from passing ponies. Then a crude image of Sombra seemed to leap out of the pony, then four images of four alicorns appeared and battled with the Sombra image. The king was shown flee after a battle and the princesses took the former possessed pony away.

“I am fuzzier on the details of what happened next. King Sombra hasn’t been too forthcoming discussing it,” Tirek then admitted and he dispelled the magic as it was draining on him, especially while trapped in Tartarus.

“What I do know is that he cursed Ponyville to trap most of the princesses and their champions, even Discord. Then he abducted the same pony he had previously possessed and his family. However, they were rescued and in the ensuing rescue… well King Sombra was finally captured and sent here,” the centaur finished and glanced at Sombra who hadn’t moved or made any comment on the story.

“Wait, he trapped the princesses, Twilight and her friends and Discord and didn’t just go and conquer all of Equestria?” Cozy arched her brow. “Why?”

“That is a good question. Do you have an answer, King Sombra?” Tirek looked at the cage with the Dark Pony.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Sombra finally raised his head again, glancing at his fellow inmates. “You had all six champions trapped in here, drained of magic. Yet, they still won.”

“They got… lucky,” Tirek grumbled and folded his arms. Cozy just shrugged.

“Huh. Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” the king chortled mockingly and lay his head back down, ignoring the glare he got from the centaur.

The three prisoners started to settle in, preparing for the long stay of their imprisonment. After a while they dropped off to sleep one by one.

Cozy wasn’t sure how long she had slept when the filly woke up hearing a faint noise. Looking up and rubbing her eyes, she saw that Tirek was also awake. The centaur was glaring at the large doors in the far distance of the glowing platform their cages rested on.

The doors were suddenly bathed in magical light and began to slowly open. Cerberus growled with all three heads and positioned himself on the walkway, ready to do this job as the guardian of the prison.

Tirek scowled and rose, watching attentively as the doors open and the silhouette of a tall unicorn walked inside. Cozy scooted closer in her cage to take a look and even Sombra raised his head to watch.

There was a clanging of metal clad hooves as the unicorn continued to confidently stride closer. The gates slammed shut behind the pony. Cerberus growled and stepped towards the intruder who's horn lit up with magic. Suddenly a large bone materialized and was waved in front of all three heads. The large dog immediately started panting and wagging his tail. The bone was thrown off into the distance and the eager guard dog ran after it.

As the pony got closer it turned out to be a mare. A tall one, almost as tall as Celestia. She was clad in a regal armor and a flowing red cape. Tirek balked and stepped away from the bars of his cage, Sombra scowled and sneered, only Cozy Glow showed no indication of recognizing the newcomer.

“Hello again, my son.” The mare was now all the way to the cages, she stared down at the king sporting a condescending smile. “Look at you, all locked up and chained like a manticore at a zoo.”

“Who is that?” Cozy whispered over to Tirek’s cage who was quite happy that the mare was ignoring them.

“This would be the Queen of Rage and Wrath herself. Queen Rabia of the late Dark Pony Empire,” the centaur whispered, hoping this wouldn’t catch the mare’s attention as she continued to circle her son’s cage.

Sombra continued to glare at his mother, baring his teeth and growling. He kept turning in his cage, to make absolutely sure he was always facing her. This amused Rabia who chuckled softly to herself.

“It really pains my heart to see my child like this,” Rabia said mockingly, stopping for a moment to place a hoof on her chest. “What is a mother to do?”

“What are you doing here!?” Sombra finally spoke, fury in his voice and eyes. “Wasn’t it enough to watch me humiliated in front of my enemies? You have to come over here as well to watch me caged up like a beast?”

“Well to be fair, you are acting like a caged-up beast,” Rabia pointed out with a wry chuckle. Sombra clamped his mouth shut and narrowed his eyes. “And what? Can’t a concern mother visit her son in jail?”

“You seriously expect me to believe you are just here for a visit?” Sombra snarled and quickly pushed himself away from the bars when his mother got closer.

“That is what Princess Celestia allowed. I expressed my wish to visit you, she really had no reason to forbid it,” Rabia said and reached into the cage with a hoof. She pulled it quickly back when Sombra quite literally tried to bite it. The mare frowned and instead proceeded to slap the king so hard he crashed to the cage floor. “Behave yourself, you ungrateful foal! That is not a behavior becoming of my child.”

“Now, that’s better,” she said when Sombra didn’t rise up, the mare started to gently caress his mane.

“Am I really to believe that Celestia permitted you to visit, after your declaration of wanting to destroy Saddle Arabia?” Sombra grunted, staring down at the floor. Rabia pulled her hoof back out of the cage.

“Wanting is not the same as doing. I did not interfere with your arrest and so far I’ve caused no trouble. These bleeding hearts are just so touched to hear that a long departed, yet caring mother just wanted to take a moment to visit her son she hasn’t seen in such a long time.” Rabia threw her head back to laugh mockingly.

“Gee, you don’t sound very caring,” Cozy Glow chimed in, causing the laughter to come to an abrupt halt, Rabia shifted her eyes to glare back at the filly.

“And what have we here?” Rabia turned to look at the other cages. Tirek was finding the floor of his cage very fascinating, Cozy stared back but was starting to wonder if she should have kept her mouth shut.

Rabia walked closer to the girl’s cage, lowering her head to look inside. The filly to her credit didn’t move at the hard and scrutinizing glare she was receiving.

“Ah, you must be the filly that caused the magic drain,” Rabia snorted before slamming her hoof down. She gave the girl such a death glare that the filly fell back and scrambled as far away as she could. “Thanks for that, I was in the middle of a very delegate magical procedure when that happened.”

“So what is the purpose of your visit and stop with the mock caring, I know you better than that, mother,” Sombra spoke up, his mother stepped back from Cozy’s cage and returned back to her son’s.

“Frankly, just to enjoy the sight of you, locked up, chained, your magic sealed and useless,” Rabia scowled and began circling Sombra’s cage again. “It’s a far more lenient punishment than what I had in mind, but it will do for now.”

“I do have plans for the destruction of Saddle Arabia and I must admit, I was hoping to have you at my side for it. I only want the same as you, the return of our once great race,” Rabia halted for a moment and sighed. Sombra slowly raised his brow, it changed into a scowl when his mother glared at him again.

“ However, you have made it abundantly clear that you want nothing to do with me. So, I think I’ll just leave you here to rot while I go and make my plans ready. If I succeed, I might consider asking Celestia to release you into my custody. I have millennias worth of punishments in mind for you,” she snarled, to the other prisoner’s surprise the king actually flinched and for a brief second looked almost frightened.

The queen then turned away and started to head back towards the exit. She stopped half way down the steps for a moment and glanced back towards Sombra’s cage, with a contemplative expression.

“One more thing before I depart.” Rabia turned half way around. “Your sister. Where is she buried?”

Sombra considered if he should even answer that, the king really didn’t think his mother deserved to know. Then an idea hit him, something that might get him out of his cage sooner than planned. Inwardly the king was starting to grin deviously, outwardly he just glared at his mother.

“If you really must know. I had her buried underneath the castle in the Crystal Empire. Underneath the dais where the Crystal Heart rests,” he responded curtly and rolled his eyes in contempt. “I know she would have loved that city. I felt it was an appropriate resting place for her.”

Rabia continued to stare at him, small hint of suspicion crawling over her brow. Then she smiled. Sombra wondered if she saw what he was planning.

“Thank you, my son.” Rabia chuckled softly and resumed her walk towards the door. The prisoners watched her use a spell to open the doors and leave through the entrance, before they closed shut again with a slam.

“Golly, your mom is scary,” Cozy whispered and risked going closer to the bars of her cage that faced Sombra’s prison. “Uh, thanks?”

“What, you thought he was helping you when he diverted her attention back to him? He was probably just tired of her rambling and wanted her to get to the point,” Tirek snorted, feeling much relieved that the queen was gone.

“You’re welcome,” Sombra responded to Cozy but was still staring at the doors, Cozy stuck her tongue out at Tirek who looked dumbfounded.

“What, you were actually helping her? Why?” Tirek asked, he just couldn’t quite understand it. He wasn’t showing it though, but he was actually a little jealous and had been just about prepared to divert Rabia’s attention to him instead of Cozy before Sombra did.

Sombra didn’t respond, except by glancing back with a devious smirk on his muzzle. Tirek could have sworn he heard the gears in the dark pony’s mind turning at full speed. The centaur realized that the king was forming a plan, but knowing him, wouldn’t be indulging any details.

Then it was as if on cue, a portal opened close to the cages and two of the prisoners were surprised to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna step through, both sporting very grave expressions. Sombra turned in his cage and sat up, he was still smirking.

“I was expecting the two of you to show up,” the dark king said, watching the princesses approaching his cage. “It struck me a bit odd that you would permit my mother to visit. Mother always underestimates your cunning. I take it you want the details of that little visit?”

“You are not wrong, we knew she wasn’t visiting out of the goodness of her heart,” Princess Celestia stated, she looked at Luna and nodded. The Lunar Princess proceeded to put up a sound proof magic bubble around them and King Sombra’s cage.

“I’m afraid she was more here to enjoy the sight of me locked up, she didn’t tell me much except for mocking me.” Sombra shrugged and started to casually examine one of his front hooves. “Though she did mention that she is preparing something nasty for Saddle Arabia.”

“What is she planning?” Princess Luna asked firmly.

“I’m afraid she didn’t tell me much, just that she is getting ready for it,” the king said and rolled his eyes at the glares he received. “Really? I got my ‘don’t divulge details of your plans’ attitude from her.”

“Hmm, he isn’t wrong. Rabia was notorious for keeping her cards close, it would make sense that he learned that from her,” the sun princess remarked to her sister, before returning back to Sombra. “Would you have any theories what she might do?”

“Maybe.” Sombra turned away from them and lay down. “Perhaps I can tell you something of what she might do, how she would go about it.”

“But?” The two princesses could already see where this was going.

“I may need some help to jog my memory,” Sombra chuckled and glanced at them. “I mean, I’m safe and sound here. My mother destroying Saddle Arabia, a nation I don’t have particular fondness for myself, sounds quite cathartic.”

“Name your terms,” Celestia sighed and raised a hoof to stop a protest from her sister. She was at least going to hear Sombra out.

“Better living conditions would certainly help, these chains off my legs, don’t worry you can keep the seal on my horn and I get to name my custodian,” King Sombra counted up.

Why do I have a feeling I know who the custodian will be, the Solar Princess thought as she narrowed her eyes on the grinning prisoner.

“That is quite a hefty price just for possible theories on what your mother will do,” Princess Luna snorted, not quite willing to admit that Sombra might have insights on his mother they needed.

“Suit yourself,” King Sombra lay his head down. “Just keep in mind, Saddle Arabia is far away from Equestria. By the time my mother strikes, there might be nothing left by the time you hear about it. The kingdom destroyed, those living there butchered, mares, stallions and foals. Maybe selected few will manage to escape to be refugees in foreign lands. Sound familiar?”

The Celestial sister glanced at each other with a grimace, that had actually hit close to home. They had indeed been unable to render assistance to the Dark Pony Empire when it was destroyed by Saddle Arabia, exactly because it was so far away from Equestria.

“We can provide you with better living conditions and remove the leg shackles,” Princess Celestia said after brief hesitation. “However, we will not saddle a pony with you without that pony’s agreement. We will need to discuss it with the one you no doubt have in mind.”

Sombra chuckled and raised his head again to look at them a devious muzzle straining grin. The sisters both frowned, wondering that the king was thinking. They didn’t need to wonder for too long.

“Oh, did I forget? The custodian is a deal breaker, he says no, I stay here and provide you nothing,” the king said, his grin turning more wicked.

“You are out of your mind if you think we will force that pony to take you in!” Princess Luna snapped, stomping a hoof down, so very tempted to open that cage and throttle Sombra. “I have very good idea who you speak of, you fiend! I’ve been in his nightmares to soothe them so many times, I’ve lost count. He’s lucky his psyche isn’t shattered because of the damage you have done to him!”

“We might speak with him, Sombra, but he and he alone can agree to this. If he says no, we will live with it and just face your mother as she comes, with or without your help,” Celestia said coldly, her sister nodded sharply in agreement. “Frankly, I find your obsession with him quite disturbing.”

“You know my terms,” Sombra snorted and looked away, not really in the mood to hear lectures about his amoral behavior. He saw the soundproof bubble disappear and heard the sound of a magic portal open and close shortly after.

“Sooo, what was that all about?” Cozy asked when the princesses were gone, she and Tirek hadn’t heard a word, but could watch.

“Negotiations for an early parole,” the king responded, though right now he wasn’t so sure how successful they had been. All he could do was wait and hope his prospective custodian would agree and Sombra wasn’t one hundred percent sure he would.

But they may be more forced to plead with him than they think they will, he thought, recalling what he hadn’t told them about his meeting with his mother. He started to smile again.

There was one thing Sombra definitely knew about his mother. She had been hard, manipulative and downright controlling parent. Yet despite it all, the king knew that deep down, in her own selfish twisted way, she had cared and loved her two children. She had herself nursed them in their infancy, declaring that no nursemaid was worthy enough to do the job.

Rabia’s love towards her children had however come with conditions, if they played by her rules, she would shower them with gifts and favors, but deviate in any way and she would come down hard.

Sombra had deviated but his sister Ira hadn’t.

The king started to chuckle to himself, the Celestial sister may just be about to find out how Queen Rabia treated the child that hadn’t left.

End chapter 1

Chapter 2. That’s not Sombra.

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Chapter 2

“Who is a cutie,” Cadance cooed and poked her hoof on the belly of the giggling filly, held gently in one of her forelegs. “You are, yes you are.”

The princess lowered her head to blow a raspberry on Flurry Heart’s tummy, the foal squealed in delight and giggled loudly. Cadance continued this little game a few more times before hugging her daughter and letting the foal into the playpen.

Mother and daughter were in the nursery of the Crystal Castle. Cadance had decided to take a little break and just enjoy being with her child. Flurry on her part was more than ecstatic to get some alone time with her.

Cadance knew it wouldn’t last, duty would soon call her back, but she was somewhat firm on where to draw the line, especially after the daughter had been born. She had no intention of being a mother who had no time for her children.

Now in the playpen, Flurry had grabbed her Whammy in her magic and was letting the toy snail bounce around, giggling as she did. Cadance watched, warm smile on her muzzle. Her daughter certainly knew how to entertain herself. The princess grabbed a toy frog in her own magic and started to bounce it too.

“Jumpy wants to join in, can he?” Cadance asked, Flurry nodded and soon the two toy animals were jumping around the playpen. It was not very important that snails didn’t actually jump.

After a little while of this, Flurry pulled Whammy to her and hugged the snail tight, giggling and babbling. Her mother smiled, of all the toys the filly had surrounding her, that simple stuffed toy was her absolute favorite. Neither Cadance or Shining could figure out why, but through years of foalsitting, the princess had learned that children often never reacted as expected.

“Can Jumpy have hugs too?” Cadance floated the frog closer, Flurry looked at it, scrutinizing the toy for a moment, before reaching with a hoof grabbing it and gave it a squeeze. Then the filly lifted both stuffed animals towards her mother.

“Oh, I’m supposed to hug too?” the princess chuckled, picking up both and hugged them before giving them back to her daughter. Flurry this time though let both toys drop to the floor and rose up.

Cadance got a little bit on guard when seeing her daughter flap her wings and take to the air. Nothing was more unpredictable than a mobile foal, doubly so one that could fly. Flurry started to fly in circles over the playpen and laughed, then started to fly higher. Her mother smiled and took to the air herself, always keeping an eye on the girl who was starting to make somersaults.

“Bravo,” the princess congratulated her after Flurry managed to do three quick ones in a row. The girl was all smiles and started to fly around her mother, who allowed herself a smirk. “Yes you definitely got my pegasus genes.”

Cadance started when hearing the sound of alarm trumpets. With a frown she immediately grabbed her daughter out of the air, waiting a moment to see if she had heard this right. Flurry had fallen silent, sensing something was wrong from her mother.

When the trumpets sounded again, the princess teleported straight away to the throne room. She already saw Shining Armor rushing to the balcony overseeing the city. Since she was still in the air the alicorn flew after her husband.

“Shiny, what’s wrong?” Cadance asked as she landed next to Shining Armor, holding her daughter firmly with one leg. The unicorn stallion was scanning the horizon, he grimaced and pointed with a hoof.

“Look!” he whispered, if the captain wasn’t white already, that would be the color of his face right now.

Cadance turned her head in the direction her husband was pointing, her eyes widened at the sight. Approaching the city, filling nearly the entire horizon was a huge black shadowy smoke, towering high above everything else.

“I thought King Sombra was still locked up in Tartarus,” Shining Armor gulped, already signaling to guards down at street level to prepare themselves.

“He… is…” Cadance held Flurry a little tighter, then glanced up at the sky. It was still blue, not turning sickly yellow like often followed Sombra’s corruptive dark magic.

“That’s not Sombra,” she whispered, she looked at her husband but he was already running back into the castle to ready more guards. Cadance looked down at her daughter, who whimpered a little, feeling the tension in her mother.

“Sorry baby girl, playtime is over. I have to take you to Sunburst, then deal with this.” Cadance gave her daughter a kiss before she swiftly took to wing again and flew into the castle.

Queen Rabia emerged from her shadow form as she stepped on the shining main street of the Crystal Empire, ignoring the panicking Crystal Ponies, who for a moment thought their former king was invading again.

The mare strode down the street, head held high and with a dignified yet stern expression. Her path was straight towards the towering castle at the center of the city. Guards came rushing over intending to stop her. Rabia barely glanced at them, simply fired up her horn and sent out a glowing white shield that scattered them in all directions.

Around them, the citizens did their best to hide out of the way, covering behind fences or inside their houses or anything that provided concealment. This was maybe not their former tyrant, but none of them could deny the uncanny similarities between them

A young filly tripped as she tried to get out of the way. She glanced up fearfully when hearing the clanging metal hoof steps come closer. The girl watched part in dread, part in awe as the tall mare passed her by, not even sparing her a look. The wind flapping her long flowing red cape and the sunlight gleaming on the regal metal armor. The girl scrambled to her legs and fled inside a house to her relieved parents.

The Dark Pony never changed her stern expression as came closer to the base. More guards were gathering around, all hoping to block her access to the castle. Rabia stopped and observed them for a moment before using her dark magic to fire a blast towards the dais of the Crystal Heart.

The guards shouted and charged. Civilians who had worked up a nerve to watch from their hiding places screamed in horror, fearing that their best protective weapon was about to be obliterated.

Rabia reared up to her hind legs and stomped down both hooves to the ground. The ground cracked underneath her as a mighty shockwave sent the charging guards flying. At the same time the magic she had previously shot landed, not on the dais but on the ground dangerously close to it.

To the amazement of those still conscious to watch, a large opening started to form right by the dais. Stairs lead down deep underground Now first did the queen produce a small smirk as she began walking towards it and descended into the unknown depths.

This previously unknown secret chamber led down to a straight tunnel. When Rabia entered it, the crystal walls began emitting a soft blue glow. The queen continued through it, paying no heed to the commotion above. She didn’t stop until she reached the end, which was blocked by a large crystal door.

Now first did Rabia’s expression change for real, she gasped when seeing the intricately carved runes at the edges and the two silhouettes of tall unicorns standing on their hind legs, facing each other. For a moment the queen just stared at the door, one hoof on her chest, she seemed almost touched.

“He even used Odio’s blessing: ‘May the shadows keep those who rest here safe,’” Rabia whispered, a tear formed in her eye and the hoof she had placed on her chest trembled slightly.

“Queen Rabia.” Princess Cadance sharply addressed the queen as she came from behind the Dark Pony, along with her was Shining Armor and a contingency of guards. “Why have you attacked the Crystal Empire.”

“I have no interest in your pitiful little empire, little princess.” Rabia didn’t even look back at her and began to approach the door. “I’m merely here for what is mine.”

Cadance eyed her husband who looked just as confused as her. When their attention returned to the queen, the dark unicorn was already at the door. The runes began to glow and they could hear her chuckle as she touched them, tracing her hooves over them.

“Oh, my son, you did not anticipate that your own mother would return, did you? Leaving a spell so that only somepony of your own blood could open this vault,” Rabia murmured and with her magic opened the door when hearing the click of a lock being undone.

Slowly the door opened to reveal a small crystal chamber, bathed in a soft blue glow. At the center was a crystal sarcophagus with a heavy lid. Carved on top of the lid was a crystal statue of a tall unicorn mare laying down with her head downcast and a sad forlorn expression on her face.

Rabia choked when seeing this, raising a hoof to her mouth and her eyes teared up. Behind her still were the royal couple and the guards, watching concerned and puzzled at what was going on.

“My little girl,” Rabia whispered and finally walked all the way over to the sarcophagus, gently touching the crystal mane of the statue and caressed it. “Your brother did your likeness beautifully. Oh, my little dark foal.”

“Who is buried here?” Shining Armor whispered, quite stunned that a pony had been entombed right underneath the crystal castle without them knowing about it.

“I… am not sure,” Cadance responded though she had her suspicions. The couple gave the guards a signal to wait as they carefully approached the doorway. They didn’t dare enter and disturb Rabia, who clearly was having a very emotional moment.

Queen Rabia used her magic to carefully open the lid enough to see into the sarcophagus. The Dark Pony inhaled sharply; more tears started to form. Within was a body of a young Dark Pony mare, she was encased in a dark crystal, perfectly preserved and frozen in time. There were signs of old injuries and other trauma on her.

“Oh, my beautiful little girl,” Rabia whispered, a tear managed to trickle down her cheek. She reached down to touch the crystal. The body had been dressed in a simple golden yellow dress. Probably covering even worse signs of the mare’s death. “He even used the proper funeral gown. Oh, my poor sweet daughter. I should never have left you.”

“Her daughter?” Shining Armor frowned, still speaking low. Cadance frowned and risked stepping closer. She could already feel very strong preservation spells in the room, especially from the sarcophagus.

“Queen Rabia,” she addressed the dark pony, who still seemed to pay no heed to them, kept gently caressing the crystal encased body of her dead daughter. Cadance sighed, it was clear she would have to wait until Rabia was done.

“I will make them pay. Oh, my littlest one, they will pay for what they did to you,” Rabia whispered. She reached down to give the crystal a gentle kiss, tearing up even more when only feeling the cold hard surface of what had kept her daughter from decomposing.

Finally the queen stepped back from the daughter’s tomb. Rabia closed the lid and for a moment her head was hung as she kept one hoof on the statue’s back. Then her head rose and slowly Queen Rabia turned around, her expression grim as she regarded the royal couple.

“I am taking my daughter,” the Queen stated and used her magic to envelope the sarcophagus and lifted it up easily. “I leave you with your little empire.”

“Queen Rabia, wait, with all due respect…” Cadance started but balked a bit at the murderous glare she received from the dark unicorn.

“I am leaving. Hinder me at your own peril,” Rabia growled, her eyes beginning to glow green. Shining Armor opened his mouth to say something, but his wife stopped him and instead motioned to him to step aside. Rabia walked past them with her daughter’s sarcophagus in tow. The guards in the tunnel quickly stepped aside when the queen approached.

As the dark unicorn approached the stairs leading up, she halted and glanced back at the royal couple who were following from a small distance. Rabia turned around, letting her daughter’s coffin down, she appeared more contemplative as the queen regarded the princess.

Rabia started to walk back, stopping right in front of the couple, still staring at the alicorn. Cadance stared right back with a heavy frown, half wondering what the Dark Pony was up to, the other still a bit angry at this invasion of her city.

“You have a daughter,” Rabia stated in a neutral tone of voice and raised a hoof to gently place it under the princess’s muzzle.

“I do,” Cadance responded warily, arching her brow when the queen smiled a little, it was almost an understanding one.

“Raise her well,” the queen said as she dropped her hoof. She gave Shining Armor a glance before snorting. “Don’t bother with sons. They are not worth it.”

With that Queen Rabia turned around and walked back to the sarcophagus, picking it up before ascending the stairs. She was followed by the couple and the guards. As they left the hole, they witnessed Rabia casting a spell that teleported her and the sarcophagus away.

“What was that all about?” was all Shining Armor could ask, glancing back at the hole underneath the dais. It was slowly closing back up.

“I don’t know. King Sombra clearly enough buried his sister underneath the castle,” his wife said and looked towards the city. Crystal ponies were slowly emerging, most looking bewildered and confused at this strange invasion. “But why would Queen Rabia go about getting it back like this?”

“I mean, she could have just approached us, told us that Sombra buried her daughter here and asked to retrieve her,” Cadance grunted, there was definitely something she was missing from all of this. “We had no reason to forbid her that.”

The princess sighed; this mystery would have to wait a little while. Right now she had to go and assure her subjects that everything was over. Very relieved that no real harm had been done, even the guards Rabia had repelled were unharmed, little bit knocked about but there were no injuries.

Cadance started to walk around, meeting up with her frightened subjects as they emerged. Assuring them as she went by. As she did so, the princess was approached by the same filly that Rabia had walked past.

“Who was that, your Highness?” she asked, the vivid image of Queen Rabia walking past her burned in her eyes.

“Her name is Queen Rabia and no I do not think she meant us any harm, despite her… uh entrance,” Princess Cadance said, noticing that few other crystal ponies had gathered around them.

“What did she want?” a stallion asked, still looking nervous and frightful. He was clearly old enough to remember King Sombra’s reign.

The love princess opened her mouth to respond, but hesitated. She glanced back towards the castle, specifically towards where the hole had opened right next to the dais. Cadance returned her attention to the filly, she was young, though this had been a frightening experience, she was one of the first generation of crystal ponies who had no memories of the brutal reign of the king.

“Her daughter was buried underneath the castle, she had come to collect her,” the princess answered honestly, that was what had happened, there was no point in denying that.

“Did the evil king mom and dad told me about bury her there?” the filly asked, her eyes filled with awe and wonder. “Did the queen come to rescue her?”

“I… yes, I suppose.” Cadance had to hold back a laugh at the this innocent portrayal of Queen Rabia’s actions. Clearly since everything was fine, the young girl had decided the queen couldn’t have been evil.

“Maybe we should tell her that the king is gone. Maybe she thought he was still in power, then next time she can come visit more nicely,” the filly was all smiles now. Her parents finally arrived to pull the girl away, muttering their apologies to the now laughing princess.

“Yes, perhaps we should.” Cadance smiled and assured her parents that this was alright. She watched as the filly broke free and started running around, talking about the good powerful queen who came to rescue her daughter from the evil king.

Oh, children, the princess glanced around, seeing that things were calming down she headed back to the castle. Chuckling again how this arrival of Queen Rabia has been given a positive spin by the foal.

Her mirth was though pushed aside, as amusing as the thought given to her by the filly was, it hadn’t changed the fact that Rabia had invaded. Granted it had simply be to retrieve her dead daughter, but her method had been very aggressive.

I think it’s time to send a letter to Aunt Tia, Princess Cadance thought and spread her wings and took to the air, intending to go through the quickest route, the balcony. She had a sudden desire to see her daughter again.

End chapter 2

Chapter 3. Sorry I’m late!

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Chapter 3

Twilight Sparkle raced through the hallways of Canterlot Castle. She had just received an urgent summon from Princess Celestia, right in the middle her preparation to close the school for the summer. The young princess had to head off quickly, leaving everything to Starlight Glimmer and her five friends.

The reason for the urgency had been made clear in the letter. Queen Rabia, the mother of King Sombra, had made an incursion in the Crystal Empire. Twilight hadn’t even bothered flying to Canterlot, she had straight up teleported there.

Twilight had been loathing this day, ever since they finally captured King Sombra and locked him up in Tartarus, because there had still been one issue left unresolved. The fact that his mother had somehow been resurrected. It had been revealed that she intended something dreadful towards her old enemies, the Saddle Arabians. Only backing away because Rabia claimed not to be ready to face all four princesses at once.

Yet much like with her son, when he had been first brought back to life, nothing happened. Rabia vanished off the radar, not a single peep in a long time. That made Twilight very worried. Sombra had masterfully trapped her and her friends, Celestia and Discord when he finally struck. She had a very strong feeling that if Rabia was on the move now, that the queen was ready.

The friendship princess finally reached her destination. The throne room of the castle. Already there were the two Celestial Princesses and Princess Cadance.

“Sorry I’m late!” Twilight shouted as she rushed towards the elevated thrones. “End of school year. Finals to grade. Papers to finish!”

“It’s alright Twilight, you’re not late. Princess Cadance was just arriving herself,” Princess Celestia assured the young alicorn with a smile, gesturing to Princess Cadance as she did.

“Oh my gosh, Cadance,” Twilight rushed over to her sister-in-law, grabbing her in a hug. “Is everything alright? Is anypony hurt? Is Flurry and Shining okay?”

“Yes Twilight, they are all fine,” Cadance chuckled, returning the hug. “Rabia’s arrival was alarming, but nopony was hurt.”

The princess of love then started to explain to the others what had happened. The three other alicorns listened, Celestia and Luna became graver with each word but Twilight looked confused at how the queen had simply come to get her daughter’s coffin and nothing else.

“Wait, all she wanted was her daughter’s dead body? Hold on, King Sombra buried the Last Queen of the Dark Pony Empire right under the Crystal Empire?” Twilight barely could believe it.

“It appears so,” Cadance responded and let out an annoyed snort. “I still don’t understand why she did it this way. I mean, if she had just asked, I would have just let her take it.”

“It is indeed rather strange,” Celestia agreed and looked at her sister, who nodded. In truth, despite Rabia’s alarming plans, they had no quarrel with the former queen. She wasn’t even an enemy of Equestria even if she was the dame of Sombra who was. So until she actually did actively do something, there had been no reason for Rabia not to just simply drop by and simply ask for her daughter back.

“What is known about Queen Rabia? What I could read about the Dark Pony Empire was that she was certainly considered powerful and a strict ruler, but the details are rather scant.” Twilight looked at Celestia, figuring that perhaps discussing the queen might reveal why she had gone about this way to retrieve her dead daughter.

“They are scant because when the empire was destroyed, so where a lot of records and the empire was far away from Equestria. We were seldom affected by it, there was minimal trade, but that’s about it,” Celesta started to explain.

“She was though called the Queen of Rage and Wrath for a reason, even her name means rage,” Princess Luna added in.

“Unlike Sombra who feeds his dark powers on hate and fear, Rabia feeds hers on rage and wrath, as her apt name suggests. She wields terrible power through it and we have heard tales of her laying waste to armies and doing unspeakable things to any prisoners caught in the many wars the empire had with the Saddle Arabians,” the sun princess continued. “This is a very aggressive and manipulative mare, selfish and arrogant, but pragmatic and just as dangerously intelligent as her son. She knew how to play politics very well; her death was quite unexpected.”

“How did she die?” Cadance asked. Just from the brief incursion alone, she could tell that Rabia didn’t look like a pony who would go down easily.

“That is the most mysterious thing about her, we do not really know. Some say she was assassinated; others say she committed suicide. The Dark Pony Empire maintained the assassination theory, we really have no concrete proof. The only one who truly knows, is Rabia,” the sun princess shook her head.

“Well she clearly had a plan to get back to life, like that mirror down in the study below her throne room that Sombra revealed,” Twilight pointed out, her mind going back to when they had finally captured the king.

“Speaking of Sombra,” Celestia spoke with some hesitation, Luna snorted. The sisters had the full attention of the younger princesses now.

“Few days ago, Rabia did come here and ask if she could pay a visit to King Sombra in Tartarus,” the moon princess told them. Cadance arched her brow, she hadn’t heard about that, neither had Twilight whose eyes widened.

“We allow that?” she asked absolutely shocked. Tartarus wasn’t exactly a normal regularly run prison. It was intended for those who posed the worst danger to Equestria.

“Usually no, however, her unexpected arrival here and her request did arouse our suspicions. I allowed it, hoping she would let something slip to her son,” Princess Celestia explained to them. “We kept a close watch and when Rabia departed, we went to Tartarus to speak with Sombra about the visit. He was not overly cooperative, though he did say that his mother was indeed planning something for Saddle Arabia.”

“But when we asked if he had any theories or ideas what she might be doing, he gave forth outrageous terms for his cooperation.” Luna scowled hard.

“What kind of terms?” Cadance asked worried that now they would have to contend with Sombra as well.

“Better living conditions, not too unreasonable. The shackles off his legs, but we could still continue to suppress his magic, not too bad,” the sun princess counted up before her face darkened a little. “And that he would name his custodian.”

“WHAT!” Twilight snapped in outrage. “Oh that son of a… it’s obvious who he wants. Please tell me you didn’t agree to this.”

“Private Iceland is finally living in a relationship with the love of his life, we can’t possibly put him in a situation where he has to deal with King Sombra again,” Cadance looked just as furious as her sister-in-law. “The nerve of that horrible monster to demand that just so we could get some ideas what his mother might do.”

“We agreed to nothing,” Celestia assured them, the younger princesses both sighed a breath of relief. “We did tell him we might talk with Private Iceland about this.”

“But we had no intention of doing so,” Luna said but then gave an exasperated sigh. “Until we heard Rabia invaded the Crystal Empire.”

“Rabia would have had no idea where her daughter was buried. We didn’t even know, there was only one pony who knew where Queen Ira was entombed,” Celestia pointed out. “King Sombra.”

“That bastard!” Twilight hissed, her wings rising in irritation. “He must have told her, Rabia must have asked him and he told her. Then he withheld that information to make a point. He knows something that we need to know.”

“That is what both Luna and I suspect as well.” Celestia nodded and shook her head. “We need him to cooperate, we need to know Rabia’s next moves. This isn’t a direct threat to Equestria but to a now friendly nation, we need to be able to warn them and even help them.”

“I offered to host Coal’s cute-ceañera in my castle after Private’s possession ordeal. I let them all stay in my castle while Private was recovering in the hospital. Mirage Rock and Hard Shovel helped us uncover years of lost crystal pony history King Sombra tried to destroy. I even went to Barricade’s and Barbell’s wedding. I consider that family my friends, I can’t believe we have to ask them to suffer King Sombra again,” Cadance snorted and turned away, fuming even more than Twilight was.

“Cadance,” Princess Celestia approached her niece, putting a wing gently over her. “We will not force them into anything. If Private says no, we will accept that and try and deal with Rabia as we can.”

“We shouldn’t even be asking him in the first place,” Twilight growled, really feeling for her sister-in-law. She had often met Coal, Private’s niece, when the girl came to Ponyville to visit her sister. Sometimes Private was with her, escorting her. Though he was not the most talkative of ponies, Twilight had sometimes approached him then to just talk and hear news of him and his family. The family she had promised and failed to keep safe when Sombra had struck again.

“You will hear no disagreement from us,” Luna sighed, understanding quite well how the young princesses were feeling. However, feelings had to be put to the side as much as she hated to admit it.

“We will make sure that Private feels safe about this. He can contact us at anytime and remove Sombra away, that he can cancel the deal at any time,” Celestia told them, still holding a wing over her enraged niece. “Sombra is not in control here.”

Twilight was still scowling, hating the very idea of letting King Sombra set one hoof out of his cage in Tartarus. Yet she did see why they needed him. Celestia had said so herself, there were very few records of Queen Rabia. Even the Celestial Princesses didn’t know enough to comfortably tell what she might be up to. Hard as it was to swallow, there was only one pony who truly knew the queen, her own son.

“I’ll go ask him,” she offered quietly, her wings slowly folding again. “He should be asked by a friend.”

“I will go as well, Twilight,” Princess Celestia said, she was stepping away from Cadance who had calmed down and was sitting down. Her back was though still turned towards the other three alicorns.

“It was I who told King Sombra that we might speak with Private, I intend to take the full responsibility for even entertaining the idea.” The Sun Princess walked over to Twilight. Then she said quietly. “I am just as concerned as you all are, King Sombra is obsessed with Private. There was a gleam in his eyes when he made his third demand. The worst thing is, he made that demand the deal breaker.”

“We should all head back to our regular duties for now, I will contact you, Twilight, when the time comes to talk with Private Iceland,” she then said, almost tempted to delay this as long as possible, but knew she really couldn’t.

Twilight slowly nodded, she walked over to Cadence to give her a reassuring hug before leaving the throne room to head back to Ponyville. Luna left as well, her night time duties still few hours away so she was going to get some rest. Soon only Cadance and Celestia were left in the throne room.

“Cadance?” Celsetia approached her niece again, the love princess still hadn’t risen up.

“I remember seeing that poor guy, half frozen on that ledge on Little Crystal. Then in the hospital, when Sombra forced him to go silent, caused him so much agonizing pain. Then using his body to travel away, all those inn patrons, the crystal ponies he killed while still in Private’s body,” Cadance slowly looked at her aunt, tears slowly trickling down her cheeks.

“And his family, that sweet little filly, she had just received her cutie mark and had to hear that a monster had abducted her uncle who was more like a father to her. His parents, it broke my heart to tell them what had happened and then showing them the torture chamber their boy had been kept in when he was just a colt. They read the journal describing it, his mother was in tears.” Princess Cadance stood up and walked to one of the windows. Celestia followed, allowing her niece to talk.

“I hated it that I couldn’t be at the party when King Sombra abducted them all. Private, his nieces, his brother, his parents. I seriously allowed myself to believe nothing would happen, that Twilight and her friends would be enough, he had been silent for so long,” she whispered, staring at the window depicting her and Spike’s victory when they saved the Crystal Empire.

“Now we want him to have that monster in his own home, just because of Queen Rabia?” Cadance grit her teeth, she closed her eyes hard as more tears came down.

Celestia listened quietly to her niece vent, when she heard sobs beginning to escape the young princess’s lips, she approached and draped a wing over her again and pulled her closer in a hug. Allowing Cadance to cry into her chest as she also put a leg gently and comfortably around her.

“My dear Cadance,” Princess Celestia spoke gently and soothingly. “I do believe your love for our ponies exceeds mine at times. I haven’t forgotten how involved you have been in situations involving King Sombra. You poured out your love to the crystal ponies, helping them recover from his tyrannical rule. And I do see that you do the same with Private and his family, who have been just as brutally treated by him.”

Celestia looked down at her niece, smiling a warm motherly smile. She used her free wing to reach over and wipe the tears from Cadance’s cheeks. Then she reached down to nuzzled gently the top of the younger alicorn’s mane.

“I will not let Sombra play his game. I promise you that this time, he will not be in control. If you want, I can make it so that you are the one Private first contacts if anything is amiss,” she then offered her. “In fact, I will allow you to make any impromptu visits to ensure that King Sombra behaves himself.”

“Really?” Cadance smiled weakly. She had half dreaded that she would have to stay on the sidelines up north. The princess knew she had her duties, she was the protector of the Crystal Empire and she did have her daughter to care for. But knowing that a pony she considered a friend would have to face his long time tormentor and not be able to do much was just tearing her apart.

“Of course. Sombra is just trying to play one of his sick games again and I for one am only playing along so far. As concerned as I am about Queen Rabia, the security and safety of my subjects comes first. I too have seen what Sombra has done to that poor stallion, I’ve seen what he’s done to his brother, no King Sombra is not in charge here, we are,” Princess Celestia told her with a firm nod. Her niece’s smile grew wider and she looked more relaxed.

“Thanks, Aunt Tia,” Cadance whispered and gave the Solar Princess a tight hug. When they separated and Celestia removed the wing away, the younger alicorn looked much better.

“Now, you should still head back to the Crystal Empire for now. I will let you know how it goes. For all we know, Private will say no and that will be that. However, if he says yes, then I will fully update you on what happens next,” Princess Celestia told her. They hugged one more time and this time Cadance departed the throne room, looking already in higher spirit.

When she was finally alone in the throne room, a scowl crossed Celestia’s features. There was a loud clang when the sun princess stomped one hoof to the ground, as she finally let the anger that had been building up inside her out.

“This is the final time Sombra,” she snorted and stomped over to her throne and sat down. “One. Final. Chance!”

Princess Celestia closed her eyes, taking a moment to calm herself down, before she would summon for her secretary to see what duties needed to be attended to. Sombra’s demands had riled her up bad enough, but seeing Twilight’s and especially Cadance’s reaction to them had infuriated her.

“Even if I have to deal with your mother alone. I am not letting you get away with anything this time.” Celestia closed her eyes, took a deep breath and centered herself. Then she lit up her horn to send a magic message to summon for her secretary, the issue of Rabia and Sombra would wait for now.

End chapter 3

Chapter 4. Kitchen. Tea. Cakes

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Chapter 4

“I’LL GET IT!!” Coal bellowed as she ran to the front door after there was a knock. She opened the door with her magic and gasped when seeing who stood on the front porch.

“Hello Coal,” Twilight Sparkle greeted the black filly with a smile. Right beside her was Princess Celestia. The filly could just make out a royal coach and some guards standing outside the fence.

“Hi,” the little unicorn greeted awestruck to see two princesses at her door. She was still getting used to the idea that her family was mildly acquainted with them now. Twilight was one thing, but Celestia was kind of the biggest one both literally and figuratively.

“Coal, who’s theraa, yaa, yaaaaah!” A maroon head with a white muzzle and navy-blue mane peeked out of a doorway that led to a kitchen. Foxy Stripes was about as shocked as her daughter was, though more over the white alicorn than the purple one. She was quickly out of the doorway and ducking her head in a bow.

“Your princess highness… I mean highness princess…” the pegasus mare blurted out of herself, before raising her head and with a dumbfounded expression said. “Uh, hi.”

Princess Celestia smiled as she held back her laughter. Twilight also somehow managed to not chuckle, while Coal was now on the floor in giggle fits over her mother’s overreaction.

A blue head with a candy cane colored mane peeked out of another entrance. Dew Doe blinked and also quickly entered the front door hallway, but she managed to conduct herself a bit more properly.

“Your highness, Twilight, what brings you here?” the pegasus asked after bowing. After visiting Ponyville a few times and meeting Twilight occasionally, the friendship princess had told her to stop with the formalities with her. Then the pegasus hoofed her face and gestured inside. “I mean, come on in.”

“Thank you, Dew Doe. We don’t mean to disturb you,” Celestia nodded and entered the building with Twilight following. “We are here to see Private Iceland.”

“What a lucky duck, he gets a visit not from one, but two princesses,” Foxy mock complained, grinning innocently when getting a glare from her sister.

“Kitchen. Tea. Cakes!” Dew pointed at the kitchen entrance firmly.

“Kitchen. Tea. Cakes!” Foxy saluted and quickly scampered into the kitchen.

“Coal, you take them to the living room,” the blue pegasus then addressed her niece, before looking at the princesses. “Private is upstairs in the study, he’s working on a historical project for the museum.”

Both alicorns nodded and as Dew Doe departed up the stairs further inside the hallway, they followed the filly into the living room. Twilight took a chair, but due to her size, Celestia decided to sit on a couch next to the younger princess.

“Uncle Private can get a little zoned out when working on his history projects,” Coal explained to them, and glanced to the entrance. “Aunt Dew might be…”

Coal suddenly blinked as if something dawned on her. Then she promptly sat down and with a deadpan expression placed both hooves over her ears. The princesses looked puzzled at this action and Twilight was about to open her mouth to ask what this was about, when there was a crash. Then there was a loud:

“WILL YOU GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!!!”

There were hurried hoof steps upstairs, a loud bang, then more hoof steps, finally someone was coming down from the stairs at great speed. Celestia and Twilight looked at each other confused, then at Coal who was giggling, but still with both hooves over her ears.

“Foxy! Block outside!” Dew called from upstairs.

“You did not evoke a brushie chase with the princesses visiting did you!?” Foxy could be heard responding, she could be just made out from the living room as she quickly jumped out of the kitchen.

Galloping sounds were coming closer and Private Iceland suddenly dove into the living room. The dark gray unicorn screeched to a halt the moment he saw who were there. Private blinked where he now sat on the floor having skidded dangerously close to the coffee table in his mad dash to escape. Slowly he glared back at the living room entrance, where an unimpressed Foxy Stripes and a grinning Dew Doe were peeking in.

“Seriously, you two,” Foxy grumbled and disappeared out of the entrance to go back to the kitchen.

“Hello Private,” Princess Celestia greeted the stallion, who turned his attention back to her and bowed as he mumbled a greeting. Then he also greeted Twilight.

“Sorry, it was either the brush or the pancakes and we didn’t have time to get pancakes,” Dew Do giggled while stepping inside the living room.

“Ah, so that was the infamous brushie chase I’ve heard about,” Twilight chuckled. She had heard of this strange custom that existed between Private and Dew Doe, but had never seen it in action.

“It’s the fastest way to get his attention. Trust me, we could have an entire mariachi band outside his room and he wouldn’t even notice when he sinks into his history books,” Dew explained as she gave Private a gentle pat on his blonde mane.

“I kind of know the feeling,” Twilight smiled knowingly, having had her serious study sessions before.

“So, to what do we owe the honors?” Private asked, deciding grumbling about his marefriend would have to wait, they clearly had very important visitors. He rose up to get seated on a couch next to the exit. Dew Doe sat down beside him, Coal still remained where she had sat.

“Queen Rabia has resurfaced,” Celestia started the explanation. Dew Doe’s eyes widened, while Private arched his brow.

The princesses first told them about her unexpected incursion to the Crystal Empire, during that Foxy arrived with the tea and cakes and after doling out the refreshments sat down next to her daughter to listen.

“So nopony was hurt during that?” Dew asked worriedly, she, her sister, Coal and Private sighed in relief when Twilight assured them that no one had been harmed.

“However, she did appear before that, in Canterlot to speak with me about visiting Sombra in Tartarus.” The solar princess knew there was no keeping this back. She wasn’t surprised that Dew almost immediately put a hoof over Private’s, the unicorn already looked a little uncomfortable. Coal scowled and Foxy snorted.

“Luna and I were suspicious of this visit and immediately after she had left, went to talk with Sombra about it. He did reveal that Queen Rabia is on the move and has plans for Saddle Arabia,” Princess Celestia continued, really not wanting to go into the next subject. “We asked him if he had any theories or ideas on what she might do. That’s when Sombra clammed up on all information.”

“He made three demands for providing any further insight on his mother. That he get better living conditions, the shackles on his legs be removed, but the manacle that blocks his magic could remain…” Twilight took over the explanation, as she had chosen to be the one to deliver the most controversial part of the events. “And finally… he would name his custodian.”

Twilight couldn’t say she was surprised by the reaction. Private paled up and looked like he was about to be struck by a speeding train, Dew sneered and Foxy scowled. Only Coal looked puzzled, not quite understanding what this was all about.

“Of all the nerve!” Dew Doe snapped, her anger all directed towards the king.

“We gave him no guarantees, I told him we might ask Private about this, however Luna and I quickly decided not to,” Celestia calmly explained, then sighed. “That is, until Rabia invaded the Crystal Empire to get her buried daughter away from there.”

“Ugh…” Private let out a long groan. “Let me guess, he told Queen Rabia were Queen Ira was buried, but didn’t tell you that he told her.”

“That is indeed what we suspect, he would be the only one who knew of her location. Not even I knew where the Last Queen was buried.” The sun princess smiled sympathetically. “Which means he may have more information on her moves, information he is not willing to indulge unless his demands are met.”

“But we want to stress that we will not force you to accept this. If you say no, we will accept that,” Twilight quickly added in.

“Indeed, I have no intention to let King Sombra get away with playing his sick games. The decision is yours and if you chose not to, then we will just have to deal with Queen Rabia the best we can,” Celestia nodded in agreement with her.

Dew Doe let out a long breath, then she looked at Private who was rubbing his forehead with a hoof. The mare patted him on the back before addressing the princesses.

“Can we have a moment to discuss this?” she requested.

“Of course,” Celestia nodded and rose from her seat, as did Twilight.

“Coal, why don’t you take the princesses outside and show them around while we talk,” Foxy told her daughter, who shrugged and trotted off, followed by the two princesses.

Heavy silence commenced in the living room as the two pegasi mares now regarded Private with concern. The stallion was still rubbing his forehead, all kinds of emotions currently battling inside of him.

“Private, you heard the princesses, right? If you say no, they will accept that,” Dew Doe said gently, rubbing his back with a hoof.

“That’s the problem,” Private grumbled and finally dropped his hoof, he looked downright miserable. “I think I have to say yes.”

“What? Why?” Foxy asked, shocked to hear him say that.

Private sighed deeply and hung his head. Right now he just wanted to crawl under bed and stay there for the next few hundred years. The unicorn knew that wouldn’t work though. Slowly he looked at Dew Doe who was watching him very concerned.

“You have the memories unlocked Dew, of our trip to the Dark Pony empire back in time with Doctor Whooves. You remember Queen Rabia, right?” he asked her.

“I’ve just tried not to think too much about it,” the mare said and for a moment glanced towards the ceiling. Then she closed her eyes and nodded. “Yeah, I vaguely remember her now.”

“She was polite and diplomatic with us because we were foreign visitors, from a nation she wanted to keep neutral in her affairs. Yet even so, did she strike you as a reasonable mare, someone you would want to be on the bad side of?” her lover asked.

“Oh no, she practically herded us without any choice into her palace to host us. There was no room to even refuse her offer,” Dew Doe grunted as she began remembering the trip herself.

“I’ve met her with the diplomacy off,” Private said, looking at both mares now. “Back when Sombra abducted me and Barricade from the rescue effort. She swept the floor with Sombra, he was scared of her. The first thing she did when she came out of that mirror was size Barricade up like he was a potential candidate for her personal harem.”

“Queen Rabia, or the Queen of Rage and Wrath, was one of the most dangerous enemies of Saddle Arabia. The only reason she didn’t wipe them out is because thankfully, she was never a conqueror. She was content on just keeping them back and keeping her iron hold on the Dark Pony Empire,” the unicorn then began explaining, being far more vocal now since he was going into history, one of the rare times he would speak at length.

“The Saddle Arabians were so scared of her they made entire ballads about her, describing her cruelty to her enemies. She was to them what Nightmare Moon was to us. You think she will care that the Saddle Arabians now regret their ancestor’s actions? I heard her declare that she was going to wipe them out for what they did, every single last one of them.” Private stopped talking and looked down, he closed his eyes tight.

“I hate to admit it, but if there is anypony who knows how to deal with her, could provide information on her that might help… it’s her son, King Sombra. He’s the only one left alive who knows exactly how she thinks,” he then whispered.

“Okay, I think you made your point,” Foxy said and eyed her sister who was content for now on just giving the unicorn a reassuring backrub. “So do we do it? Host that king jerk in our house just so he can help the princesses with his mom?”

“Private… I will trust you on this, if you say yes, I will fully support you,” Dew Doe said calmly. Private looked up, he leaned over to give her a small kiss. The mare smiled, knowing that was him saying thanks.

“Foxy, get the princesses back in.” Private then looked at the maroon mare who nodded and rose up to leave.

“You know, as your therapist, I should not be recommending this… but as I said, I’ll trust you,” Dew remarked and draped a wing around the stallion and leaned on him. Private lifted one front leg to place it around the mare, just nodding in response.

Soon Foxy returned with Coal and the two princesses. Twilight and Celestia returned to their previous seats, but this time the maroon pegasus ushered her daughter out of the living room. It would only be Private and Dew talking with them now, the filly grumbled a protest but her mother didn’t budge.

“I know I’m going to regret this, but alright. I’ll be King Sombra’s custodian or whatever he called it,” Private muttered.

“Are you sure?” Celestia asked him, frowning a bit in concern. The unicorn just nodded.

“Very well, then we shall make the arrangement to move him out of Tartarus and to your home,” the sun princess said. She was still feeling bad about the whole thing. “I want to assure both of you that you can change your mind at anytime. Cancel it without any reason. You will be the ones in control, not him.”

At this point, Private was hanging his head and silently grumbling that yet again he had to deal with King Sombra. This time it was by choice, but the unicorn had a feeling that his long time tormentor had engineered it so that he would feel he had to take the worse one.

“There will be security methods. I will teach Private spells to contact all four princesses of Equestria. Since you are friends with Cadance and Twilight, they and especially Cadance who voiced strongest her concern over this, should be contacted first. I have given Cadance permission to come here periodically to check on things. However, Luna, Twilight and I will also sometimes drop by, both to talk with Sombra and ensure that you are all safe.” Celestia decided to get some of the basics about the security out already.

“If you think it’s safer, Foxy and Coal are more than welcome to move to my castle while we do this. Fillydelphia isn’t that far away from Ponyville by train, so Foxy could easily commute, and since summer is coming, Coal shouldn’t have to worry about school,” Twilight offered them.

“I’ll talk with her about it, thanks.” Dew Doe nodded to Twilight.

“Private,” Celestia addressed the unicorn gently, the stallion slowly looked at her.

“This was a very brave thing of you to decide. I know it wasn’t easy for you. Not with your history with King Sombra,” she said, smiling reassuringly. “But now it shall be you who are in control and not him. You set the rules and you do what makes you comfortable. You do not have to do anything more than what you want.”

Private just nodded his thanks, his mind still just trying to fully comprehend that soon King Sombra would be living here, even if it would be for only a brief period. Yet deep down, the unicorn was sort of looking forward to it, meeting the king again. It was a feeling Private was keeping firmly at bay, but it was there.

“We will now let you be to discuss things and make your own preparations. I will come back tomorrow to discuss further security details. It is always possible that when we break the news to Sombra that he will try and push for something more, but have no fear, he’s already made his second most boldest claim,” Celestia then told both of them.

“Second most boldest?” Dew Doe asked with a frown.

“He did not ask for full use of his powers, even he knew that would have been far too bold,” Celestia pointed out. The pegasus conceded to that point.

Shortly later, the princesses were saying their goodbyes and Dew Doe escorted them out. The pegasus quickly returned to the living room, where Private still sat on the couch, following her were Foxy and Coal.

“We have done crazy things in our time,” Foxy claimed as she this time got seated on a chair. “However, I think allowing one of Equestria’s worst enemies to stay here tops that.”

“We are doing what?” Coal blinked, the adults looked at her, realizing they would have to tell the filly. She was old enough, approaching her teen years in just few short years.

“Foxy, Twilight offered to let you and Coal stay at her castle while we do this,” Dew Doe told her sister.

“Hah! And leave you two alone with that creep? He’s not chasing me or my daughter out of our home,” Foxy scoffed and placed her front hooves on her sides.

“It would be safer,” Private pointed out.

“Oh no, no, no, no. I’ve been sitting on the sidelines for that last two times, even Coal got to meet up with that jerk. I have some choice words of my own to deliver and I am not going,” the maroon mare declared and now folded her legs, nodding firmly.

“You were part of the rescue effort last time,” Dew arched her brow but chuckled a little at her sister.

“Yeah, what’s your point?” Foxy looked at Coal, who was still kind of waiting for an explanation. “Coal and I better keep an eye on you two and keep you out of trouble.”

“What trouble!” Coal finally growled, glaring at the adults.

“Remember King Sombra?” her mother asked, chuckling a little when the filly made a face.

“Ugh, he was scary, why?” she raised her brow.

“He’s going to be staying here for a little while, with us,” Dew Doe told her niece.

“He’s WHAT!?” Coal shouted, her eyes widening in shock. “WHY!?”

The adults then proceeded to explain the best they could the situation to the bewildered filly. Coal didn’t look very convinced by the time they had finished.

“This whole thing sounds nuts,” she grunted and stomped out of the living room. None of the adults were surprised at the reaction. Despite her compassionate nature, she had learned to hold a grudge like Aunt Dew Doe. Especially considering Coal had been one of the ponies abducted by Sombra last time.

Foxy planned to go after her daughter a little later to talk with her. The mare knew that right now, she better let Coal steam a little. She wasn’t very happy about this either, but she had decided to trust Private. The stallion was not known for making rash decisions.

“If things get too much, we will at least send her to either stay with Derpy and Timer Turner, or even her father,” Dew Doe looked at Foxy who sighed and nodded in agreement.

“So, who is going to tell mom about this?” Foxy asked and grinned nervously.

Dew Doe and Private looked at each other slowly, eyes very wide and alarmed. Then both quickly looked at the maroon mare as all three ponies shouted:

“NOT IT!!!”

End chapter 4

Chapter 5. Why him?

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Chapter 5

“Why am I not hungry?” Cozy asked. The filly was pretty sure enough time had passed by now that she should be starving, yet the girl felt nothing.

“It’s the magic of Tartarus. You don’t feel hungry or thirsty. “You just exist,” Tirek explained and gestured around. “You can sleep, but that is just to pass time, if anything.”

Cozy furrowed her brow as she considered this. She glanced at Sombra’s cage. Ever since the princesses had dropped by, shortly after Queen Rabia’s visit, the king had been absolutely silent. He just continued to lay in his cage with his back turned towards her and Tirek.

“Why is he called King Sombra? I know he ruled the Crystal Empire, but wouldn’t that make him emperor?” she asked, sighing as the girl remembered how close she had been to her own empress title.

“Well until his mother so unexpectedly returned, he was the only remaining Dark Pony left of the royal line. So even if it was gone, he did have the right to call himself the King of the Dark Ponies. Why they didn’t call themselves emperor or empress since it was mostly ruled by mares, I wouldn’t know,” Tirek responded and shrugged. “Makes about as much sense as to why Celestia calls herself a princess.”

“Saddle Arabia had emperors. When the first queen broke us Dark Ponies away from them, she declared that no Dark Pony would be ruled by an emperor, so she called herself queen and declared that her successors would only use that title or in my case, a king.” Sombra raised his head to look at them, looking grim. “Of course, the Saddle Arabians were so insulted by us daring to break away from their ‘generous’ rule that the emperor changed his title to king, vowing to never restore the emperor title again until we were all destroyed.”

“Uh, that’s odd, the Saddle Arabians didn’t switch back to emperor after the Dark Pony Empire was destroyed,” Tirek pointed out, folding his arms as he did.

“Well I did slaughter the king who destroyed my race, along with his entire court,” Sombra grunted and lowered his head again.

“Saddle Arabia doesn’t have a king or a queen. They have an emir,” Cozy told them. This prompted Sombra to raise his head again. He looked puzzled.

“Emir? But that’s…” the king trailed off and stared thoughtfully at the cage floor.

They were interrupted by a glowing portal opening near them. Through it stepped Celestia and Luna. The two princesses wasted no words, they immediately stepped up to Sombra’s cage and once again Luna placed a sound proof bubble around them.

“We are here about your terms,” Princess Celestia addressed the Dark Pony. Sombra rose to sit and looked at the sisters, assuming a more neutral expression.

“If we agree to them, you will provide us with information about your mother?” Luna asked firmly.

“That was the deal,” Sombra nodded his head, glancing at Celestia. “I take it he agreed?”

“He did.” Celestia responded flatly. “We are going to transfer you to a cell in Canterlot castle, let you get used to being outside of Tartarus again. Then Luna will transfer you to him.”

“Why not go immediately?” Sombra asked. “I haven’t been in here that long and it doesn’t take that much to get used to the outside world again.”

“I still have a few things to discuss with your new custodian, plus we need to make a few modifications to your manacle,” the solar princess stated. Her horn began glowing and the cage Sombra was in slowly began to disintegrate, then his leg chains began vanishing.

“What kind of modifications?” the king asked suspiciously. He stood up and began stretching his sore legs now that he could.

“That question is not part of the deal, Sombra. I can put you back in the cage and replace those shackles again if you like,” Celestia simply said.

Sombra froze in mid-stretch, then he narrowed his eyes and stood up straight. With a low growl the Dark Pony just nodded his head. Luna removed the silence bubble; a new portal was formed and Celestia gestured for him to walk through.

“I can’t believe it, he gets to leave? What kind of a deal did he make?” Tirek protested, but he was ignored and had to watch the three ponies leave through the portal that closed very shortly afterwards. The centaur grumbled and sat down folding his arms in a huff.

“Well, looks like it’s just you and me now,” Cozy shrugged, grinning innocently at the glare she received from her inmate.

“That doesn’t look like a cell,” Sombra remarked as he entered a guest room in Canterlot Castle. He glanced back at Celestia and the guards who had escorted him there.

“One of your demands was better living conditions. We have now met two of them,” the princess remarked. “You are confined to this room until Luna moves you tomorrow.”

Sombra couldn’t really argue with that. He noted immediately that this was a pretty standard bedroom with a bed, dresser and a closet. Then his stomach started to gurgle, reminding him that it had been ages since he last ate. He was no longer under the effects of the magic of Tartarus.

“Food is being prepared for you. You should lie down, you’ll be feeling pretty weak soon,” Celestia advised him.

Not a bad idea. Sombra was already feeling a bit light-headed. He stumbled to the bed and climbed in to lie down. Alright, having a day to prepare before going wasn’t a bad one either.

“Why him?” Celestia asked and approached the bed, signaling to the guards to stay outside.

“I recall the deal being about information regarding my mother,” Sombra raised his head. He was starting to feel famished.

“I was hoping you would indulge me,” the princess said. “You have been strangely obsessed with that pony.”

“He and I share a longer history together than you know, Celestia,” the king muttered and lowered his head to the pillow. He was so weak and hungry that he couldn’t even really enjoy the softness now under him.

“I am aware you abducted him as a colt through time pony magic spells,” the princess said, arching her brow when hearing the low chuckle coming from the bed.

“Oh no, our history goes much further back than that. Don’t tell me you don’t know already that he travelled back in time long ago, before I possessed him, to the empire I was born in,” Sombra said and closed his eyes. “You and he have something in common. You both met me when I was but a prince.”

Celestia frowned. She had been informed of the memory lock that had been put on Private Iceland and briefly what it had been about. The princess had though not asked for full disclosure since, as far as she was concerned, it was none of her business to know.

A food cart was soon pushed into the room by a maid, Celestia thanked her and dismissed the pony. Then she used her magic to push the cart all the way to the bed. Sombra raised his head. For a second nothing happened. The king sighed, remembering he couldn’t levitate. Using his hooves, he grabbed the cover off the plate. Then he just bent over and started greedily gobbling up his meal, too famished to care about dining etiquettes.

The sun princess watched. She noted that the staff had remembered to provide some fish and meat produce as per her instructions. Although not on the menu of her subjects, they did have visitors from other lands that did eat meat and so there had been some available.

When Sombra finished, he lay back down, sighing in contentment. Celestia moved the cart away and moved in closer, sitting down by the side of the bed.

“I suppose it would be too much to ask to modify the manacle to allow me simple levitation,” Sombra remarked, feeling quite a bit better with a meal in his stomach.

“Tell me, why Private?” Celestia asked instead of responding to that. The king eyed her, raising one eyebrow.

“What do you want to hear? That I still claim him as mine? That I consider him a friend? Perhaps I just enjoy messing up his life so much.” Sombra rose up to lie on his stomach, crossed his forelegs and regarded the princess with narrow eyes. “Why are you so interested?”

“Private is an Equestrian citizen and as his princess, it is my duty to protect him from enemies of Equestria, which you have proven yourself to be on multiple occasions,” the princess said, narrowing her own eyes. “You of all know that I will do everything I can to protect them. I’ve personally seen the damage you have done to him and his brother. I’m only delivering you to him because he agreed to it.”

“Your mother would certainly agree with such sentiments,” she then said. Sombra sneered and fell silent. “So, I ask again. Why Private Iceland?”

“Considering my options, I had little desire to reside anywhere close to the ponies that killed me. I considered him the best option because…” Sombra lowered his head and laid it on top of his legs. “I miss him.”

Celestia arched her brow. There had been something strange in the tone of the king’s voice when saying that. Almost sincerity. She activated her horn and used her magic to fiddle with the manacle on his horn, then she rose to stand.

“I’ve granted you limited levitation - small objects only. You can’t throw with it and you can’t use it on living beings,” she told him and turned to walk away. “I’ll let you rest; Luna will come tomorrow to pick you up.”

“And Sombra,” Celestia said when she reached the door. The king slowly looked up. “Do not make us regret this.”

Sombra didn’t respond, just lowered his head again. The princess waited for a moment before shaking her head and left the room. As she did she instructed the guards to not enter the room unless it was an emergency and that Sombra was not allowed to leave it. They saluted and Celestia departed.

In the guest room, Sombra rested. Stomach full, he now fully appreciated being on a soft bed instead of the cold hard cage floor in Tartarus. He couldn’t really complain at the moment. So far things were going mostly where he had figured they would.

‘Why do you hide, my Little Shadow?’ The king scowled and opened his eyes a crack. Old words from a distant memory began surfacing.

‘My queen, perhaps the boy is too young…’ another voice from the past invaded his mind.

‘Do you presume to tell me how to raise my child, Captain!’ the sharp voice of his mother snapped.

‘Not at all, my queen, but he is only seven winters…’ Sombra shook his head.

‘Indeed, and time for him to see his enemies, our enemies!’ Rabia snapped. The king sneered and closed his eyes tight.

He saw a battlefield in the desert. Armored ponies were charging towards another army. He saw pegasi in the air, magic energies were flying around. His mother stood tall and proud on an elevated area of rocks, clad in armor and her regal cape flowing in the desert wind. Next to her was a heavily-armored unicorn. He looked grim. The king saw himself, as a colt, trying to hide behind his mother, shielding his eyes from the carnage that was happening below them.

Suddenly his mother pushed him forward. With her magic she put down the leg he used to shield his vision, forcing him to watch.

‘Watch, Sombra. Watch our enemies be destroyed. This will one day be your duty. To protect the empire from them.’ She said softly, gently caressing his mane. The captain gave the queen a subtle glare, then a sympathetic look to him before returning his attention back to the battle.

Sombra growled, closed his eyes tight and banished the memories. He knew though why they had surfaced; his mind had drifted to his plans. It was mostly just to get out of Tartarus and hide from his mother. Her knowing he was in Tartarus had not sat well with him. That had triggered his first memories of seeing the carnage of battle, trying to hide from that, but his mother wouldn’t allow it, forcing him to watch.

Sombra tried to focus on something else, something more pleasant. His mind seemed rather insistent on being stuck in the distant past, but then he heard something he had almost all but forgotten.

‘Well Private, it is unfortunate that you and your friend could not stay longer, but I do hope you enjoyed your visit in the empire.’ It was him, much younger.

‘I did, it was an honor to meet you, Prince Sombra.’ Private’s voice, just as dry and quiet as he remembered it being.

‘Please, just call me Sombra,’ he remembered saying, whispering softly out loud.

He saw the gates of the palace. He stood before Private, but younger, his mane and tail not flowing with power. He wore the blue cape and silver armor of a prince. He was giving something to Private. A necklace.

‘I wish for us to part as friends. Here take this,’ he said. The necklace was silver with a small flat medallion depicting a unicorn head with a curved horn.

‘Thanks,’ Private said and on his muzzle formed a smile.

Well I guess it is a more pleasant memory, Sombra grunted, then he sneered and banished that one as well into the far reaches of his mind. Enough of this past reminiscing. That won’t help me.

He did look nice, smiling like that. Sombra ignored that small voice way back in his head. Instead he tried to go over what he needed to do.

I must play nice for now. No doubt I will be under close scrutiny. At least I can levitate a little, but that won’t do much. No doubt I will be confined to the house, I seriously doubt they will grant me that much freedom. He rubbed his muzzle thoughtfully.

The king laid his head back down and relaxed his entire body. He was soon fast asleep, snoring softly into the pillow.

Celestia sipped from a tea cup as she scribbled down notes on a scroll. The Solar Princess was preparing to head off to Fillydelphia to further instruct Private and the others in his home on the security matters around Sombra. She intended to leave them with some written instructions as well.

There was though one thing she did want to do before she headed off. Which is why she was in her private parlor, where the princess sometimes hosted guests. Celestia was waiting for one in particular. In the meantime, she continued to write.

The princess furrowed her brow a little. She couldn’t say that she was happy with how things were going. King Sombra was a big enough security risk, even without his powers he could still do damage. She hoped she wouldn’t end up regretting allowing him to leave the confines of Tartarus. It was quite enough to have to deal with his mother.

Yet Celestia had to concede that she just didn’t know Rabia well enough. She had never been a threat to Equestria. Few diplomatic visits so long ago had been hardly enough to consider oneself an expert on her.

The Celestial sisters had merely been seeking recognition for their young nation. The Queen had been happy enough to do that. The Dark Ponies had no real interests up north. Their focus lay to the south, where their enemies were.

Saddle Arabia had changed though since those times. Now they had an entire museum dedicated to what they regarded as their Great Shame. Detailed, accurate depictions of what was known of Dark Pony culture, well-preserved artifacts on display. Only allowing the descendants to enter the lands once belonging to the Dark Ponies to go on a pilgrimage in their ancestral lands.

Celestia frowned a little harder. She had a feeling Queen Rabia would not care about that. Like her son, she no doubt held a powerful enmity towards them for the heinous acts of their ancestors.

The princess was brought out of her thoughts when there was a knock on the door. She glanced over, inviting whoever it was to enter. A guard peeked in, bowing his head.

“Your highness, Doctor Whooves here to see you,” he announced after rising again.

“Show him in.” Celestia nodded and rolled up the scroll and put it on a side table next to the couch she lay in.

The guard bowed again and backed out of the doorway. Soon after a light brown pony with a darker brown mane and tail and an hourglass cutie-mark entered. Though looking like an earth pony, Celestia already could feel the deep temporal magic within. This was a time pony.

“Your highness,” Whooves bowed deeply. “You wished to see me?”

“I did indeed. Please have a seat, Doctor.” Celestia gestured to the available seats.

Her guest rose from the bow and trotted to a nearby chair and sat down on it. Whooves nodded his head when the princess offered him tea. Once he had a cup in his hooves, the time pony looked at her curiously.

“So how my I serve?” he asked and took a sip.

“As I understand, some time ago, you, Private Iceland and his marefriend, Dew Doe, travelled to the Dark Pony Empire,” Celestia said and noted that the time pony got a little uncomfortable.

“Yeah… yeah we did…” Whooves nodded and had a nervous smile on his muzzle. “Not intentionally, but I sometimes took Private on historical tours through time as a favor. Dew, Foxy and her daughter Coal sometimes came along.”

“Aren’t trips like those discouraged by the Time Pony Council?” the princess wondered, her brow rising a little.

“They are, but, pardon the language your Highness, I don’t give a damn what the Time Pony Council thinks.” Doctor Whooves rolled his eyes, causing Celestia to smile a little. It was no secret that this time pony was no fan of his own secretive government.

“Private was one of my most gifted students of history in the university. The obscure facts he could remember amazed even me. He’s not judgmental, heck he disproved the notion that the Spartacorns hated anypony who wasn’t an earth pony. He’s dined with King Horsneidas himself, a unicorn sitting at the table with one of the most powerful earth pony kings to ever have existed,” Whooves continued and smiled a little in pride. “Private built his historical career on it that there was always another side of the story and it’s no wonder. His parents proved without a shadow of a doubt that the Dark Ponies where not the demon-worshipping cannibals that so many ponies thought they were.

“So at first, I started to reward him by showing him that, yes some of his theories were right. Then I asked him to help me on a few missions. His friends joined in and well, it just went from there. Foxy did travel less after Coal was born, and of course I helped them deal with Barricade when he was at his worst. I was myself proving that our method of travel was safe, time is more protected than the Time Pony Council likes to think. It’s far more sturdy than they pretend,” Whooves explained and shook his head. “But no, they just refused to see it.” Whooves grumbled and drank some of his tea. “Anyway, about the Dark Pony Empire?”

“Yes, we do not have too much time. I do have to leave soon for Fillydelphia,” Celestia chuckled, quite used to how much this pony could ramble.

“This happened before Private was possessed. I believe Twilight and her friends had finished defeating Discord. I started to detect strange energies further down the time stream and decided to investigate it,” the time pony began telling her.

“Private jumped at the opportunity, wanting to see what time period we would end up in. Dew Doe floated along, mostly probably just to be with Private,” Whooves grinned a little and Celestia chuckled.

“We landed in the Dark Pony Empire, late in Queen Rabia’s reign. I decided to allow Private and Dew to explore alone, let them determine when in her reign we had landed. Oh boy did they deliver on that. They met Queen Rabia herself and were hosted in her palace, I think for two or three days.” The time pony spread out his legs to emphasize the time period.

“That was not part of the plan. We the Time Ponies already knew that Private had been abducted by King Sombra back when he was a colt, using time scrolls written by us. That is another reason I went to teach at that University. We were keeping a subtle eye on him, knowing he would meet King Sombra again. What we didn’t expect was that he would meet Sombra before he was king,” Whooves continued and cringed a little, indicating that had clearly not been part of the plan.

“So, he did meet him as a prince,” Celestia frowned slightly, remembering King Sombra’s words earlier. This she had actually known, but it was good to have it confirmed from someone else than Sombra.

“He did and oh boy was he jumping off the walls when we finally met up again. He had always been fascinated with the legends of the Lost Son of Queen Rabia and he was pretty positive that he had just met him,” Whooves chuckled at the memory before becoming sadder. “I just didn’t have the heart to tell him that he just met the pony who had abducted him when he was little.”

“Oh?” Celestia tilted her head when hearing that.

“Yeah, Private was in love. He was completely and utterly smitten. He tried to ask if we couldn’t stay a little longer, kept talking about the prince, kept caressing that necklace Prince Sombra gave him,” the time pony’s voice lowered, then he sighed deeply.

“When we got back, we didn’t even return to the same spot we had travelled from. We landed right in the council chambers of the Time Pony Council. They were furious. Private and Dew had to wait outside while I tried to argue with them, but they wouldn’t even listen to me. They were too stuck up, too worried what might happen when Private would eventually be possessed and remember Sombra as Prince Sombra and thus reveal he was a time traveler.” Whooves narrowed his eyes. “They ordered me to lock their memories of the events. That was the worst thing I ever had to do to my friends. Before the lock, Private was heartbroken that he wouldn’t be allowed to remember his time in the empire. He was devastated.”

“I have forbidden them from doing these memory locks on my subjects again,” Celestia assured him with a sharp nod.

“And I thank you for that. As far as I’m concerned, that was an abuse of power. The worst thing was they absolutely forbade me from interfering with Private when he finally would encounter Sombra. I listened the first time, but after seeing Private in the hospital in the Crystal Empire, I didn’t listen for the second time. I broke protocol and restored those memories, hoping they might help him, if just to cope and remember who Sombra used to be.” Whooves looked up, there were tears in his eyes.

“I’m still too scared to go to them and apologize for my part in this. They should remember now how angry they were at the Council and me. I still remember that hateful glare Dew gave me when I locked the memories inside Private, watching him slowly go from heartbroken and pleading not to take those memories away from him and right back to his usual neutral, bored expression, having no idea what was going on anymore. This was no better than doing non-consensual lobotomy on him,” the Time Pony sniffed and sipped his tea. Celestia watched him sympathetically.

“What about the energies you detected?” she asked, a little curious on what that had been about. The princess became a little concerned at the dark look that came over Whooves.

“They were proof. Proof of what I had always been telling them. The time stream was mending itself without any input, repairing the damage King Sombra caused when he was pulling ponies back in time. Me going back in time with Private and Dew was actually part of that mending. The time stream itself wanted us to be there,” Whooves growled and almost threw the teacup to the floor, but the Time Pony held himself back, took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

Celestia shook her head sadly, glad that now that she had forbidden this now. She finished her tea and put the cup down on the table.

“Thank you for telling me this. It gave me a certain perspective that I needed,” the princess said, smiling at the Doctor who just quietly nodded.

“I have to go to Fillydelphia now. You are aware what Private has agreed to?” she asked. Again Whooves just nodded.

“They can do it. We have faced worse together. Queen Maxilla was once hunting us down,” he chuckled weakly.

“You are going to have to tell me that story at a better time,” Celestia smiled and started to rise up, as did the Time Pony.

“I will, your highness,” he assured her and put his own cup down on the table.

End chapter 5

Chapter 6. That is none of your concern.

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Chapter 6

Deep within a dark forest, a lone figure shuffled along, muttering and cursing softly to herself. Her black legs were full of holes, she had bluish-green back, transparent bluish wings. Her long mane and tail were a sickly greenish color and producing from her forehead was a jagged-looking horn. It was Queen Chrysalis, the former leader of the Changeling Kingdom.

“Oh, I will get them, I will make them pay,” she muttered and continued her aimless walk. Her last plan had been a bit of a disaster. The constructs she had made to try and steal the Elements of Harmony had turned on her and then the Tree itself had dispelled them just like that.

The former queen refused to admit it, but she really didn’t know what to do now. She just needed something, an idea - anything. It didn’t help much that the one person she might have been able to seek help with was now locked up in Tartarus. She had really cursed her luck when learning that.

Maybe I should spring him out. He would be indebted to me. He’s powerful enough to help me regain my kingdom, she mused and rubbed her muzzle. Chrysalis then sneered, realizing she wasn’t powerful enough to enter Tartarus, let alone free someone from there.

As she continued onwards, a sound caught her attention. The changeling tilted her head, then turned her attention towards it. Soon she could see a small clearing with three large rocks. There was someone by them.

Chrysalis ducked behind a tree and peeked out from behind it. She saw a tall unicorn mare standing by the large rocks using her magic to write strange runes on them. The changeling furrowed her brow.

It cannot be! Queen Rabia lives? she thought, recognizing the former queen of the long-gone empire.

Queen Rabia stopped for a moment, placed a hoof on the runes and laid her head up against the rocks. Her expression was sad, a tear was slowly trickling down her cheek.

“You will be safe here, my little dark foal,” she whispered and smiled a broken smile. “When I have destroyed our enemies, I’ll come back for you, give you a proper burial in our home.”

The Dark Pony then stepped back again and resumed writing the runes, still oblivious to the changeling queen watching her. Chrysalis scowled a little, having not quite understood Rabia’s words. The changeling took a step back, accidentally snapping a twig.

Rabia immediately looked over with a suspicious frown. The changeling quickly changed herself into a similar-looking tree as the unicorn turned and walked closer. Chrysalis waited as Rabia got nearer, inspecting the area around her.

“I know you are here,” Rabia said, shifting her eyes left and right. She took another step forward. “I would hate to torch this area and you in the process to find you.”

There was no response, Rabia narrowed her eyes, then she blasted a nearby tree with her dark magic. Chrysalis silently cringed. It had been the tree on her right.

“I’m not bluffing,” the dark mare said coldly and blasted another tree.

Chrysalis returned to her normal form, glancing between the two destroyed trees on either side of her, then shifted her attention to the Dark Pony staring right back at her. The changeling hid her alarm, frowning heavily.

“Huh, I missed,” Rabia snorted and turned around and headed back to the rocks. “I take it you have a reason to be spying on me?”

“I was passing by when I saw you,” Chrysalis walked closer, but kept a respectable distance. “I was not expecting to see you.”

“And I should know you how?” Rabia resumed writing runes on the rocks. She smirked when hearing the indignant snort.

“I am Queen Chrysalis, the rightful queen of the Changelings,” the changeling snapped and stalked closer. “Don’t you dare mock me.”

“My apologies, I have only been recently brought back to life. I’m still not quite up to date,” Rabia glanced back at her, changing the smirk to a smile. “The last queen of the Changelings I remember was Queen Maxilla.”

“That was my mother,” the changeling queen stepped back then frowned. “She told me about you, Queen Rabia.”

“Then you know I care very little for changelings,” Rabia claimed and returned to the rocks. “Especially ones who spy on me.”

“I’m very aware of your reputation. What are you doing here?” the changeling decided to take another step back just to be safe.

“That is none of your concern,” the Dark Pony stated and just continued her work.

“Huh, you remind me of your son,” Chrysalis snorted but became mildly concerned when she saw purple mist rise from the front of Rabia’s head. The mare slowly turned her head so one eye glared at her. It was glowing green and red.

“If you do not have business with me, changeling, I strongly advise you to depart!” Rabia’s voice was unearthly and echoing.

“What, did I hit a raw nerve?” Chrysalis chuckled, but the mocking smirk vanished and her eyes bugged out when Rabia suddenly disintegrated into a towering shadow form, much larger than she had ever seen King Sombra do. The Dark Pony’s head that formed on it looked demonic and full of rage. A powerful unearthly roar almost flung the changeling into the trees.

Chrysalis took to the air and booked with panic in her eyes. Looking back, she gasped when seeing the huge shadow was chasing her. The changeling queen increased her speed, fluttering her wings as fast as she could.

Wait, why am I fleeing? She scowled and stopped her flight. She turned around, glaring at the incoming monstrosity.

“You think you can scare me!?” She boasted and fired up her horn and sent several blasts of magic at the advancing wall. Any triumph she felt was quickly gone when watching the magic energy pass harmlessly through and Rabia continued, her huge mouth wide open, only a black abyss beyond it. From it came the most horrible, rage-filled roar.

“Oh right, shadow and smoke,” the changeling grunted, seeing she must change her tactics.

Chrysalis engulfed herself in green flame, transforming into a huge, bug-like monster. With a roar, she charged for Rabia, weaving past shadow tendrils that came at her. The changeling tried to ram herself at the point where the smoke looked the most solid.

The former queen hit something, and it seemed like the huge form of the Dark Pony seemed to shift. Chrysalis dropped to the ground, briefly changed back to her own form before changing into a huge hydra, just as Rabia shifted in her shadow form and came at her again.

Chrysalis snarled and started ramming the heads her new form had at Rabia. Some were struck by tendrils while others passed into the smoke and got stuck. Suddenly her entire body was lifted and tossed aside. A terrifying, rage-filled roar came from Rabia.

Alright, she is tough, Chrysalis groaned, having transformed back into her original form. The changeling quickly jumped back to her legs and took back to the air. But so am I!

Sneering, the changeling queen began firing energy beams again, ducking and dodging tendrils. Her magic did seem to strike something and there was a snarl from the smoke. Chrysalis grinned, figuring she had scored a hit. Then she heard a rumble.

Ooof! Chrysalis saw it too late, suddenly a huge block of crystals came shooting out of the ground and struck her hard, sending her straight upwards. The changeling didn’t manage to correct her flight in the rapid ascension, so after a short while began plummeting down.

Her eyes bugged out. Rabia had shifted below Chrysalis and waited with her monstrous-looking head right up at the falling changeling, the mouth wide open, showing nothing but inky darkness.

Chrysalis roared and started beating her wings hard. She just barely managed to swing upwards again before falling straight into Rabia’s waiting maw. The changeling was enraged now.

“I will show you what happens when you cross Queen Chrysalis!” the changeling snarled and after ascending a bit, dove back down, her horn glowing with power. She was so angry that she didn’t notice that the demonic head of Rabia was smiling, the smoke form was beginning to grow bigger, the green in the eyes was glowing brighter.

With a bellowing scream, Chrysalis fired off her most powerful shots. Rabia quickly shifted her form so the shots didn’t hit. There was still a huge, demonic grin on her face. The changeling sneered and stopped in midair when seeing that her shots had missed. Only now did she notice that the Dark Pony was no longer roaring in rage.

Chrysalis blinked. The shadow and smoke below her almost enveloped the entire area, stretched towards the horizon. Rabia looked much bigger now than previously.

How is it possible? What’s feeding her power? The changeling thought. She didn’t get much chance to ponder this mystery. Rabia’s smile disappeared and her mouth opened wide again, the screaming rage returned and suddenly the Dark Queen lunged upwards.

“Feed! Me! Your! Rage! Changeling!” came the demonic-sounding voice of the Dark Pony Queen.

Chrysalis cringed and quickly tried to fly away, then something struck her and she was sent straight into the blackness below her. The last thing she heard before losing consciousness was the demonic sounding laughter of Queen Rabia.

Chrysalis woke up with a painful groan. Her transparent wings were bent and broken. Her eyes greeted bars all around her. She was in a cage. Growling, she stood swiftly up and prepared to blast it with her magic, but nothing came. There was a manacle on her horn.

“What is the meaning of this?” She demanded and finally noticed the ponies gathered around the cage. In the forefront was Twilight Sparkle and towering behind the crowd was her castle.

“You crash-landed just outside the Everfree forest. The cage and the magic block are a precaution while we determine why you suddenly appeared here,” Twilight said gravely.

“Twilight Sparkle!” the changeling growled, but since her magic didn’t work and she was locked up, she couldn’t do much but glare hatefully at her enemy.

“What happened, Chrysalis?” Twilight asked firmly.

The changeling glared around. Some of the ponies backed away when she laid her eyes on them, but the former queen knew it was just instinctive reactions. Right now, she was really at the mercy of her hated enemy. Despite that, she started to laugh quietly.

“You want to know what happened?” she asked and swiftly turned to look back at the alicorn. She was smiling madly. “Oh, I can tell you what happened.

“Queen Rabia is what happened,” Chrysalis snapped. The bars were wide enough she could push her head through and stare right at Twilight, who didn’t even flinch, just continued to watch the changeling with a scowl. The queen started to laugh again as she pulled her head back.

“I can’t wait for you to meet her, and have you torn limb from limb by her rage,” she started to howl in mad laughter, looking at the ponies around her with a mad glint in her eyes. “Beware little ponies. The Queen of Rage and Wrath is coming! Her rage will consume you all. AHAHAHAHAHA!”

Twilight sighed and used a spell to transport the cage into the basement of her castle. It would keep the queen for now. She looked at the crowd of unsure and frightened ponies.

“It’s alright everypony. Don’t listen to her. I have it on good authority that Queen Rabia is not coming here,” she assured them. The princess glanced at Spike who stood nearby. “I think we better send a letter to Celestia.”

“Ya think?” the dragon arched his brow, already producing a quill and a scroll to write on.

Chrysalis growled and tried once more to fire up her magic. Still nothing happened. The changeling sat down and tried to push the manacle off with her hooves. It didn’t budge. She snarled in frustration and proceeded to bang her horn against the bars of her cage.

“I swear, when I get my hooves on that so-called queen!” she snapped and fell to her haunches. She glared around; the room her cage was in was made of crystals but was empty. The changeling figured it was a dungeon of some sort.

“Guess I’m going to Tartarus since they haven’t destroyed me,” the former queen grunted and relented to lay down, huffing and grumbling. She sneered, showing her sharp teeth. “I’m going to suck the love out of that Dark Pony and leave her a withering husk for delivering me to my enemies.”

“I would be careful with that. The love of the Dark Ponies is dearly bought,” a soft voice addressed her.

Chrysalis raised her head with a frown, then she scowled heavily when from a shadow Queen Rabia emerged, smirking down at the caged changeling.

“You! What are you doing here? Come to finish the job!?” Chrysalis snarled and rose up. “You will find that Queen Chrysalis does not go down easily!”

“My, my, emotional, aren’t you?” Rabia chuckled. She placed a hoof on her chest and bowed her head. “I came here to apologize.”

“Apologize?” Chrysalis dropped her sneer a little, glaring now a little unsure at the Dark Pony.

Rabia glanced around, then she fired up her horn and produced a soundproof magic bubble around her and the cage. The queen then looked at the caged one, a more friendly smile on her muzzle.

“Yes, I must confess you caught me in my own emotional moment. My son is a sore topic for me right now. We are having slight difficulties between us,” Rabia explained and walked closer to the cage.

Chrysalis frowned, already seeing that the dark mare was up to something. The question was, what was she up to? First, she had attacked her and now was here while the changeling was at her weakest, apologizing for it.

“I understand you and my son were allies?” Queen Rabia raised her brow, waving a hoof in Chrysalis’s direction.

“We were when he ruled the Crystal Empire. He supplied my hive with slaves to feed off of and I allowed him to borrow drones as spies,” the changeling queen confirmed, still not hiding her suspicion.

“And now both of you just rule a cage,” Rabia chuckled, smirking when receiving a scowl from the other queen.

“Just you wait. I will regain my kingdom; I will destroy Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Then you’ll see what I rule!” Chrysalis shouted and hammered both front hooves on the bars.

“Want some help?” the Dark Pony asked, stumping the changeling for a moment.

“You wish to help me?” Chrysalis frowned heavily, suspicion crawling all over her again. “You just attacked me and caused me to be captured by my enemies.”

“The capture was unintentional. I can rectify that,” Rabia said. Her horn began to glow and suddenly the cage disappeared.

Chrysalis looked around confused. Nothing was between her now and the Dark Queen. However, she still had the manacle on and Rabia’s rage form was still fresh in her mind. It had been easier to be brave when there was a cage to at least moderately protect her.

“How about this - you assist me and when I have torn Saddle Arabia asunder, I will help you regain what you lost,” Queen Rabia offered and started to walk in circles around the changeling, smiling wickedly. “Think about it. You alone? You stand no chance, but with me at your side, the Queen of Rage and Wrath? That pathetic Thorax won’t stand a chance.”

“You make a tempting offer,” Chrysalis kept glancing at the circling pony, still not quite sold on the idea.

“I will even deliver to you the broken and battered body of Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer,” the dark unicorn added into her offer.

Chrysalis almost licked her lips at the mental image of the two ponies she hated the most, broken beneath her. She had seen Rabia’s rage form, had a personal experience of how terrifying it was. The changeling queen was almost picturing it engulfing that hideous colorful abomination the changelings had converted the hive into.

“So how about it, my dear Queen Chrysalis, daughter of Queen Maxilla?” Rabia stopped close to her, leaning forward as she whispered this into her ear. “If you so choose, I can even let it be you who crush your enemies, tear them apart, suck every last bit of that sweet love I know you crave to eat.”

Rabia’s horn glowed again. The manacle around Chrysalis’s horn fell down to the floor with a clang. The changeling reached up to feel for the jagged horn sticking out of her forehead. She grinned, tried to change, choosing a random pony form before reverting back to her normal one.

“Yes, at last I can have my revenge!” She laughed, raising a hoof high into the air.

“First things first. You help me then I help you,” Queen Rabia reminded her sternly but then smiled.

“Of course. It is only fitting,” Chrysalis agreed and glanced at the dark mare. “What do you need me to do?”

“First I need to locate my son. I have a suspicion he won’t remain in Tartarus much longer; I want to know where they will relocate him,” Rabia told her and dispelled the magic bubble around them.

“And I take it that’s where I come in, given that I’m the one who can change forms?” the changeling asked, not surprised that the other queen nodded. Chrysalis shrugged, seeing no problem with that.

“I take it then that we have a deal?” Rabia offered a hoof. Chrysalis stared at it for a moment, then smirked and raised her own to lightly touch it and they shook.

Queen Rabia smiled deviously, shadows reached out and went under both of them and the two queens began sinking into them. As they were beginning to vanish, something suddenly occurred to Chrysalis.

“But wait, they know I’ve been captured. They will know I have escaped,” she cried.

“Let me worry about that,” Rabia assured her, inwardly grinning maliciously. After all, if Equestria is panicking over your escape, less attention will be on me.

End chapter 6

Chapter 7. Hello again, Private.

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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

Chapter 8. Sharp ears.

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Chapter 8

“Should we consider this a strike?” Dew Doe grunted, eyeing Private who was rubbing his forehead tiredly. It was now a few minutes since Sombra had left the living room and the two ponies had recovered from the shock of his words.

“Dew, he’s only going to behave to a point. Besides he never pressed for an answer to the personal question, just accepted your response as a confirmation and… he wasn’t wrong…” Private grumbled and dropped his hoof down. He looked at the mare with a solemn look. “It’s because of him I finally got over myself and confessed my love for you and… uh… our first time…”

“Yes, yes I got it,” Dew quickly placed a hoof over his muzzle and managed to produce a smile. She knew all too well that this kind of talk made him uncomfortable. Her stallion was rather adverse to too much physical contact, even with her. However, the mare had over ten years of experience knowing when Private didn’t mind the close proximity of others.

“Besides, I think he was paying us back for shutting him up earlier,” Private then added and rolled his eyes.

“Right, let’s be careful then about that. He’s clearly still willing to push to see where the boundaries are,” Dew Doe nodded, then she frowned a little in concern. “Do you think you will be fine tomorrow? I don’t think I can come home early, Foxy is swamped with work and Coal has final exams before summer.”

Private just nodded, seeing that King Sombra did back down when being threatened with being thrown back into Tartarus had alleviated some of his concerns. The unicorn was curious why the king had been so eager to provide his assistance with his mother, granted with conditions, but still, considering what Rabia was planning...

Something didn’t add up and Private was hoping that he might be able to pry it out of him. Maybe once Sombra had settled in more, he might be more willing to talk. Right now they just needed to get used to him living around here.

They heard the front door open, indicating that Foxy had arrived home. Dew frowned a little as she glanced at the clock on the wall, this was a little early for her sister to be coming home.

“Well the house isn’t burned down,” Foxy remarked, then peeked into the living room. “And you two look alive and not brainwashed and crazy.”

“No, no, we have managed to put a semi-effective leash on him. He’s in his room right now. Coal just came home,” Dew told her. “but why are you home so early?”

Foxy stepped into the entrance of the living room, casually looking back out before facing her sister and Private again. Her expression seemed to suggest she thought the answer was obvious.

“Oh just because the pony who is quickly catching up with Barricade in derailing our lives constantly is right now living in our house, so I asked Sunshine to cover for me while I came over to make sure things were still in order,” Foxy stated with a snort and rolled her eyes.

Private and Dew couldn’t argue with that logic, especially since Dew had done pretty much the same thing. The couple then noticed Sombra appearing behind Foxy. Having removed his armor, cape and crown, though, he seemed in the process of passing by, looking as if he was looking for something. Due to this he walked more silently and Foxy didn’t notice him.

“Okay granted Barricade is no longer doing that and he never went so far as to abduct any of us, the worst he did was scaring us back in Manehattan and steal, while Sombra’s been possessing and abducting Private left and right and now practically invited himself into our house. I’m half expecting that son-of a-manticore to do something equally horrible to all of us before this is all over, despite all the security that’s supposed to be around him,” the maroon pony continued to rant. At this point both Private and Dew were cringing and trying to alert Foxy to who was now standing behind her and looking at her skeptically.

“Well, this is the first time I’ve heard my mother being referred to as a manticore,” Sombra casually remarked, causing Foxy to almost jump her height and quickly turn around, placing a hoof over her rapidly beating heart.

“Well you could of course be referring to my father, but I never knew him, so couldn’t say,” Sombra shrugged and glanced into the living room and at the couple who were trying and failing to look composed, clearly expecting some sort of a storm to happen right now.

“I’m looking for the facilities, I assume that’s also where you keep the bath. I haven’t had a good shower since, well, before I was sent to Tartarus,” he then said simply, explaining why he wasn’t wearing any of his gear.

“It’s in the other direction, past the stairs and yes you are right about that,” Dew told him, straining a little to sound calm. To her relief, Sombra just nodded his thanks and left. When he was gone all three ponies sighed a breath in relief.

“I hope that’s not going to be a habit,” Foxy grumbled and fully entered the living room, getting seated on a chair.

“As much as we dislike him, how about we are more careful about how we talk about him while he is here? Keep in mind, the princesses need him to cooperate and we want to try and keep things relatively normal,” Private suggested. The two pegasi sisters reluctantly nodded in agreement.

“Wait, how couldn’t he know who his father was? Wasn’t his mom a queen? Surely there had to be someone who did the deed with her to sire him,” Foxy asked, confused.

“Dark Pony society, especially the royal court, worked a little differently than we are used to. The ruling Queen was not required to marry, she just selected a suitable candidate to sire her offspring. From what mom and dad told me, it was often a prominent member of the court, preferably distantly related to the royal line somehow,” Private explained, causing both mares to look at him stunned.

“Okay so the guy did probably live in the court. That still doesn’t explain why Sombra didn’t know him, unless he died before he was born or something,” Foxy pointed out.

“Have any of you considered that it is none of your business?” Sombra suddenly peaked his head into the living room with a neutral expression but one eyebrow slightly raised. When only met with silence from the three ponies, who had all three jumped in their respective seats at his sudden appearance, the former king departed back towards the bath.

“Sharp ears,” Foxy chuckled nervously. Her sister and Private just nodded in response.

“No! The walls here are just paper thin!” came a distant shout.

“They are not that thin,” Dew whispered, her jaw dropping a bit, then she noticed the look Foxy was giving her.

“Why do you think I moved to another room after the two of you finally got together?” her sister grunted, causing Dew Doe to blush and Private to cringe.

‘Your Highness, you look downtrodden. What is the matter?’

Sombra stepped out of the bathtub after finishing his shower. He found towels in a small closet and picked up one to start drying off. His mind however was in the past after overhearing the discussion about his unknown father.

‘It’s nothing, Captain Vago.’ He heard himself, as a teenager, address the captain of the royal guards back in the empire.

‘My prince, you know you can always talk with me regarding your troubles. I am your tutor in the art of handling weapons, both magical and physical and in many ways I am responsible for your wellbeing on the Queen’s orders.’ The dim yet gentle voice of the captain addressed him.

Were they mother’s orders? Sombra thought as he continued to dry his coat. Due to his size, he was forced to get another towel as the other one quickly became too damp. You were always very kind to me and Ira, captain.

‘It’s mother. She says I should apply myself more,’ his younger self finally reluctantly replied to the captain. Sombra recalled that, had stunned Vago.

‘I-In… what ways? You have highest marks in both magical and physical attacks of any young cadet I have trained for most of my life. Your creativity with magical attacks rivals almost your own mother’ Captain Vago was bewildered. ‘And I know for a fact that your other tutors speak only in praise of you in application to science and magic and other practical knowledge. Your understanding of our laws alone is staggering for someone so young!’

‘I don’t know,’ Sombra remembered saying in frustration. ‘Nothing I do is good enough for her. It’s probably because I’m a son, not a daughter like she wanted.’

The king growled and tossed the second towel away, missing using his magic to dry up. He grabbed a third towel to finish up.

‘Did she say that?’ Sombra recalled the captain’s expression darkening, as if he was getting angry, not at him but at his mother. In his youth he hadn’t paid much attention to it, but now he couldn’t help but wonder.

‘I heard her mutter, ‘I just had to have an emotional colt’ once,’ the king had responded to the question gloomily before starting to walk away. As he did, Sombra had given the captain a brief glance, noting that Vago had a rather uncharacteristic scowl on his face and was looking at a wall as if he was tempted to kick it.

Sombra sighed and got the fourth towel. This was taking much longer than he cared for. He shook his mind from the past for now and just concentrated on finishing. It was done after the sixth towel. Then he grabbed a nearby brush and started to go over his mane and tail with it. When he was finished, the pony grabbed the damp towels and threw them into a nearby laundry basket.

When he walked out of the bathroom, the Dark Pony noticed Private exit the living room and was heading towards the stairs.

“Private,” he addressed the smaller unicorn. Private stopped and looked at him unsure.

“What do you know about Captain Vago of the Empire’s royal guards?” the king asked.

“You probably know more than me, considering you were there when he was alive,” Private started, but figured that was not what Sombra wanted to hear judging from the king’s unimpressed expression.

“Nothing terribly much is known about him from our perspective. He was the Captain of the Royal guards during your mother’s reign, distantly related to your family via a brother of your great great great great grandmother Queen Odio the Sixth. He apparently died around the same time as your mother. The Dark Ponies said he had died trying to defend her from her assassins and he was hailed as a hero. One of the last standing orders known that your sister gave was a memorable statue in his honor. Many theorize that if he had still been alive, the Saddle Arabians would not have been able to invade because he was a considered a fairly cunning battle tactician and strategist and that many of your mother’s victories should be credited to him,” the unicorn then told from what he knew of the late captain. He tilted his head when Sombra snorted in amusement.

“They are not wrong about that,” Sombra said. “And yes I did personally know him. I learned a lot from him myself in terms of battles and strategies. Not everything I know I got from mother as I tried to correct her.”

“Would you agree that he died defending your mother?” Private asked curiously. It was actually a hotly-debated point amongst Dark Pony experts. Again he arched his brow when Sombra started roaring in laughter.

“Defend her? He hated her, the only reason he probably didn’t stick a knife into her throat himself is because he was loyal to the crown,” the king snorted and walked past Private and entered the now empty living room. Sombra walked back to the bookshelf and made a second attempt to find a book he might be interested in reading.

“He hated her?” He heard Private ask, the Dark Pony glanced back and saw that the unicorn stood in the entrance of the living room looking confused.

“Yes. They constantly argued over strategies and he would sigh in exasperation every time she showed up unannounced when training the troops. He couldn’t stand her. The only reason mother kept him around was because she just couldn’t replace him with someone better. She knew it and he knew it,” Sombra explained and turned around. “You don’t remember meeting him?”

“What? Oh right… it’s gotten a bit muddled,” Private frowned as he tried to recall back to the memories that had been locked away.

“Well it was only briefly. He actually thought I was in the process of breaking in a new companion. He mistook you for a dark pony,” the king told him and smirked. “Probably felt the dark pony ancestry you have.”

“Oh now I remember, vaguely. He was that big dark pony in that heavy armor...looked uh… stern, yeah,” Private hid his hesitation well as his mind slowly managed to produce back a memory of a heavily-armored Dark Pony scrutinizing him and asking Prince Sombra something he hadn’t quite caught and the Prince quickly assuring him about something. “Excuse me.”

Sombra shrugged and turned back to the bookshelf, not noticing Private making a hasty retreat from the living room. Then he heard the front door open and slam shut. The king ignored it, figuring someone had left the building. Scrutinizing the books again, he finally settled on trying a book that was titled, ‘The history of early Fillydelphia.’

Dew and Foxy looked up as Private came in a hurried pace towards them. The sisters had both gone outside to enjoy the afternoon sun before it was time for dinner. The unicorn stopped and took a deep breath.

“Dew, remember when we were in the Dark Pony Empire?” Private asked.

“It’s all getting very vague, but yeah, I suppose?” his marefriend shrugged, wondering why Private was once again bringing that up.

“Do you remember seeing a more heavily-armored Dark Pony than the regular soldiers and guards?” he asked and sighed when Dew shook her head.

“What I recall is Ira dragging me around the palace and then we dined in her private parlor. Then we had that farewell meal with Queen Rabia and yeah, my memory is not the best on that,” the pegasus told him.

“Why are you bringing that up?” Foxy wondered curiously.

“Sombra suddenly asked me when he came out of the shower if I knew anything about Captain Vago. He was the captain of the royal guards during Queen Rabia’s reign,” Private explained and then told them about his exchange with Sombra previously inside the house.

“Okay, that’s uh, nice?” Foxy exchanged confused glances with her sister, still not quite getting how this was suddenly relevant.

“Granted this could be my mind playing tricks on me, but what I remembered when Sombra brought it up was how he had an uncanny resemblance to Sombra, just with a regular unicorn horn instead of the red one,” Private then told them.

“Wait… you’re not saying…” the maroon pegasus lowered her voice, still remembering how sharp Sombra’s hearing had been previously.

Private sat down, glancing at the house, but there was no sign of the dark king listening in and with limited magic, Sombra wouldn’t use that to spy on them, either.

“What I didn’t manage to tell you about the Dark Pony royal courting before Sombra interrupted us, is that once the Queen and her suitor had a child, the suitor had no claim on that child, could not tell others he was the father and he was barred from even acknowledging the foal as his,” Private whispered. Foxy and Dew expressions changed from surprised to disgust.

“That’s awful,” Dew shuddered, then she gasped as if something came to her. “Wait would that pony still live in the court?”

“Yes sure, the Queen might want to use him again,” Private nodded and frowned. “Which she probably did, considering Sombra had a sister.”

“Be it the mother or the father, being denied being allowed to even be a parent to your own children, just because the other parent is the ruling monarch, that’s disgusting,” his marefriend shook her head.

“So you think this Captain Vigo… Vego… uh whatever is Sombra’s father?” Foxy asked.

“There is a strong possibility, if my memory is correct. There is only one pony who truly knows and right now we don’t want to meet her,” Private shrugged and laid down on the grass next to the mares.

“The more I learn about this Rabia, the more and more I agree with you on that,” Dew muttered and crawled closer to lean up against the unicorn.

A loud crash coming from inside the house caused the three ponies to start. They briefly looked startled at each other before quickly jumping to their hooves and rushing back inside. Dew and Private hurried into the living room to investigate, but Foxy halted in the front hall when seeing her daughter at the top of the stairs, looking as surprised as the rest of them.

Inside the living room Dew Doe and Private had screeched to a halt. Dew Doe quickly put a hoof over her mouth to not start laughing. The unicorn stared with an arched brow and deep inside was cackling like a maniac.

King Sombra sat looking very annoyed on the remains of one of their armchairs, having apparently decided to be seated in it instead of the couch. What he hadn’t known, but the rest of the residents did was that although it looked like a comfy-looking chair, it was an old chair and really could only support so much weight for so long. The only ones in the house who really could sit safely in it where Coal or Dew Doe. Private and Foxy tended to avoid it.

So naturally when a pony of Sombra’s size and build sat in it, the chair eventually buckled before crumbling into a pile which the king now still hadn’t risen out of as he tried his best to still have some semblance of dignity amongst the wood and cloth that had previously been furniture.

“Not. One. Word.” King Sombra growled as he slammed the book he had been reading shut, giving the other ponies a stinging glare, already guessing that they were very amused by this.

End Chapter 8

Chapter 9. When we find Chrysalis, we’ll find Rabia

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Chapter 9

Princess Celestia looked up from her paperwork when Twilight Sparkle and her five friends came into the throne room. She put down the paperstack and quill, and turned her full attention to the six ponies, approaching her seat in a hurry.

“Any news?” she asked gravely with a worried frown.

“None, we have scoured just about everywhere, but this is Queen Chrysalis. She could be anypony, quite literally,” Twilight groaned as soon as she was closer to the throne along with the others.

“Fluttershy, any news on Discord?” Celestia looked at the yellow pegasus. The princess had finally felt this was urgent enough to see if the chaos spirit was willing to render some assistance. It was bad enough that Queen Rabia was planning something and that her son was now out of Tartarus - granted with limitation - they did not need Queen Chrysalis to deal with as well.

The apologetic look Fluttershy immediately assumed told Celestia the answer right away, but she remained silent to allow the timid pegasus to speak, if only to hear the reasons.

“I am sure he had good reasons to say no. He was still a little shaken after the last time we dealt with King Sombra and he does do things his own way,” Fluttershy said quietly. The Solar Princess hid her disappointment as she just nodded with an understanding smile.

“You don’t think it was this Queen Rabia who freed her from Twilight’s castle, was it?” Rarity wondered. So far nobody had really wondered how the changeling queen had escaped. The alarm had just been given that Chrysalis was loose after escaping the secure cell and magic restraints.

“That may well be it, though I don’t understand why. Queen Chrysalis said pretty much that it was Rabia who attacked her, but for all we know this all may just have been planned by both of them,” Twilight nodded to the unicorn and looked back at Celestia. “Anything from King Sombra?”

“I still can’t believe we let him out of Tartarus,” Rainbow Dash grunted, but was ignored for now, though no one could blame her for being bitter about that. She had been both imprisoned and experimented on by the king. The pegasus refused to admit it, but she sometimes had nightmares about it.

“We decided to let him settle in before starting to question him, but with recent events, I may just have to fast-forward the first visit I had planned,” Celestia sighed. She wondered if Cadance would mind joining her. The princess knew her niece was planning to head to Fillydelphia very soon to do the first checkup on the king.

“Maybe we should focus on finding this Rabia? If we find Rabia, we might find Chrysalis,” Applejack pointed out. Her friends started to nod in agreement.

“No!” Celestia said and rose to stand in her throne, her voice was so firm that all six ponies jumped to attention. “Under no circumstances are any of you to engage Queen Rabia or approach her or even find her.”

Celestia slowly sat down and took a moment to compose herself before looking at the six friends with a tired smile.

“I am sorry, I did not mean to be so stern. But keep in mind that we know very little of Rabia’s powers. I’ve been unafraid to have you face our other foes because we knew them and they were a direct threat to Equestria. But Rabia is completely unknown in many aspects, even to me. I have asked Starswirl to come to Canterlot in a slim hope he might be able to share some insights. I know he was around when she was in power and if anypony knows about her, it will be him,” she then told them in a more gentle tone.

“I have no doubt that you could probably face her, but just in case Chrysalis is on the loose on her own and not aligned with Rabia, I need you six to focus on her. Let me and my sister worry about Rabia,” the princess instructed them.

“We understand, princess,” Twilight nodded, although mildly disappointed they weren’t just going after Rabia as well immediately.

Celestia nodded and told them that they were dismissed. As the six ponies turned around and headed towards the exit, Pinkie Pie leaned closer to Twilight.

“Is it just me or did Princess Celestia sound afraid?” she whispered, furtively glancing back to the throne where the princess was watching them depart.

Twilight didn’t respond and did not glance back. It wasn’t until they had left the throne room and the doors had closed that she looked at the pink pony with a grave expression.

“Not afraid, but very worried,” the Friendship Princess responded finally to the question in a quiet tone. Having already been in on a few private meetings with the rest of the princesses, she was a bit more privy to Celestia’s actual feelings on current matters.

“Worried about what? I mean, we have faced Discord, Tirek and even Chrysalis when she still had the entire changeling army behind her. How bad can this Queen Rabia be?” Rainbow asked with a careless shrug.

“Yes, but those were all direct threats to Equestria and only Equestria. Queen Rabia is targeting Saddle Arabia which is to the far south of us. Even if we started off now, it would take us weeks to travel there, even by flight,” Twilight looked up to where Rainbow was flying above the group.

“Don’t forget that Celestia was ruling when the Dark Pony Empire was destroyed. She remembers the flood of refugees coming from the south. The only aid she could render was taking them in. She couldn’t even help them retake their old lands because there was nothing left to retake,” the princess continued as they walked through the long corridor towards the entrance of the castle.

“Rabia is promising to do exactly the same to the Saddle Arabians and what their ancestors did to her homeland and unless we can stop her or find out when she’ll strike, we may not be able to render any aid ourselves until it’s far too late. Celestia worries that history is about to repeat itself and…” Twilight halted and glanced back towards the now distant doors of the throne room. “She worries that once again, she won’t be able to help.”

“Then why aren’t we looking for Rabia instead of Chrysalis?” Applejack asked with a heavy frown. It sounded to her like Rabia was the priority target even if Chrysalis could still cause some problems.

“Who says we aren’t?” Twilight looked at the farmer with a knowing look as they exited the palace.

“The uh… Princess did?” Rarity pointed back towards the entrance.

“Believe me, when we find Chrysalis, we’ll find Rabia. I’m sure of it,” Twilight said. There was little doubt in her mind that Rabia attacking Chrysalis, the changeling being arrested near Ponyville, then miraculously escaping from her castle were all connected.

As the six friends continued across the courtyard of Canterlot castle, they were unaware that two hateful eyes were staring at them from the shadows of an alley formed by two guard buildings, carefully watching their every move as five of them walked and one flew.

The pair were soon joined by more neutral eyes, watching with only a mild hint of interest. Slowly they began to vanish until nothing was there. Queen Rabia and Queen Chrysalis appeared in a safer location outside the castle, shielded from view by buildings and the changeling’s disguise as a smaller unicorn and the dark pony remaining as a formless shadow.

“So those were the other wielders of the Elements of Harmony, Equestria’s strongest defensive weapon,” Queen Rabia mused and for a brief moment the shadow became a silhouette of her shape as she rubbed her muzzle thoughtfully.

Chrysalis didn’t respond just then. She was peering out of the alley. They were just close enough to the castle to see the six ponies now heading for the city proper.

“Equestria is full of magic, some ancient and powerful,” Chrysalis muttered and started to glance around. “And so full of love! It’s maddening for a changeling to feel all this food and not be able to taste it. I could have had it all - twice even. But they kept winning somehow!”

“Be careful not to awaken a sleeping giant, for a giant only needs to move one of its great limbs to crush you,” Rabia remarked, causing the changeling to look at her confused.

“Discord, Tirek, you, even my son...you all got too greedy. I’ve seen a map of Equestria. Do you honestly expect a nation that large will just lie down quietly as you conquer it or its closest allies?” the dark pony snorted almost in contempt.

Chrysalis hissed and opened her mouth to very clearly loudly respond to that, but Rabia briefly let her head fully materialize out of the shadow to look at the changeling sternly before pointing with a hoof out of the alley. Then the dark pony quickly became a shadow again. Chrysalis glanced back out and quickly put a hoof over her mouth when seeing that the six element bearers were walking down the street very close to where they were.

“What about you? Saddle Arabia is now allied with Equestria as well and if you were to conquer it, I’m sure Equestria will respond,” Chrysalis snorted.

“I’m not going to conquer Saddle Arabia. I’m going to destroy it; I’m going to leave it a barren wasteland much like they left my empire. I am going to see every stallion, mare and foal slaughtered just as they slaughtered every Dark Pony down to the last child. I will see their ruler impaled on a pike just as they did to my daughter. I will violate him just as brutally as my daughter was. I will make them suffer for every single Dark Pony’s blood that was spilled,” Rabia whispered coldly.

“Makes me wish I’d be there to see it,” Chrysalis grunted and rolled her eyes. “And you don’t think the Equestrians won’t have something to say about that?”

“They will have plenty to say, but be too late to do anything about it. Especially if we delay them,” Rabia said and suddenly emerged from the shadows into her regular form. She peeked out of the alley to see the six element bearers now further down the street. The former queen smiled.

“And how do you propose to do that?” Chrysalis snorted. So far the dark pony had been very scant on any details.

“Let me worry about that. Your job is to find my son,” Rabia looked at the changelings and nodded for her to leave. Chrysalis sneered but said nothing and soon was trotting out of the alley in her disguise.

Rabia watched her for a moment before backing up and turned into a shadow again. Slowly she melded with a shadow of a building and vanished.

The doors to the throne room of Canterlot castle opened and a guard entered swiftly. He bowed deeply to the two Princesses now seated on the throne. Luna had just awoken and would in a few hours begin her nightly duties, but there was still a bit of daytime left and there was something both she and her sister had to attend to now.

“Your Royal Highnesses, the Saddle Arabian Ambassador has arrived,” the guard announced and rose from his bow.

“Show him in,” Princess Celestia nodded to the guard who quickly departed. The Sun Princess gave her sister a glance. Luna smiled reassuringly back to her.

A tall horse entered the throne room, clad in finely woven robes of green and white. This was no pony by Equestrian standards, being almost as tall as Celestia herself. He had a grayish blue coat and would have been called an earth pony in Equestria, but the Saddle Arabians used no such distinctions even though they also had pegasi and unicorns.

“Your Royal Highnesses,” the ambassador said with deep respect in his voice as he bowed low before the two royals. “I speak on behalf of my Emir when I say that Saddle Arabia is honored that you have granted us this audience.”

“Of course, Ambassador Saddlefar. I trust then that the Emir Horsefar has received our warnings then,” Celestia addressed the ambassador as he rose. She immediately noticed a tinge of fear crossing his eyes.

“He has, your majesties. I take it then that it is true, the Queen of Rage and Wrath has returned,” his voice lowered and the fear in his eyes was now unmistakable.

“I am afraid it is,” Princess Luna said with a concerned frown. “We did warn you about that quite a while ago. Our second warning was that she’s now confirmed to be on the move against your nation.”

Saddlefar hesitated and for a moment looked almost ashamed. He glanced down for a second and uneasily shifted his weight as if he was trying to find the right words. Then he looked at the princesses, his expression becoming more regretful.

“I must shamefully admit that the royal advisors of the Emir tried to downplay your first warning as mere rumors and hearsay. However,” the ambassador tapped down a hoof for emphasis. “My Emir was not deaf to them and had his most loyal servants be on the lookout for anything and as always we waited for any news from you in case you heard anything more. I must admit, though, after a while when nothing happened, we started to sleep on our guard.”

“I understand,” Celestia assured him. She had to admit that she had hoped that with nothing from Rabia this long, the queen was not going to do anything after all.

“Our Great Shame has come to haunt us again,” Saddlefar sighed sadly and hung his head. “Old prophecies foretold that one day we would pay dearly for our greatest sin we have committed upon this world. Now we must face the wrath of the queen and experience her rage for the folly of our ancestors.”

“Ambassador, you can assure Emir Horsefar that Equestria will render whatever assistance we can. We are already searching for Queen Rabia and we have her son in custody. He’s assured us that he will assist us in figuring out her next moves. I will not see Saddle Arabia destroyed for something someone else did in the past,” Celestia told him reassuringly, however this caused the ambassador to look up with terror in his eyes.

“The Lost Son lives?” he whispered, sounding even more terrified than before.

“He does, but we have him contained,” Luna said arching her brow at the reaction.

“Why would he help? He descended upon the royal palace all those centuries ago, executed the king for his crimes and his entire court. We sometimes say you can still hear the old king’s horrified screams echo through the palace as the Lost Son tortured him and tore him apart and feasted on his fears. We call our howling desert winds, the howls of the Lost Son, for they constantly remind us of that horrifying howl of rage as his shadow descended upon the capital,” Saddlefar was starting to look pale.

“Even today we tell our children not to wander the desert alone or the Lost Son will come and take them away and to listen for the howl to know that he’s near. Why would he care if his mother finishes the job he started, punishing us for our crimes?” The ambassador started to glance around fearfully as if he expected Sombra to pop up out of the shadows at any given moment.

“Because we will give him no choice,” Celestia told him gently but firmly. She gave Luna a glance that was returned by her sister. The two alicorns were stunned at what a fearful hold Rabia and Sombra had on the Saddle Arabians even after all these years. At least the Crystal Ponies had fresh memories of the brutal reign of Sombra, but the Dark Pony Empire was practically ancient history for the Saddle Arabians.

“I apologize for my outburst. I know you would never give us ill council and if you say he will help, I will relay it to my Emir that you are doing what you can to help us to hopefully spare us from the wrath of the Queen. Thank you,” Ambassador Saddlefar said after taking a moment to calm himself down. Then he bowed deeply again.

“There is nothing to apologize for, ambassador. Send our regards to the Emir. We will send you any news as soon as we have some,” Celestia smiled, Saddlefar took a moment to thank them again, bowing once more before departing the throne room.

“Perhaps we should speed up our interrogation of Sombra,” Luna suggested. Celestia looked at her and nodded.

“I’m going to talk with Cadance. I think I better come with her when she goes for the first visit. If this was Ambassador Saddlefar’s reaction to both Rabia and Sombra, I’ve seen that stallion in a staring contest with the griffin ambassador and winning. I can only imagine how the general population of Saddle Arabia will react.” Celestia shook her head. She had expected to be facing the stern and rather unyielding person that Saddlefar was known for in the diplomatic circles, not this meek apologetic and frightened one.

“Come along, come along, we must make haste to Saddle Arabia with the greatest speed!” Ambassador Saddlefar barked at his entourage as they travelled upon the road. Following him were servants pulling his personal caravan, along with a few guards surrounding them and trotting alongside him was his personal aid, a Saddle Arabian unicorn in a simpler blue garb compared to the green and white robes of the diplomat.

“I must say, sir, you look rather rattled. Did the meeting not go well?” the aid asked. His brow rose a little when a frustrated snort came from Saddlefar.

“It was an embarrassment. I was like a groveling child before the Princesses, but with good reason. They have confirmed our worst fears,” the ambassador glanced back for a moment before leaning closer. “She is indeed back and her son lives.”

The aid’s eyes widened and he carefully glanced back, but none of the guards or servants seemed to have overheard this. It was now a few hours since they had departed hastily from Canterlot. The ambassador has said very little until now, just that they had to leave immediately for Saddle Arabia.

“Are they certain?” he whispered sharply.

“The Princesses are no liars. They would not notify us without reason,” Saddlefar snapped, then he narrowed his eyes on his aide. “The Equestrians are perhaps small of stature, but their rulers are powerful and they have powerful protectors. We would do well to heed their warnings. Do not forget that they have beaten back Discord, Tirek and even that abominable changeling queen.”

The aide knew better than to argue, knowing the ambassador well enough for that. The ambassador was a proud stallion and very dignified, but no fool. If he had felt he was being deceived, he would have called them out. If he trusted the Princesses were telling the truth, that was good enough for him.

“When I get my hooves on those royal advisors! If they hadn’t downplayed the warning the Celestial sisters gave us the first time, we would be much better prepared than we are. Now here I am, far up north with the vital confirmation the Emir wanted to shut them up and at home they still think there is no danger because nothing has happened. They know well the quiet is worst just before the storm hits,” Saddlefar grumbled, his aid only nodded in response.

Then the ambassador and his aid became aware that there was some ruckus behind them. They looked back and saw that the caravan had stopped and the guards were talking amongst themselves and pointing at something in the woods.

“What is the matter?” Saddlefar barked, causing everyone to snap their attention to him.

“Lord Ambassador, one of the guards said she thought she saw something in the woods, following us from the shadows,” a servant explained and looked nervous.

“My lord, there was definitely something following us,” the guard in question said, she pointed to a spot in the wood that looked the darkest. “I could have sworn, on my honor, that these shadows moved.”

“It’s probably just the trick of the light. See? Celestia is setting the sun and Luna is raising the moon. The shadows often move faster during that,” the aid remarked and shook his head. He turned to Saddlefar ready to just laugh this off. The ambassador however was not laughing. He was staring gravely at the woods.

“Beware the dark demons, my child. They move with the shadows. When you least expect it, they leap out and lock their hideous jaws on you and drain all life from your body,” the ambassador whispered, a tinge of fear in his eyes.

“Isn’t that an old propaganda that was said about the Dark Ponies?” the aid furrowed his brow.

Saddlefar slowly nodded. The sun was setting, making way for the night. The stars were coming out and the moon was slowly rising in the sky. A cold breeze blew through the entourage. In the distance they could hear crows cawing.

“Beware the Queen of Rage and Wrath,” Saddlefar began to whisper and slowly started to walk again, but never took his eyes off the woods.

“For deadly are her many ploys,” the aid hesitantly said the next line as he watched the ambassador with concern. The cold breeze grew stronger and the trees began to move back and forth.

“And little pity is in her heart,” the guard who had spotted the movement continued as she glanced around with the others. Slowly they began to follow the ambassador along with the caravan.

“A-as her rage… consumes and…wrath destroys,” one of the servants dragging the caravan whispered and was starting to shiver.

“Sir!” the aid suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes wide open as he pointed further up the road. The young stallion was shaking now.

Ambassador Saddlefar tore his eyes from the woods to see what his aid was talking about. He felt a cold dread, his heart froze at the sight. Behind him the guards and servants all gasped and even whinnied in fear.

Blocking their path was a tall dark gray unicorn mare, clad in a red cape flapping in the cold breeze, regal armor that shimmered in the moonlight and on her head rested a crown. Her blood red eyes stared hauntingly at the traveling group, on her muzzle was a sinister, sadistic smile.

Suddenly the mare started to laugh, softly yet coldly and the last sound of Ambassador Saddlefar heard was a blood-curling scream that echoed through the woods, too far away for anyone to hear except the wild animals and other creatures roaming it. The Emir would never hear his warning.

End chapter 9

Chapter 10. And what if I had said no?

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Chapter 10

Sombra opened the door to his room and peeked his head out with a curious expression. After breakfast he had quickly retired back to his room, not really wanting to be in the company of the others right now, still being a little sore after that embarrassing chair incident yesterday. The king could almost swear Coal kept glancing at him and giggling.

What had prompted him to glance out was the sound of cello music. Sombra was not really acquainted with the modern music scene, even though he had already become acquainted with some modern technology during his time in hiding.

What instrument is this? Certainly not a harp or a lute, but it sounds like strings, Sombra frowned now and fully stepped out of the room. Certainly not those ear-bleeding flugelhorns.

Deciding this was worth investigating, he followed the sound downstairs. He entered the living room and his brow rose in mild confusion; all he could see was Private sitting in a chair in one corner with his eyes closed. Next to him on a side table was a box-shaped device with a spinning black disc on it. Connected to the device was a large brass horn of some sort and from that came the music.

“How can a horn produce stringed instrument music?” Sombra asked and did his best to hide his bewilderment though he was starting to suspect some magic was involved.

Private opened one eye to look at the confused Dark Pony. With a sigh the unicorn opened both eyes, used his magic to grab a needle on the device and the music stopped immediately. Then he turned his full attention to the king.

“This is a gramophone. It’s playing recorded music from a cello,” Private quietly explained. He was so glad a bored neutral expression came naturally for him, because it was very funny to him to see Sombra become even more confused.

“This is a record,” Private picked up the disc of the device. “The music has been recorded on it and when played on this device, the music can be listened to again and again, so long as the record doesn’t get scratched too much or otherwise damaged.”

“I see. So it’s like written records just for music,” Sombra frowned, figuring he understood the basic principle behind this and had to admit being curious how this was possible. He made a note to investigate it later. “And that instrument, it was strings but not like what I have heard before.”

Private picked up the cover for the record. It depicted a grayish-colored mare with long dark gray mane and tail. Around her neck was a pink bow tie and the cutie mark was a violet treble clef. She rose on her hindlegs and in her forelegs she held a cello and a bow.

“This is Octavia Melody, a cellist. The instrument she uses is called a cello. That’s what she’s playing on the record,” he told the king. “She is a part of a band but also has a solo career and has also made appearances with her sister who does a bit more modern style of music.”

Sombra nodded and walked over to the couch close to the entrance and sat down on it. As he started thinking it over, during his time in hiding, he had seen these devices before but paid no heed to them as they hadn’t seemed important. When he had heard music, he had just assumed there was someone playing nearby on an instrument.

“Why are you really offering to help?” Private asked, not really expecting a straightforward answer or any answer at all. Not surprisingly the king chuckled and shook his head.

“Really now, Private. We have known each other for a while. You should be aware by now that I only give so much in terms of answers,” Sombra gave the unicorn a look indicating he should know better.

Private just grunted, not really having a response to that since it was true. Yet he still wanted to know the real reason. This couldn’t be just because Sombra was suddenly willing to help with his mother. He was too well aware of the king’s hatred towards Saddle Arabia and he would in truth not care at all if his mother succeeded with her plans.

Then he recalled from his captivity how Sombra had been more prone to being more open, even placated when reminded of the past. Private had a thought and wondered if this would work. He had initially had no intention of revealing this, feeling it was none of the king’s business to know considering what he had done to him and his family.

“Tell me and I’ll tell you a few things we’ve discovered about Timido’s life here in Equestria,” he offered. Sombra, who had started to look around as if considering what to do now, snapped his head to attention on the unicorn.

“You have found out more?” The Dark Pony looked and sounded skeptical.

“After enjoying the ‘hospitality’ of your tunnels, my parents started digging more into mom’s ancestors, especially Feather Fall, Timido and Ala’s daughter. Keep in mind that before you took us prisoner, we had only recently managed to connect mom’s ancestry to them, but thanks to you and that ancestor spell you used on me, we had it confirmed that she is the Dark Pony mom and I descended from,” Private explained. “After going through family heirlooms from different relatives on mom’s side, we finally dug up a very old diary. Most of the pages are unreadable due to age, but mom managed to decipher a few passages.”

Private half-expected the king to retort something along the lines of ‘and you think I would be interested in that?’ but there was silence. Looking at Sombra the unicorn saw that he looked almost contemplative.

“What did those passages say?” Sombra finally asked in a quiet tone. “And before you say it, yes, I will tell you why I am assisting the Princesses.”

“Hold on, I need to get the copies my mom gave me,” Private said and rose from his seat and left the living room. He went upstairs to his study and got out of a small file cabinet a folder, marked “ancestry”. This he took with him back downstairs. The king still lay on the couch, looking contemplative again.

Private sat back down and opened the folder. He pulled out a few papers, then he started reading:

“…Mother keeps telling me not to stress out father, that he has difficulties sometimes. I do not understand what she means. Difficulties with what?”

“We always finish our meals with the words ‘and may the prince find his way to Equestria to reunite with his people again.’ I do not understand their meaning. Is this a reference to the empire? When I ask, father goes quiet and mother shushes me and tells me it is just a saying.”

Private noted that Sombra actually looked surprised when hearing this passage. But since the king said nothing, the unicorn kept reading.

“I do not understand father sometimes. When talking business with mother, he talks and talks and talks. He engages in mathematics like it was the simplest thing in the world. But the moment he has to talk with strangers he goes quiet and mumbles his way out and looks nervous and even frightened.”

“Mother and father went to Canterlot this week, meaning I have to attend the shop. Something related to the business. Father didn’t really want to go, but mother insisted. Said something like, ‘here in Equestria we are equals. You no longer need to defer to the mares, Timido.’ What does that mean? And why do they keep calling themselves Timido and Ala? Aren’t their names Timid Shadow and Winged Diva? That’s what our neighbors and customers call them.”

“What a disrespectful child,” Sombra muttered, causing Private to almost chuckle.

“Never dealt with a teenager, have you?” Private asked and glanced at the papers. “It’s of course impossible to say, since we have no confirmation, though mom could find a few dates she recognized, but considering the wording, we figure Feather Fall wrote this in her teens.”

“Ira never behaved like that. I practically raised her for mother,” the king grunted.

“Are you sure?” Private allowed himself to smile when seeing the glare given to him. Curiously there was no response, so the unicorn went back to reading:

“I think I am starting to perceive what my mother means when she says father has difficulties. Things that come naturally for most ponies do seem to confuse him, yet things like mathematics, economy and business is where he really and truly shines. He could accurately predict we needed to lower the prices for certain wares we had in stock well before a sudden economic change occurred that went well over my head and just make my go cross-eyed when they talk about it. Mother always said that my father was the best thing to happen to her and she will be forever grateful towards Prince Sombra of the old empire for introducing him to her.”

Private read the last line with slight hesitation. He glanced up at Sombra who looked stunned. This was one of the things the unicorn wasn’t sure the king deserved to hear. The prince he used to be sure, but not the pony currently lying on his couch.

“There are few more passages, but they go into a stallion that she clearly had a fancy for. Then there are few passing remarks about the weather and nothing much more about Timido or Ala, at least from what mom managed to decipher. But from this little we garnered that Timido and Ala opened up a shop somewhere in Equestria, not in Canterlot, but perhaps in a nearby town. Not Ponyville, it hadn’t been founded yet. Maybe the early settlements that would eventually turn into Fillydelphia or even Manehattan? The oldest district here in Fillydelphia is younger than that time period, but we know there were previous villages and small towns in the area before central Fillydelphia was founded,” Private explained and started putting the papers back in the folder.

“At least he found a good home,” Sombra muttered and his head was downcast. He still seemed stunned and having trouble digesting what he had just learned. Then his features hardened and the king looked up.

“I’m helping the princesses because my mother promised she would come for me next once she was done with Saddle Arabia. I wanted you as my custodian because I had no desire to be put under watch of the ponies who had me killed,” he stated coldly.

“And what if I had said no?” Private asked in turn, frowning hard. “That option was given to me. I didn’t even need to state a reason for saying no. Surely you are aware I wouldn’t exactly find it fun to have you suddenly around, again.”

“I’m well aware,” Sombra snorted and rolled his eyes. “It was worth the risk. A well-calculated one. You are just as well aware of what my mother is like.”

“You intentionally withheld information to force the princesses to come ask me. They had no intention of coming to me until your mother raided the Crystal Empire for your sister’s coffin,” Private snapped, starting to feel a bit angry now. However he held back on going on a rant about everything the king had done to him, figuring Sombra wouldn’t care and just laugh it off.

“Was anyone killed?” Sombra asked pointedly.

“Well… no but…” Private stammered, not sure why the king had brought that fact up.

“Exactly. I had to make a point to get it into their thick heads that my mother was a real danger without anyone being hurt. If my mother knew exactly where my sister was buried, she would make a grand show of retrieving her, but she would make sure not to harm anyone. My mother is very pragmatic - she would know better than to piss Equestria off too much. Rattle them, sure, but not piss them off, at least not until it's too late for them to do anything," King Sombra stated and tapped a hoof on the nearby side table for emphasis.

“By doing this, my mother showed the Princesses that she was indeed ready and not afraid of them. However, it did tip her hoof. Now Equestria knows she’s ready and if they want to be ready to help those… Saddle Arabians, they will need my help. A burned hoof learns best. No matter what I would say it would not be listened to. They had to be shown.” The king finished, now glaring at Private, daring him to refute his point.

Private cringed. This was not history, this was more political debate, something he truly sucked at, like most conversations that turned to more modern talk. King Sombra knew very well that no matter how much the unicorn was protesting in his head, he would be unable to come up with anything to counterpoint it.

“I have some work… to finish,” the unicorn mumbled and quickly departed the living room, having no desire to be in the company of the Dark Pony anymore.

King Sombra smirked and shook his head. Even without his powers at his disposal, it didn’t change the fact that he knew Private like the back of his hoof and exactly how to shut up him up.

Still tripping over your tongue when not talking history, hmm Private? He chuckled to himself.

Sombra noticed that Private had left the folder behind. The Dark Unicorn grabbed it up and opened it. He lifted out the papers and started to browse through them briefly, but there was nothing new, aside from what Private had said earlier. He put the papers back in and carefully placed the folder back on the coffee table.

The mares must be at work and the filly in that school of hers. I didn’t realize so much time had passed. Sombra glanced around again and could hear no sound, indicating that for the time being he was alone. Better not push my luck though with Private. He’s been granted the authority to throw me right back in Tartarus and I don’t think I’ll manage to get out so easily a second time.

As much as I loathe the idea, playing nice with them might serve me better. It might even prompt the princesses to actually protect me from Mother, because right now… if she were to know where I am… Sombra shuddered and rose from the couch. He walked over to the gramophone and noticed a pile of covers full of those records Private told him about. Lifting them up, the king started shuffling through them, all the covers depicted the image of this Octavia.

Hm, I do recall a fondness for cello music when I was scouring Private’s brain for information, back when I was possessing him. Guess it’s no surprise he has a pile of cello music records. Curious though that it’s always this same mare on these. The king arched his brow, then put the covers back down. He looked over at the entrance when hearing the front door open. Dew Doe soon appeared, walking past the living room door.

“Home from work already?” Sombra asked, even if he really had no idea when the mare would usually come home from work. Dew Doe stopped and glanced in, looking at the king neutrally.

“I had some vacation days to spare. I decided to use them,” she simply said before continuing towards the stairs. Sombra shrugged and turned his attention to the bookshelf.

“Figured you would be here. Swift Mane told me to use my vacation days until the current situation in our house is over,” Dew Doe said as she entered Private’s study. The unicorn had looked up quizzically when seeing her arrive.

“You have enough? We have no idea when it will be over,” Private asked, concerned.

Dew Doe walked over to his desk and sat down next to him. The pegasus glanced at the door for a moment, as if she was trying to see down to the living room where King Sombra currently was.

“True… but I honestly don’t think you should be alone here with him,” Dew Doe sighed and turned back to Private. “An abuser, Private, doesn’t need magic powers to keep his or her victim in check. Their mouths alone are often quite enough.”

“You remember how Barricade was with Foxy? He just needed to tell her that he loved her, that she was pretty and that he cared about her and he had her wrapped around his hooves. Foxy couldn’t break away, not until you literally threw him out and barred him from seeing her and even after all this time, Foxy still has feelings for him. Yes Barricade has changed now, but the emotional damage is still there,” the pegasus continued. “Sombra is no different. See how easily he manipulated things, just using words, to make sure you accepted taking him in?”

Private slowly nodded. He knew Dew Doe was right. There was no denying that. The pegasus scooted closer and draped a wing over him. She quickly removed it when noticing a faint furrow come on Private’s brow.

“What’s wrong?” Dew Doe asked immediately. She recognized the sign that the unicorn didn’t want physical contact.

Private grunted, then quietly told Dew Doe about the encounter with Sombra down in the living room. The pegasus narrowed her eyes a little, but had to concede to the fact that her coltfriend did have trouble with debates, no matter who the pony was, if it wasn’t history. That did not change the fact that this had been exactly what she was talking about.

“That was a classic justification an abuser uses, Private. Making it look like he was doing the right thing,” she said firmly. Private took a deep breath and let it out slowly before nodding.

Dew Doe rose up, seeing already that Private really was not in a mood for company. She had known him long enough to recognize all the signs and generally respected that he needed time to calm down, and letting him focus on his history projects was the best way for that.

The mare made her way back downstairs and went straight into the living room. Sombra was lying on the couch, browsing through a book.

“Tell me, why are you so scared of your mother that you feel it’s justified to withhold information about an impending raid on the Crystal Empire and use said raid to manipulate your way into my home?” Dew Doe asked and sat down, not too close but so she had a full view of the Dark Pony.

The shuffling stopped. For a moment nothing happened, then Sombra slowly turned his head to glare at Dew who didn’t even flinch, just returned it with her own hard stare.

“Do you think so little of the princesses that you think they wouldn’t take the threat of Queen Rabia seriously? They did come immediately to Tartarus to talk with you about it. It was you who selfishly dictated terms to open your mouth,” she then added.

“Is there a point to this sudden interrogation?” Sombra growled, though he had a feeling what this was all about.

“Let’s make something clear, King Sombra. Private tells me everything, not just because we happen to share a bed together, but because I am his therapist. I’m the only pony, aside from his brother, who he can’t hide anything from. If something is bothering him, I only have to look at him to know something is wrong.” The pegasus started to scowl hard.

“Lie to yourself all you want, justify your actions to yourself all you like. But don’t you dare try and make Private think you had any right or justification to worm yourself back into his life, life you have nearly destroyed two times over. One more time and I will find your mother myself and ask her to come here and drag you out!” Dew Doe then snapped, rose up and stormed out of the living room.

Still on the couch, Sombra continued to stare at the living room entrance, his previous annoyance at Dew Doe asking about his mother having evaporated, replaced with mild surprise at the sheer nerve and audacity displayed by the mare.

I am starting to see the attraction Private has for her, he thought and actually started to chuckle. She looks so petite and fragile, yet there is cold hard steel underneath there.

Hmm, if I manage to get out of this unscathed, I might not settle just for Private, the king thought but then frowned. Let’s not think too far ahead. Right now I must focus on making sure I don’t end up in Tartarus again. Alright, Miss Dew Doe, you win again. I had decided to play nice anyway.

End chapter 10

Chapter 11. Hello again, Sombra.

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Chapter 11

With soft thuds, Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance landed in front of the house of Private Iceland and his friends. Heavier clangs behind the alicorns indicated that their guard escort were also fully descending to the ground. There weren’t many pegasi guards, more to ensure curious civilians didn’t get too close, aside from other security reasons. Cadance had brought her own escort, among them was Flash Sentry and the one other pegasi member of his squad, Blackberry.

“Now you just attend to your friends, let me talk with King Sombra,” Celestia told her niece who nodded.

“I think I can handle that,” Cadance nodded, she hadn’t minded Celestia coming along at all for this first checkup on King Sombra. She was a little worried how the situation was right now inside the house, though everything looked quiet and calm right now.

Celestia approached the door and was about to knock when it swung open and they stood face to face with Barricade. The unicorn looked somewhat annoyed but it washed away when seeing the two royals.

“Please tell me you are here to throw him out and back to Tartarus,” he said almost sounding hopeful.

“Has Private made that request?” Celestia asked concerned, worried that something might have happened.

“No, he hasn’t, that’s my problem right now,” Barricade growled and made a point of turning his head to look into the house as he did, to make sure he was heard from the inside.

“Will you relax, we agreed you would take Coal to stay with you since she’s on summer vacation, she’s finishing packing up,” Dew Doe came flying down the stairs and landed in the front hall, sounding only mildly annoyed. Then she smiled at the two princesses.

The pegasus did get to bow for Celestia, but Cadance would have none of that. After passing Barricade, taking a moment to pat the stallion reassuringly as she did, the Love Princess went to hug her.

“Hello, Dew Doe, is everything all right?” she asked, Dew Doe didn’t get a chance to respond.

“No, everything is not all right. That shit who possessed my brother and tortured the both of us is currently relaxing on their couch instead of rotting in Tartarus!” Barricade snapped and stepped aside to make room for Celesta to pass.

“Aside from Barricade coming here this morning to make his feelings clear about the current situation, it’s been manageable,” Dew Doe said and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She understood how Barricade felt, and frankly wouldn’t mind seeing the king gone.

“Hopefully, Barricade, this arrangement won’t last for long,” Princess Celestia addressed the stallion who glanced at her and slowly nodded.

“Barricade, instead of storming out and wait there in a huff, why don’t you go up and help your daughter pack so she can be sooner out of here,” Dew Doe suggested, straining a bit to be patient. It was bad enough to be dealing with King Sombra right now.

Barricade let out a snort before nodding and turned back to the stairs, going up while grumbling and mumbling the entire time.

“Celestia is going to be questioning Sombra, I’m more here to just make sure everything is alright, perhaps we could go somewhere a little more private and talk there?” Cadance suggested.

“Sounds like a good idea,” Dew Doe nodded and looked at Celestia. “As Barricade so ‘politely’ indicated, King Sombra is in the living room.”

“Thank you, I’ll take it from there,” Celestia assured her. She watched Cadance and Dew Doe disappear into the kitchen, before heading herself into the living room.

As Barricade had said, King Sombra lay on the couch close to the entrance, smirking. He had obviously overheard everything and had clearly been enjoying Barricade’s annoyance. The king turned a little more serious when the princess arrived and took seat in another couch.

“Hello again, Sombra,” she addressed him.

“Princess Celestia,” the Dark Pony inclined his head.

“Have you been behaving yourself?” the princess asked and took a moment to glance around the living room, it looked pretty much the same as when she was here last time.

“I suppose it depends on who you ask, for my part I think I have been pretty well behaved. Miss Dew Doe has made it very clear that I am on a short leash with them,” Sombra responded with a shrug.

“So Coal going to live with her father while you are here has nothing to do with anything that has happened?” Celestia wondered, she had been a little worried that the filly would stay here.

“No, Barricade came here this morning having heard the news and made it very clear that he would not allow his daughter to be in the same house as me. They have been having a private discussion about that for most of the day, ending finally in Foxy agreeing that Coal would go with him back to Manehattan. The girl wasn’t opposed to that idea,” the king told her.

“I’ve also been visited by Mirage and Hard Shovel yesterday who made it very clear to me that I better not harm their son again, then Dew Doe and Foxy’s mother came along,” Sombra muttered that last line. “I’m starting to see where Dew Doe gets her spunk.”

“From what I know of Sky Dive, Dew and Foxy’s mother, she is not a mare to be trifled with,” Princess Celestia allowed herself to smirk, wishing she had been there for that meeting. She noticed Sombra was glaring at the living room entrance, gritting his teeth. “She is still here isn’t she?”

“Yes!” the Dark Pony let out a soft growl. “I believe she is helping her granddaughter pack.”

“Things not quite going like you had pictured them?” The Princess wondered, refraining, despite the temptation, to smile mockingly at the former king. The only response she got was an even lower growl.

They were momentarily distracted when there were several hoofsteps outside and voices. They did soon spot Coal passing the living room, holding a bag in her magic.

“Can we stop for hayburger on the way to the station, dad?” the filly called.

“Sure, princess,” Barricade responded as he walked past the living room, holding in his magic a suitcase.

“Now you behave yourself, young lady,” a third voice shouted. “And you Barricade, take good care of her.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Barricade could be heard grumbling.

Into view of the living room entrance stepped a pegasus mare. Sky blue in coat color but with a pinkish-violet mane and tail. The mane was decorated with a golden band. She was fairly thinly but still clearly healthy looking. She wore silver hoofbands on her right foreleg and left hindleg. On her flank was the image of a golden crown.

“And make sure she stays off the street, the traffic in Manehattan has turned abysmal lately,” the mare called.

“Good bye, Sky Dive,” Barricade was heard, straining to be polite before the front door was slammed shut.

Sky Dive snorted before glancing into the living room. Her hard features softened up instantly when seeing the Princess and she bowed. “Your Highness.”

“You must be Sky Dive,” Princess Celestia addressed the mare and nodded at the courtesy.

“I am,” the pegasus confirmed and took one step into the living room. She turned her head slowly towards Sombra, giving him a steely glare. “Just here to ensure that my daughters and granddaughter are safe.”

“I assure you Mrs. Sky Dive that we have several security methods in place,” the princess told her, the mare turned back to the princess, her expression softening up again as she smiled.

“Oh just miss, your Highness. I never married, never really believed I needed such institutions to express my love for a pony,” Sky Dive corrected politely.

“Of course, my apologies,” Celestia nodded, then indicated to Sombra who was himself glaring at the pegasus. “I am here to question Sombra, as per the agreement to this current arrangement.”

“Oh right, I shall then not disturb you, is Dew Doe in the kitchen?” Sky Dive asked, eyeing Sombra for a moment, somehow returning the glare with one eye while the rest of her was looking just as polite at the princess.

“I believe so, with Princess Cadance,” Celestia informed her. Sky Dive nodded, bowed again before departing the living room. The princess turned her attention the grumbling Dark Pony on the couch. “Let’s just get down to it. Your mother, why would she go about attacking the Crystal Empire like that?”

“A show, for you and your sister and your champions. Letting you know what she is capable of, that she’s not afraid of you and that’s she is more than ready for her next step,” King Sombra looked up with a scowl.

“What would her next step be you think?” Celestia said and narrowed her eyes. “Theorize if you must, we have been more than accommodating to you, it’s time for you to pay some of that back.”

“She would be careful, mother is probably more than aware how strong Equestria is and would not want to set you off, that does not mean she is not prepared, she’s would know that this show did tip her hoof. I would say she would then ensure that you would not be able to render assistance to Saddle Arabia once she does finally strike,” the king told her.

Celesta furrowed her brow as she considered this information, Saddle Arabia was fairly isolated as far as allies went. The Hippogriffs were closer to them than Equestria was but, they were only recently re-emerged back the outside world, the princess wasn’t sure what Queen Nova’s stance was regardin them. The Abyssinians were also closer, but they were still recovering from the Storm King, they would not have the means to render any assistance. It was clear that any hope Saddle Arabia had was Equestria.

“I’m not sure how she would make sure of that, I’ve been in constant contact with Emir Horsefar since Rabia invaded the Crystal Empire,” the princess said.

“Since when did the Saddle Arabians have a lowly emir ruling them?” Sombra asked confused.

“Ever since you slaughtered their last king and his entire court,” Celestia told him and sighed.

“I claim being justified for that, that king and his troops…” King Sombra snarled but fell silent when Celestia raised her hoof and gave him a sharp look.

“I will not fault you for retaliating at that time, even if it was a quite bit excessive for my tastes, even the Saddle Arabians do not fault you for that. As I was saying, ever since then, the Saddle Arabians have never had a king again, considering that office tainted,” she told him. “The Saddle Arabians are really remorseful over what their ancestors did.”

“Be as it may, I will never forgive them,” the king growled.

“The king and his army are the ones guilty of destroying your people, Sombra. Should the civilians who had nothing to do with the destruction suffer? Or their descendants who now only know Dark Ponies through stories?” Celestia asked flatly.

“I have much doubt the civilians cried over the loss of their hated enemies,” the Dark Pony snorted.

“Only because they believed the propaganda about your people. That changed, yes a little too late, but the descendants of your people who escaped to Equestria and Luna and I allowed to settle with our people, have diligently worked on proving how wrong they were. Some of this propaganda was even believed in Equestria, you wouldn’t believe the hassle Luna and I had to go through just to get the refugees accepted here. Discord’s arrival certainly didn’t help matters, our subjects actually thought for a time that the Dark Pony survivors had summoned him. And you most certainly have not helped in painting a better picture of your people,” the princess responded immediately and sharply.

Princess Celestia expected some sort of a retort, but the king was silent. She couldn’t be sure if what she had said had gone through, yet it had certainly silenced Sombra.

“After we got rid of Discord, we didn’t even tell the survivors that it was you where ruling the Crystal Empire. You know why?”

“I assume you are going to tell me?” the king snorted, he had looked away now.

“Because we did not want them to know that their beloved prince, that they had hoped for years would come back to them, had turned into a vicious power hungry tyrant who had enslaved the crystal ponies. Subjecting them to the same cruel treatment and the Saddle Arabians had done to your people before you broke free of them,” Celestia said, her voice dropping a bit. “The dark pones in Equestria would always end their meals with this saying: ‘And may the prince find his way to Equestria to reunite with his people again.’ I couldn’t do it to them, telling them what you had turned into. Better they think you were just gone. I allowed the Crystal Empire to drop into obscurity to protect your people from further grief.”

“Why?” Sombra now looked at the princess.

Because the stallion I loved had turned into just as detestable creature as the last king of Saddle Arabia, Princess Celestia thought. Out loud she said neutrally. “If you have to ask, you will never understand. We’ve gone off topic.”

“He broke a chair just by sitting down on it?” Cadance laughed as quietly as she could, the kitchen wasn’t that far away from the living room. Dew Doe had been informing her on how things had been going with King Sombra under the roof.

“Well to be fair, it was an old chair,” Dew Doe smiled and drank from her teacup.

“Yes, belonged to your great-grandmother once,” Sky Dive remarked, she was pouring herself more tea. Dew Doe gave her a look. “Don’t give me that, I may have hated it, but you absolutely loved it, that’s why I gave it to you.”

“Yeah, when I was a little filly,” Dew shook her head.

“When she got in her moods, she would grumble on that chair for hours. We had to do some of the photoshoots with her on that chair, because she would go absolutely ballistic if we tried to take her out of it,” Sky Dive informed Cadance who did her best not to laugh this time.

“Mom!” Dew Doe protested, her cheeks flushing red.

“Oh right, you were a filly model,” the princess looked at Dew Doe, who nodded. “I recall you telling me that once.”

“Yes, then she just didn’t want to do it anymore. I’m actually relieved neither of my daughters tried going into that savage industry,” the elder pegasus said. “Oh how our agent protested when I told him Dew Doe was quitting. Kept trying to tell me to convince Dew otherwise, I would have none of that. If she wanted to quit, she could quit.”

“And trust me, you don’t tell her to do anything,” Dew Doe shot in, but her mother just nodded in agreement.

“Anyway, so there has been no serious problems with King Sombra?” Cadance decided to steer the discussion back to the original one.

“Oh he has an attitude that not even Barricade could brag about, he pushes to see how far he can go. I’ve had to make it clear to him once or twice that if he steps out of line, he’s going right back to Tartarus,” Dew Doe told her, ignoring her mother’s snort of contempt. “But it has been manageable. I decided to take my vacation days during this, I don’t want Private to be alone in the house with him. Private doesn’t like to admit it, but Sombra still has a hold on him, Sombra can do damage if we allowed him.”

“I still don’t understand why Private agreed to this,” Sky Dive said with a heavy frown. “No disrespect intended, princess, but wouldn’t one of you be more suitable to be his custodian or whatever it was called.”

“I wish it was so simple,” Cadance looked at the older pegasus regretfully. “For him to cooperate, King Sombra made it clear that he would name his custodian and he made it a deal breaker. Then Queen Rabia invaded the Crystal Empire with little effort just to collect the coffin of her dead daughter. I hate to admit, but to deal with her, we need him.”

“Mom, you know Private, he never would never agree with something like this without a good reason. I mean if the Princesses had dropped in here and asked if we wanted to try and reform him, Private would have absolutely said no, but Queen Rabia is clearly a serious enough threat for Private to suffer Sombra again if only for a little while,” Dew Doe told her mother.

Sky Dive didn’t look convinced but said no more. At that moment Foxy came into the kitchen. The maroon pegasus slumped down on one of the chairs, looking grumpier than usual.

“Are you all right, Foxy?” Cadance asked while the newly arrived pegasus grabbed a cookie and started munching on it.

“Still getting over it that Barricade had a better point then me,” Foxy grumbled, her sister reached over to pat her on the back.

“You can’t blame him, Foxy, unlike Private, he never got proper therapy for what King Sombra did to him until recently. He was never going to be sold on the idea of letting Coal live here while his tormentor is staying here,” Dew Doe told her.

“Never thought I would say this about him, but I’m in full agreement with him. Coal should have been sent out the moment you all agreed to this,” Sky Dive remarked.

“Twilight did offer, it’s Foxy who refused,” her older daughter pointed out. Dew clamped her mouth shut when her mother gave her a very hard stare.

Cadance wondered if she should change the subject, but before she had a chance to, Princess Celestia stepped into the kitchen, prompting everyone around the kitchen table to look over at her.

“I think I’ve gotten everything I can for now,” Celestia announced and glanced at everyone in the room. “Where is, Private Iceland, I wish to speak with him before we leave.”

“He’s up in his study, it’s the second furthest door to the right when you go upstairs, your Highness,” Dew Doe told the sun princess who nodded and departed the kitchen.

“Wonder why she wants to talk with him,” Foxy wondered, Cadance shrugged, not even she could think of a reason.

“Come in,” Private glanced unsure at the door. Dew Doe usually knocked then just came in, Foxy would often knock and then make a joke about breaking down the door, Coal would just come in but since she was gone now, she wouldn’t be knocking. The unicorn half worried it was Sombra.

He sat up straight when it opened, revealing Princess Celestia. Then he rose up and did a bow. When he looked up again, Celestia was walking and made sure to close the door after her.

“Uh… Something I can help you with?” Private wondered, not quite sure why the Princess had come upstairs to his study.

“You are already helping me a great deal more than I ever wanted to ask,” Celestia said with a warm smile. “But I wish to speak with you.”

“I should warn you, I’m not much of a conversationalist,” Private said and sat down again but was facing the alicorn.

Princess Celestia nodded in understanding, she refrained from coming too close though. Being already well briefed on Private Iceland, she was well aware that he preferred his solitude and sometimes did not like company at all, so she kept a respectful distance.

“I hope this situation isn’t causing a rift in your family, I would rather transfer Sombra away than having this arrangement causing trouble,” she said, feeling some relief when Private shook his head.

“I was expecting Barricade, Foxy was being a bit too stubborn on insisting that she and Coal were staying. Mom and dad have decided to trust me on this, especially after Dew and I explained that I could cancel everything and the security, Sky Dive was placated when Barricade came this morning to demand Coal out of the house,” Private explained. He was actually relieved that his brother had come. Foxy was being stubborn enough to defy her own mother on the issue.

However, as Barricade had pointed out, he had some rights as Coal’s father and he was not sold on the idea of Coal being in the same house as King Sombra. Dew had then pointed rightfully out that this time Barricade had a reasonable cause to get child service involved. Foxy had not been happy but finally relented.

“Do you know why Foxy Stripes was being so insistent?” Celestia wondered, she would have thought that as a mother, Foxy would have wanted her daughter far away.

“Foxy is a good pony and a wonderful mother, however she can be a bit stubbornly defiant. I think she wanted to show King Sombra that she and Coal weren’t afraid of him,” Private shrugged, he didn’t really have a full answer for this but it was the closest he could figure for now.

“Well, at least your niece is somewhere safe,” the princess said, then her smile turned more solemn. “Now, regarding Sombra. I gave you a good opportunity to just refuse my offer, yet you accepted. Why?”

“For one, if anypony knows anything about Queen Rabia it would be him… and you will probably need him,” Private said quietly, glancing towards the ground, struggling to find the right words.

“We would have found a way to deal with her, with Sombra’s help or not,” Celestia pointed out.

“You were hoping I would have said no, weren’t you?” Private looked up again. The princess sighed and then nodded.

“Cadance, Twilight and Luna were absolutely against this idea and for my part I didn’t really want to entertain it. Twilight and I went ahead to ask you, hoping you would say no and we could just tell Sombra there was no deal. I was hoping he would then re-negotiate a different deal to be let out, he was desperate to get out of Tartarus, I have a feeling his mother threatened him and he didn’t want to be in a location she knew he would be in,” she explained.

“She did, I kind of got Sombra to tell me the real reason why he’s helping you. He’s basically trying to hide from his mother,” the unicorn revealed, causing Celestia to arch her brow a little.

“How did you manage to get him to confess that?” the princess asked half stunned.

Private rubbed his forehead a little, then told the princess how he had figured talking about the past always seemed to open the king up a little. Especially if it was about Timido, his former servant.

I really should not say it, but us princesses might just be the wrong ponies to get Sombra to talk about his mother, Celestia thought as she processed this revelation.

“How… open is Sombra to you if you start reminiscing about the past?” she asked with some hesitation.

“Surprisingly open actually,” Private confessed. “Why?”

“I was just downstairs, questioning Sombra. He did give me the reason for Rabia’s attack on the Crystal Empire and a theory of what her next step is, but he was not very detailed and we then ended up veering off topic and when I tried to get him back on subject of his mother, he became silent, so I decided to call it good for now,” Celestia told him.

“He was very guarded and I have a feeling questioning him like this might take days if not weeks, time we probably do not have,” the princess shook her head.

“You want me to try?” Private wondered unsure.

“I shouldn’t ask you to do that, I’ve already asked far too much of you just by housing him to get him to cooperate,” Celestia said, not even wanting to form the question.

“You could come still to question him, I can then fill you in on what he hasn’t told you,” the unicorn offered, surprising the princess.

“Private, you really don’t have to…” she started to protest, she was feeling guilty enough about this whole situation.

“No, if it gets him out of the house quicker, then I’m all for it. Besides, I haven’t told you the second reason I actually agreed,” Private interrupted and hung his head.

“You’re still in love with Prince Sombra,” Celestia remarked, sporting a knowing smile when Private snapped his head up to look at her shocked. “Doctor Whooves told me.”

“Blabbermouth,” the unicorn muttered, the princess heard and chuckled softly.

“We share something in common then, we love Prince Sombra and have both been hurt by the pony he ended up becoming,” she said and smiled when seeing the expression on Private.

“Wait, you loved him?” he blinked and his jaw dropped a bit. His astonishment didn’t diminish when the princess slowly nodded.

“Prince Sombra gave you a gift didn’t he?” she then asked. Private nodded, using his magic he opened drawer and took up a silver necklace with a flat medallion on it, depicting a unicorn head with a curved horn.

Celestia smiled, using her magic she summoned an almost identical necklace. Private’s jaw now almost scraped the ground.

“Dark Ponies only gave this kind of necklace to a pony they care about, deeply,” she then whispered to him. Then she unsummoned her necklace and sighed deeply and became more graver. “Very well, I’ll accept your proposal. You try and open him up more, I’ll come and do some token questioning and you’ll fill me in on the rest.”

“Yes, your Highness,” Private slowly nodded as he put the necklace back into the drawer and closed it. Celestia was already turning around to leave, the unicorn looked at her.

“I think he still cares about you,” he told her, causing Celestia to look back at him.

“I know,” was all the princess said before leaving the room.

End chapter 11

Chapter 12. I have an idea of how to locate your son

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Chapter 12

The night was falling when Queen Chrysalis arrived near a secluded cave deep inside an old forest. She had dropped the unicorn disguise some time ago and flew the rest of the way. She was unphased by the not-so-distant sound of unseen creatures roaming the woods. As far as the changeling was concerned, none of them would stand a chance against her.

This is where she told me to report, Chrysalis thought as she examined the cave entrance. It was too dark; even if the light was falling outside, it was like a veil of shadow was over it.

Chrysalis walked inside. As she had already figured, the darkness was not natural. She could no longer even spot the cave entrance, and she hadn’t gone that far in yet. Undaunted, the changeling walked a bit further before lightning up her horn to see if she could illuminate her surroundings.

A disfigured horse face was immediately in front of her. The creature was almost as tall as the changeling; the fur looked as it had once been bluish-gray and had remnants of green and white clothing on it. Black pulsating veins covered the entire body, and the eyes glowed green with a purple mist coming out of the corners.

“Halt! Who goes there?” the creature demanded in an unnatural hollow voice.

“Queen Chrysalis, of the changelings,” Chrysalis responded, only raising her brow a little when seeing the creature. It continued to stare at her before stepping aside.

“Proceed. Her Majesty awaits you,” it said without looking at her, continuing to stare forward in stone-cold silence.

Chrysalis rolled her eyes and kept walking. Her horn barely lit up the darkness, but she soon did not need it. The tunnel she was in became illuminated by orange crystal torches showing the way towards a cavern.

Entering the cavern revealed a large stone platform. Hanging from the ceiling was a large orange crystal that illuminated most of it, but the light concentrated most on the center's black crystal throne. Surrounding the platforms were more horse creatures. Some looked like soldiers, wearing armor and carrying weapons. The others had tattered remnants of regular clothes on them.

“Welcome Queen Chrysalis,” Queen Rabia greeted her, where the Dark Pony lay on the crystal throne. Next to her stood one of the horse creatures, a grayish-white unicorn, clad in the remains of what had once been blue clothing.

“Like what you have done with the place,” Chrysalis remarked and glanced at one of the soldiers that stood close by her. “The toys new?”

“Recently acquired.” Rabia nodded and glanced at the creature next to her. “You may go now.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the creature bowed low and departed the stone platform.

“Are those Saddle-Arabians?” Chrysalis looked closer at the soldier, then stepped up on the platform. “Are they alive?”

“Yes, to the first question. As to the second...they probably wish they weren’t,” Queen Rabia chuckled darkly.

“Impressive, I’ve heard stories about your rage deformation and mind control but never seen it,” the changeling nodded and now stood right before the throne.

“The flattery is appreciated, but surely that is not the only reason you have come.” The Dark Pony dropped her smile and became more serious as she rose to sit.

“I have scoured several towns in Equestria, but not found one clue as to where they are keeping King Sombra. He’s certainly not in that pathetic little village Princess Twilight lives in. He is not in Canterlot. I couldn’t find you again, so I came here since that’s where you told me to go if I needed to speak with you,” Chrysalis explained with a snort.

“Why?” Rabia asked, her face darkening a little.

“As you told me yourself, Equestria is large, and I’m doing this on my own. If I had my army, I could do this search more effectively. I can’t do it just by myself,” the changeling growled and glared around. The cavern was darkening, and the shadows were enveloping the cursed Saddle Arabians; it was as if the glowing green eyes surrounded her.

“You have given up?” the Dark Pony inquired; there was a dangerous undertone in her voice.

“I never said that,” Chrysalis snapped and turned back to Rabia.

“Then why are you here?” Queen Rabia asked, her voice becoming hollow and deep.

“The same reason you are here. I need to throw them off the scent.” The changeling shrugged, the lightning returned to normal, the cursed ponies were now visible again. Queen Rabia looked skeptical.

“And what makes you think I’m doing that?” Queen Rabia snorted.

“Oh please, your little show here might intimidate those weaklings in Saddle Arabia and Equestria, but don’t forget who you are talking to. I’m Queen Chrysalis, Queen of the changelings. I don’t scare so easily,” Chrysalis laughed mockingly.

“Clearly you had to get those Saddle Arabians from somewhere, so surely after snatching them, you have to make sure nopony is looking for them and thus you. As for me, they have intensified their search for me, even called in…ugh Thorax’s changelings to help,” the changeling then explained.

Queen Rabia lay back down on the throne, not looking too impressed by Chrysalis’s deduction. She glanced to her side and nodded; the cursed unicorn that had been next to her before arrived, holding a tray with goblets and a flask of wine.

“Then I commend you for your security-mindedness,” Rabia said and waited for the unicorn to fill one goblet and give it to her; she took it in her magic and sipped. She eyed the changeling, who just shook her head. The Dark Pony thus nodded again to the unicorn who once more disappeared from the platform.

“So, when is your intended destruction of Saddle Arabia happening?” Chrysalis asked and took another look at one of the cursed soldiers.

“In due time,” Rabia responded and sipped from her goblet.

The changeling eyed the Dark Pony with a heavy frown, but refrained from saying anything. Though ‘like mother-like son’ did cross her mind, Chrysalis had a feeling Rabia was going to be just as stingy on the details as her son could be.

“I have an idea of how to locate your son. He was obsessed last I met him, with these descendants of your race in Equestria. Two ponies in particular,” Chrysalis mentioned, rubbing her muzzle in thought.

“Ah, yes, I recall meeting two of them when I returned from my stasis mirror. One was certainly handsome, despite all the Equestrian blood infesting him.” Rabia smiled and licked her lips. “That deep gray coat, golden mane, if not for that ridiculous mark on the flank, he may as well have been a Dark Pony, albeit a short one.”

“You know where they live? Spying on them might give us some hint as to where Sombra is. Considering his interest in them, the princesses surely have warned them where he is kept so they can stay away,” Chrysalis asked.

“Hmm, you might be on to something there. I did locate the handsome one not that long ago. His son's mother was lost in the magic drain, so he became the boy’s custodian. I think he lives in that city called Manehattan,” Rabia told the changeling.

“Hm, that’s a big city, easy to hide,” Chrysalis muttered thoughtfully.

“I believe you will find him somewhere in a place called Hoofington. His name is Barricade…” Rabia trailed off for a moment before smiling wickedly. “When you find him, bring him to a secluded location.”

Chrysalis nodded but with a scowl. She was getting a little tired of taking orders and was really craving getting her revenge. However, the changeling also knew that she would need the Dark Pony’s help, and Rabia wouldn’t help until Saddle Arabia was destroyed. Right now, all Chrysalis could do was hope that whatever the other queen had in mind, it would accelerate that process.

“I’ll head off later tonight,” Chrysalis claimed and stepped away from the platform. Rabia just nodded and sipped on her wine.

Twilight Sparkle landed close to the edge of the Everfree Forest. Already there were two changelings. One was aqua blue while the other was lime green. Both looked a little nervous and agitated. The princess had received a message from them not that long ago by a third changeling who had been allowed to remain at her castle.

“Alright, I got your message. What’s wrong?” she asked them. They both turned towards her.

“We saw this very strange unicorn skulking around Ponyville, we changed forms to follow her, but I think she got wise to us and started making her way here, then she disappeared into these woods,” the aqua changeling explained and pointed towards the forest.

“Ocellus told us that no pony goes into it, so we found it really strange, and now we are worried that this was Chrysalis,” the green one whispered and started to look nervously around like he feared that the former queen was watching them.

“Describe her,” Twilight requested with a heavy frown. She was scrutinizing the edge of the woods carefully, but so far saw nothing amiss.

“Uh, she was green… light green, red and orange mane, I think and uh…an insect mark on her flank,” the blue changeling hesitantly described the unicorn. She looked at her friend, who just shrugged. “Uh, sorry, you ponies come in so many shades of the same color.”

“Don’t worry about it. I think I’ve got it,” the alicorn chuckled and eased her scowl a bit. However, this gave her a pause. The changelings were not wrong; most ponies from Ponyville avoided going into the Everfree Forest. However, although big, it wasn’t that big, and her friends had already scoured it along with some assistance from Zecora. She was pretty sure neither Chrysalis nor Rabia would be hiding there.

But it is a good place to shake off pursuit, so if this was Chrysalis, she’s escaped, Twilight thought. Then again, that is where she first appeared when we captured her.

Why would she risk being in Ponyville though, the princess couldn’t but wonder. She looked at the changelings again. “What did you find so odd about her?”

“Well, she kept listening in on ponies talking, would frown like she wasn’t hearing what she wanted to hear before going elsewhere,” the blue changeling said. Her friend nodded in agreement.

Hmm, if this was her, what is she looking for? Twilight thanked the changelings and told them to head back to Ponyville for now. They took off while the princess gave the forest one final look.

“I need a map of Equestria,” she decided and flew up and headed back to her castle.

The search was not going so well, even if, thanks to Ocellus, the changeling student at her school, Thorax, had sent a few of his subjects to Equestria to assist. They kept running into dead ends, and from what Celestia had reported on the first interrogation of Sombra, the king hadn’t given them a whole lot on Rabia. The Solar Princess then told them she had a different plan to get information out of him but didn’t say what.

As she continued towards the castle, Twilight saw Rainbow Dash flying towards her. She halted her flight as the pegasus came closer, wondering if her friend had any news. Thanks to her speed, Dash was very quickly right in front of her.

“I was just coming from Baltimare. Nothing,” Dash immediately reported with an annoyed grunt. “I’m headed for Manehattan next.”

“Manehattan? Why?” Twilight wondered. They had already combed the city and there were changelings there now just in case.

“I need to talk with somepony,” Dash just said and was off in a rainbow-colored shot.

Huh, that was strange, Twilight frowned, then again Dash had been behaving a bit stand-offish ever since the news broke that Sombra had been let out of Tartarus and was staying in Fillydelphia.

Twilight glanced towards where her castle towered over the rest of the town. The princess knew she had to check Equestria's map. She needed to confirm if there were some other likely hiding places south of the Everfree Forest. However, right now, she was more concerned about her friend.

Before she could decide what to do, a whistle from the ground caught her attention. Looking down, the alicorn saw Applejack, her hat in one hoof as the earth pony waved at her to get the Princess’s attention. Twilight swooped down to ground level, not stopping until she landed right in front of the apple farmer.

“Hey Twi, just got a word from Cousin Braeburn down in Appleoosa. Nothing strange goin’ on there, but he did say some ponies further south had seen something odd,” Applejack reported as soon as Twilight was down.

“Hmm, did they say what they found odd?” Twilight asked, although her attention continued to divert in the direction Rainbow Dash had gone in.

“No details, no. I can ask Braeburn to get some more details,” Applejack offered, then she noticed how diverted the Princess’s attention was. “Somthin’ wrong, Sugarcube?”

“It’s Rainbow Dash. Have you noticed her behaving a bit more… uh gruff?” the alicorn turned back to her friend.

“Uh, come to think of it, she’s been a little testier lately, ever since learnin’ that King Sombra was in Fillydelphia instead of Tartarus. Suppose Ah can’t blame her. She was his prisoner last time we tangled with him," Applejack nodded.

“Yeah, I think the imprisonment bothered her more than she cares to admit. She said she was going to Manehattan to talk to somepony,” Twilight said and started to fly again. “I think I better go after her. Tell Braeburn to get some more info on those odd happenings.”

“Will do, Twilight. You might want to take the train, though. It’s a fair distance from here to Manehattan. Rainbow Dash flies fast, and she will be there just as fast if not faster than the next train from Ponyville to Manehattan,” Applejack advised her.

Twilight had to concede to that fact. She wasn’t the fastest flier, and just about everypony paled in comparison to Rainbow. She could teleport, but that would really tire her out, and she wanted to conserve her magic as much as possible, just in case they located Chrysalis or even Rabia.

Actually, I might swat two flies at once, she thought and went first to the castle to get a map of Equestria, intending to study it while on the train to Manehattan. The princess also left a note to Starlight Glimmer that she would need to continue watching the school while she was gone.

End chapter 12

Chapter 13. Don’t go in there if you value your sugar level.

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Chapter 13

Sombra heard squealing, followed shortly after by mildly hysterical giggling. He was coming from the washroom. The others had tasked him with cleaning the six towels that he had used during his first shower in the house. Although the Dark Pony felt the activity a bit beneath him, he had held back any grumbling about it, knowing playing nice was essential right now.

He had no idea nor cared if his attempt was successful. Once he felt the towels looked clean enough, he hung them up where Foxy had shown him to hang up wet laundry. The king had then quickly left the washroom, stopping short when hearing that noise.

“Eek!” Sombra arched his brow when hearing the squeak. It sounded like Dew Doe, and it was coming from the living room.

What by the First Queen is going on? He thought. The noise didn’t sound like anything he’d heard before. Sombra slowly approached the living room and carefully peeked in, doing his best to remain unnoticed. His brow rose higher when seeing what was going on.

Private and Dew Doe lay together on the couch, and the stallion held the mare in his forelegs. The unicorn’s magic was active; in it, he had several of Dew Doe’s feathers and was tickling her with them. The mare squealed and squirmed and giggled but otherwise looked to be enjoying herself. The couple thought they were alone at the moment.

Sombra slowly backed away from the living room entrance, mild confusion on his face. He had never seen Private smile like this, or from what little he had seen of Dew Doe, seen her like that. The Dark Pony wasn’t even sure what word to use.

As the king pondered this, he noticed that a crack had formed on his left foreleg, and wispy black smoke was pouring through. Sombra frowned, activated his horn. The crack closed, and the smoke disappeared.

Damnation. It is starting faster than I anticipated. He frowned and examined his leg. What little magic Celestia allowed me to use was just enough to…

The king looked sharply to the stairs when hearing a rush of hoof steps. Foxy Stripes was hurrying down the steps and appeared to be beelining for the living room. The mare screeched to a halt when she had the entrance in full view, cringed, and promptly turned around and scampered towards the kitchen.

“Don’t go in there if you value your sugar level,” she addressed Sombra, briefly glancing at the king before disappearing into the kitchen.

What is going on? Sombra frowned. Not that long ago, the atmosphere in the house had been somewhat tense. Foxy was still grousing that Coal was sent to live with her father during the king’s stay here. Private had for the most part holed up in his study until dinner, and Dew Doe had just ignored him.

Not really knowing why, Sombra followed Foxy into the kitchen. The mare was setting a kettle on the stove, clearly preparing tea. A box of teabags was on the counter.

“What is going on in there?” the Dark Pony asked, nodding his head in the general direction of the living room. Foxy looked at him, appearing mildly surprised.

“What, you've never seen ponies in love before?” she asked with a confused tone in her voice.

“I generally avoid that emotion, for obvious reasons,” the king grunted. He glanced towards the kitchen doorway. “That doesn’t sound like love to me. It sounds more like children playing.”

“Love comes in different forms.” Foxy shrugged and started to rummage through the cabinets, looking for something. “Some go for the sappy, and some go for romance, some go for snark, some get silly, and some do several, and some do all of them.”

“What?” Sombra wasn’t sure he even understood half of that. Foxy slowly peeked up from behind a cabinet door.

“Look, big dark and spooky, you don’t come to me to explain love. My love experience is stallions trying to use me to get to my sister, just wanting a one-night stand because they wanted to try a mare my size or Barricade. Take your pick. All three are messed up,” she claimed before burying her head back into the cabinet. Then she made a triumphant shout, as she rose, lifting a small jar. “I knew we had marmalade.”

“Speaking of Barricade, weren’t you brooding just a few hours ago over the fact that your daughter was sent to live with him?” King Sombra asked, looking even more confused. Now the mare just gave him an unimpressed glance.

“Yeah it’s called getting over yourself. Seriously, ponies don’t angst all day and night over things, just so you know.” She rolled her eyes and continued preparing her tea. When Foxy looked back towards Sombra, he was gone from the kitchen. The mare shrugged and returned her attention to the kettle.

Sombra hadn’t gone too far. He was walking past the living room and going towards the stairs. He did stop for a second to glance inside, having noticed that things were silent now. Private now lay on the couch and Dew Doe lay stretched on his back. The couple were talking, but in very low voices so he couldn’t hear what they were saying.

He’s still smiling, Sombra thought, finding it a little uncanny. It was even stranger to him to see how lovingly the unicorn would glance at the mare.

The Dark Pony resumed walking, heading towards his room. As he reached the second floor, Sombra did glance back down with a thoughtful expression. He does have a nice smile.

King Sombra frowned as that thought entered his mind and sneered. Then he noticed that on his left leg another crack had formed. With a growl the Dark Pony stomped to his room and slammed the door shut after him.

“Jeez, what’s going on up there?” Dew Doe glanced upwards when hearing the loud door slam.

“Probably showing how he felt about doing laundry,” Private remarked, causing the mare to giggle.

“Probably the first menial task he’s had to do, ever,” she nodded, then the mare started to frown. “Maybe we shouldn’t be making fun of that.”

Private glanced up at her curiously. Although a mare with a big heart, Dew Doe was known for holding grudges, especially towards those who had harmed anyone she cared about. Dew looked at him, noting how the unicorn was staring at her. She sighed little.

“I mean, of course he wouldn’t be used to doing something like this. Not just because he’s a conqueror and the former tyrant of the Crystal Empire. He grew up as royalty, having servants taking care of things like that, long before he turned all evil. I guess it isn’t his fault that he’s never had to clean up after himself or cook a meal. He probably just magicked meals ready when he could,” the pegasus explained and laid her head on top of Private’s. She was fully taking advantage of it that her lover currently wanted close company. Private just nodded in response.

Dew’s eyes then opened wide as an idea suddenly struck in her mind and raised her head again. “Would he even know how regular ponies live their lives?”

“Doubt it and even if he did, probably never cared,” Private muttered. He could see something was brewing inside her head. The stallion knew the mare well enough to know something had hit her.

“You think we should show him? Show him how we do it? Get him to experience a normal pony life?” she wondered, now the unicorn gave her a skeptical look. The pegasus chuckled weakly. “Yeah, you’re right, that’s silly. Besides, it’s not like we’re trying to reform him.”

The couple laughed. Dew rested her head again on Private. A sigh escaped her lips again. She had to admit being still worried how things would pan out. Queen Rabia was still on the loose and her son wasn’t leaving until that had all been sorted. She worried about Private, who still was damaged from his encounters with the king.

“He would probably ask to be sent back to Tartarus if we tried,” Private rolled his eyes. Dew couldn’t disagree there. So far nothing in the king’s attitude suggested to her that he was even remotely interested in turning good.

The couple eyed the living room entrance when Foxy Stripes entered, holding in her mouth a tray with a teacup and a plate of toast smeared with marmalade. The maroon pegasus put the tray on the coffee table, before giving them a look.

“You two done being all sugary sweet?” she asked with a cheeky grin. Dew Doe’s only response was to stick her tongue out at her sister. Foxy faked a disappointed look and shook her head as she found a seat. “And ponies say I’m childish.”

“By the way, you two really confused Mister Darkness with your antics,” Foxy remarked as she grabbed up her cup, causing the couple to blink in surprise.

“He saw us?” Dew Doe winced a little. She had been so sure Sombra had been too busy with his laundry duty and then just gone straight to his room to grumble about it.

“I think so. He asked me what the heck you two were doing, like he’s never seen a couple in love before,” her sister responded and drank her tea.

Private frowned a bit. He had already noticed that Foxy didn’t say that Sombra had mocked their display of affection, something the unicorn was sure he would have done, or so he thought.

“He was also confused that I wasn’t still moping over Barricade coming here earlier, as if he thought we just brooded for days when things don’t go our way,” Foxy then mentioned. She snatched her toast and started to munch on it. She then noticed that both Private and Dew were staring at her, looking surprised. “What?”

“Foxy, did he have an almost normal conversation with you? No mock, no attitude?” Dew asked unsure. Her sister had to think back to that moment, trying to see if there had been something like that going on.

“I guess. Just asked a bunch of questions and then left,” she shrugged.

Dew Doe furrowed her brow as she thought about this new piece of information. She barely noticed sliding down to the couch when Private rose up, muttering about the bathroom. The pegasus sat up, rubbing her muzzle in thought.

“It was your turn with the groceries right?” Foxy asked while finishing up her snack. Dew just silently nodded.

Private stared at his reflection in the mirror. For once his mane was kempt, Dew had managed to corner him with a brush. Once she was done, he had retaliated by grabbing loose feathers off her wings and tickling her. He knew he was lazy about brushing - once Private even felt it at least made him look more different than his brother, before Barricade started making amends.

Right now, none of that was on his mind. Now that Private was not being distracted by his marefriend, his thoughts had gone back to his discussion with Princess Celestia. The stallion wondered how he was going to pull off what he had offered to do - getting Sombra to talk about his mother by reminiscing about the past, which did seem to open the Dark Pony up a little bit.

Why do I always get the ‘easy’ jobs, he thought to himself. It was usually Private who went to confront Barricade when his brother had done something in the old days. Now it was trying to pry open a pony notorious for not discussing things much in detail, unless it somehow amused him or interested him.

Not to mention, I suck at talking and he could easily completely take over the talks. The unicorn frowned and peered at himself in the mirror. Would that I was somepony else, a pony like my brother, who can actually get others to talk. Seriously, Barri, what is your secret?

It’s so obvious why Sombra wanted to hide here. He just wants another shot at messing up my life again, the unicorn narrowed his eyes and glared towards the ceiling, as if he was trying to see to the second floor and the room Sombra was in. What was it he kept saying, that I would eventually give in.

What does that even mean? Give into what? Why would he even need me to do something like that? I mean he had me at his mercy. It was not like I had any choice in the matter. I was just a slave, a thing, a possession as far as he was concerned. Private turned away from the mirror and hung his head, wondering if he should just call the whole thing off.

A loud crash made him jump. He looked up, realizing it had come from upstairs. The unicorn rushed out of the bathroom. Already he saw Dew Doe and Foxy Stripes running up the stairs, so Private followed them. All three had figured this could only have come from one room, so they all rushed to the guest room Sombra was in.

Dew Doe was first and quickly opened it. She stopped short in the doorway and gasped. Foxy and Private stopped behind her, eyes opening wide in shock.

Sombra lay on the floor, having fallen down. In the process he had crashed into the desk and due to his size had cracked it and one leg had broken off and it was tilting. The Dark Pony groaned, cracks had formed all over his body and black wispy smoke poured out of it.

“W-what is going on? What’s happening? Sombra?” Dew Doe asked as she hurried into the room followed by Private and Foxy, right now not caring who the king was, right now all she saw was someone who needed help.

“Well… miss Dew Doe… Looks like you’re getting your wish sooner than even I… anticipated…” Sombra groaned and slowly looked up at the mare. “My dark magic… being… suppressed… heh… thought I had longer or my body… had solidified enough for it… not to be an issue.”

“What are you talking about?” Private asked, feeling strangely worried.

“Think Private… I regained my body… using my dark magic…” Sombra glared at the unicorn and slowly managed to rise up a bit. “For the… first days… that’s all my body was… dark magic in pony form… but slowly becoming a normal… body… That’s why it was so… easy for me to play… like I was still a spirit… It had become more solid and… normal by our second encounter… but…”

Sombra stopped and looked down as a large crack formed on his chest, more smoke was pouring through. The Dark Pony chuckled ruefully. “To think Tartarus… was actually keeping me together… now that I’m not… there and… my dark…magic… is…suppressed…well… Dew Doe… you’re getting rid of me ahead of schedule…”

“Wait… what?” Dew Doe looked alarmed at Foxy and Private. “He’s dying?”

“I had… a feeling you… were… smar…” Sombra closed his eyes and sunk fully to the floor.

“Private! Contact the Princesses!” Dew Doe shouted.

The unicorn cringed and turned to run out of the room and galloped to his study. He had the notes from Princess Celestia there with the spells he had to do to contact them. Private was all too aware how bad he was at magic, so had made sure that she had given him written instructions how to perform them.

Private rushed through his desk, using his magic to sweep away the books and other papers he had on it related to his work until he found the notes. He hurried to look over them, winced when seeing how complicated everything looked, before closing his eyes and concentrated as hard as he could. The unicorn heard the panicked voices of both Dew Doe and Foxy, they were clearly trying to do something to help Sombra, even if there was little they could do.

Help! Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! Twilight! Cadance! Something’s wrong with Sombra! He shouted in his mind before realizing, that was not how it worked. He grabbed a quill and a paper and wrote on it the message and sighed in relief when seeing the magic activate and the paper vanish into thin air.

The unicorn hurried back to the guest room. Dew and Foxy had a medkit and were trying to cover Sombra’s body’s cracks with bandages. The king was completely limp and there wasn’t a sign that he was breathing.

“Girls… I think he’s…” he whispered, not wanting to say those words. He looked back when hearing the front door downstairs slam open.

“Private Iceland! Dew Doe! Foxy Stripes!” the loud voice of Princess Luna bellowed through the house.

“Up here!” Private called and had to avert his eyes when a blinding teleportation flash appeared in the room and Luna stood amongst them. The lunar princess gasped when seeing the state Sombra was in.

“What happened?” she asked, stunned.

“He’s dying. His body apparently isn’t fully formed yet, even after all this time,” Private told her in a hurry. “Apparently… because his dark magic is suppressed, it isn’t maintaining his body.”

“Oh, this is just what we needed,” Luna growled. The princess activated her horn and pushed all three ponies out of the way with her magic. Then she enveloped Sombra in a magic aura and lifted the still body and put it on the bed.

Narrowing her eyes, the Princess formed a bubble around the bed. Then she used another spell and the manacle around Sombra’s horn snapped open. Luna pulled it out of the bubble and now stood in front of the bed ready and waiting.

Nothing happened. The moon princess raised one eyebrow a little. The smoke began slowly to disappear, the cracks on Sombra’s body were beginning to close. But still Luna stood ready, shaking her head at the other ponies when they started to come closer.

The princess raised her head fully, her brow arched, staring at Somra suspiciously. The cracks were all almost fully mended. Slowly the king opened his eyes, he let out a groan before going into a violent dry coughing fit. Luna would still not let the other ponies come closer, holding out a hoof towards them. When the coughing stopped, Sombra tiredly turned to face the room, looking weakly at Luna.

“Princess Luna,” the king muttered, then glanced at Private and the mares, but did not speak anymore. He laid down his head and drifted to sleep.

“He isn’t bluffing?” Luna blinked then realized she said that out loud. She looked over at the other ponies. “I am sorry… I thought he was bluffing. That he had fooled you into helping him get rid of the manacle that suppresses his magic.”

“Well, he could still be bluffing,” Foxy pointed out and felt a bit stupid not having thought of that. Dew and Private looked similarly sheepish, having been too panicked to realize that this could have been a gambit played out by the king.

“No, no, I can feel it. He’s terribly weak. A whole lot of his dark magic is gone, no doubt to repair the damage,” Luna looked at the Dark Pony. “Sombra. Sombra! Wake up.”

“Ugh… can I please be allowed to rest? I may have some experience in dying, but that doesn’t mean it’s a pleasant experience,” Sombra growled, opening one eye to glare at the princess.

Luna looked at the mares and Private, gave them a wink before glaring sternly at Sombra.

“Sombra, your foolish ploy didn’t work. My magic bubble surrounding you keeps you from escaping. That manacle is coming right back on to suppress your powers,” Luna declared firmly, though she made no move to act on her threat.

“If you want me dead, why did you take it off in the first place?” Sombra grunted and closed his eye again. “Now that I’ve been allowed this brief moment to have my powers again. I have detected that my body still needs a few more months before it becomes fully solid. These things take time. You don’t come back from the dead easily. Do what you must. I will at least die in a bed now.”

“So, you actually were dying. Your body was disintegrating because your dark magic wasn’t keeping it together,” Dew Doe said and grimaced. There was no response except a snore as the Dark Pony had fallen asleep.

“I am going to keep that bubble on him for now,” Luna said and started to walk away, she motioned to the other ponies to leave the room with her.

They all gathered in the corridor outside Sombra’s room. Princess Luna took a moment to look at the ponies. She was simultaneously impressed and mildly confused. All three of them looked to have calmed down. Dew Doe still looked concerned, Private and Foxy looked unsure.

“Nopony would have blamed you if you had just let King Sombra perish then and there. Queen Rabia aside, we would have found a way to stop her without his help. Why did you call forth aid for him?” Luna asked.

“He needed help,” Dew Doe said and glanced down at the floor. “I just can’t deny a pony that needs help. It’s just who I am. Even if it had been a bluff…”

“I just do what Dew does, it keeps things simple. I like simple,” Foxy shrugged and managed to produce a grin. All eyes went to Private.

“Private Iceland, you have the most cause to see him gone,” Princess Luna claimed.

“Which is why it’s not my call,” Private mumbled and slowly glanced at the guest room door. “I won’t give in.”

The mares stared at the unicorn in confusion, not understanding what he meant. Private took a deep breath, before he looked straight at Luna.

“Sombra kept saying that I would give in. At first I didn’t understand what he meant by that. But I think I do now,” Private explained and his expression got firmer. “Fear and hate, that’s what he meant. That’s what he wanted me to do. Embrace it, become like him. Well, I won’t.”

Dew reached to hug Private with a wing. Foxy just raised her brow. Luna regarded the unicorn for a moment, then smiled and nodded.

“I’ll tell Celestia what transpired here and discuss what we need to do about Sombra and his powers. It’s clear now that he actually needs them to survive. My sister will no doubt drop by tomorrow,” the Moon Princess said and glanced at the room. “The bubble will remain in place until we have made a decision. Do not worry. He is too weak to break through it.”

With those words, Luna teleported away. The three remaining ponies looked at each other.

“I think it’s time for bed,” Foxy said and turned to head towards her room, leaving Dew and Private alone in the corridor.

“Yeah, that’s probably enough excitement for one day,” Dew Doe agreed and started towards the bedroom she shared with Private.

The unicorn started to follow, but halted and glanced at Sombra’s bedroom. Quietly, he used his magic to open the door a bit and looked in. The Dark Pony still looked sound asleep, snoring softly. Private closed the door and walked away.

The moment Private closed the door and his hoof steps became fainter as he went further away from the room, Sombra’s eyes opened. The king rose up in the bed, but remained quiet and still, listening.

Well, that worked. He chuckled, glancing at the magic bubble that surrounded him and the bed.

Don’t have much time, but now that I have access to my powers, few little spells to prepare myself and I should have a new ace in my hooves. The king’s eyes began glowing green and purple mist started pouring from the corners, his horn activated with purple and green energy.

He still took care not to let his magic touch the bubble, figuring that Luna had made it so that any attempts to disturb it would be detected. Sombra swept dark magic energy over his body, but remained alert for any sounds and kept an eye on the window to make sure it was still dark.

I will still need to play nice, but this way, if mother does find me, I at least have a surprise in store for her, he thought as he continued to cast small spells.

End Chapter 13

Chapter 14. Something up?

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Chapter 14

It was getting late when Rainbow Dash finally arrived in Manehattan. The sun had already set and the lights of the city illuminated the night sky. Dash ignored the more recognizable districts, heading towards the residential ones, which had less glitz and glamour.

Soon she was very quickly flying above Hoofington. No longer in the sorry state it had once been, most of the buildings were repaired and looked downright presentable. The streets were mostly clean and the ponies walking them didn’t look furtive or nervous, or alternatively aggressive and dangerous.

Jeez, Barricade has done a bang-up job cleaning up here, Dash thought as she started descending. She had never really been to Hoofington itself, although the pegasus had done flyovers in the past when she had been in Manehattan for other reasons.

Now Cooper told me that his dad lives… uh… crud, forgot the name. Rainbow Dash hoofed her face when realizing she didn’t know exactly where Barricade lived. So far she had only met him when he had come to Ponyville.

Rainbow figured she might as well just ask for directions and started to search for a potential candidate on the ground to ask. She spotted a small crowd of ponies near an apartment building and started to approach. But luck was clearly smiling on the pegasus, as in front of the crowd, along with a large blue earth pony, was Barricade.

“…And that’s all. Keep it easy, keep it clean,” the unicorn was finishing addressing the group just as Rainbow Dash landed next to him. Barricade just gave the pegasus a quick surprised look. “Oh, hello.”

“Hey, Barricade. Something up?” Rainbow asked and glanced at the various ponies in front of them.

“Nah, the gang just wanted to use the gym for a party. Just telling them not to wreck it before opening hours,” Barricade explained and returned to the crowd. “Well, it won’t start here. Get lost. Blue has the key.”

There was some chuckling amongst the other ponies before they started to head off, followed by the large blue pony. Barricade glanced over at Rainbow again.

“So, what are you doing here?” he asked curiously.

“I need to talk, preferably with someone who gets it. You know this whole situation about this Queen Rabia and how King Sombra is supposed to help them,” Rainbow Dash muttered as she glared around.

“Not so happy with that situation, huh?” Barricade frowned a little, his own frustration about that showing.

“Right, give me a minute. Just going to let Barbell know that I’ll be going out, then we’ll go to a place I know. I have a strong feeling we’ll need a drink before we are done,” he told her before heading into the apartment building.

Ain’t that the truth, Rainbow Dash nodded and leaned on the wall of the building while she waited for the unicorn to return.

“Ugh it’s just frustrating. We’re supposed to be searching for Queen Chrysalis, this Queen Rabia is on the loose and thanks to that, they let that stupid King Sombrero out of Tartarus to help with that,” Rainbow Dash grumbled and took another swig from her mug.

“Oy don’t remind me,” Barricade grunted and rolled his eyes. “He’s staying with my brother in Fillydelphia. The same brother who got possessed by that asshole and who abducted all of us during our own birthday party. And we are just supposed to be okay with that?”

The two disgruntled ponies had gone to a pub near where Barricade lived. There weren’t many customers around, but the stallion had assured the mare that nobody here gave a hoot about you and what you talked about as long as you minded your own business.

“Yeah, seriously, who came up with that idea?” Rainbow Dash snorted. She stared darkly at her drink. “Ugh… I still have nightmares about him torturing me.”

“I can believe it,” Barricade nodded and sipped his drink.

“During the magic drain incident, when we went to Tartarus to question Tirek, Sombra tried to pull me into his cage to eat me,” Dash then said and shuddered. Barricade cringed a bit at that.

“That’s sick,” the stallion muttered and shook his head. Rainbow just nodded and both ponies drank from their respective mugs.

“Well I grabbed Coal out of the house. Not having my daughter staying near that asshole. Private and the rest can risk their hides, but my kid is not going to be anywhere near that messed-up situation,” Barricade snorted and slammed down his mug. “Seriously, what was Foxy thinking?”

Rainbow Dash only nodded in agreement, then pointed to the bartender to give her a refill. For a moment they sat in silence. Then the pegasus looked at the unicorn. “How are the kids, by the way?”

“I’m starting to think Chisel’s special talent is being a bouncy ball,” Barricade chuckled. “Ah, well at least he’s doing good. Still misses his mom, but he has a large family now to help him. Cara is a teenager, do the math. She’s found another colt friend to annoy me with. Well at least that kid isn’t so bad, but oy.”

“Coal was fine with leaving the house. She really did not want to be there with King Sombra. She is worried though. Don’t blame her. Her mother is still there and her aunt and uncle. She’s very close to all of them,” the unicorn sighed deeply. “Wish I could do something more… but…I was pathetic against King Sombra, and that guy was scared of Queen Rabia. Don’t think I would do any good against her.”

“Oh come on. You’re better than you think.” Rainbow elbowed him. “Seriously, you, Maud and Barbell helped me trap him in that cave, remember that?”

“Yeah, too bad that only worked for two seconds,” Barricade pointed out.

Rainbow only shrugged, although conceding that point she still felt that had been awesome. She spotted a movement by the entrance of the pub. The pegasus looked over and saw Barbell enter. The mare frowned. She was pretty sure Barricade’s wife was supposed to be back home with the kids.

“What? Barbell, what are you doing here?” Barricade had looked up and noticed as well.

“Hey honey. I need to speak with you. Can we step outside?” Barbell addressed the stallion with a smile.

Barricade arched his brow, Barbell had never called him honey. Then again as far as he could see that was his wife and she could have a reason for how she was acting right now.

“Uh, Dash, I’ll just be a second,” Barricade glanced back at the pegasus and rose up from his seat, leaving his mug behind.

Rainbow Dash frowned as she watched the couple leave the pub. She pushed her mug away and continued to watch the door even if the two ponies had long disappeared by now. Suspicion started to crawl over her face.

That wasn’t Barbell, oh horsefeathers. Rainbow jumped from her seat and in a rainbow flash, rushed out of the pub. Outside she flew a bit up and started to look around. There were no signs of Barricade or Barbell.

Mentally banging her head with a hoof for not having stopped the unicorn, she started flying quickly around the general area. Quickly zipping into alleys and back out when not finding anything.

“Ooooh this is not good!” Rainbow Dash whispered as her search started to become more frantic.

Barricade wasn’t sure what to think when Barbell ended up leading him into a secluded alley, then went even further down. So far she hadn’t actually said anything since the pub. This wasn’t at all like his wife, and the unicorn was starting to get very suspicious.

“Babe, what’s going on?” he asked when he realized they were much further away from the pub than necessary for a private talk.

The evil sounding chuckle coming from his wife immediately put Barricade on his guard. When green flames surrounded her and the mare suddenly grew in size and changed into Queen Chrysalis, the unicorn was already charging his horn with magic and slowly backing away.

“Who are you? And what have you done with my wife?” he snarled, ready to shoot at a moment’s notice. Chrysalis glanced back at him for a second before turning fully around.

“Oh don’t worry, she’s still in that dingy apartment of yours watching your brats,” Chrysalis said. “As for who I am…”

Chrysalis didn’t get any further, an indigo-colored blast hit her in the face and was just powerful enough to throw her back so she landed on a dumpster with a crash.

“Actually, I don’t care,” Barricade shouted as he quickly turned around and started to gallop away, ignoring the growls and curses coming from behind him. He didn’t get far. Chrysalis landed right in front of him, seething in anger.

Barricade fired a shot again, but this time the changeling was ready. Using her own magic she deflected the shot so it scorched the wall of a building instead. Then she quickly fired her own shot that the unicorn barely managed to dodge.

Crap, this is out of my league, Barricade thought as he dodged another shot from the enraged changeling. He tried to run again, but Chrysalis did have air advantage and kept managing to cut him off by simply flying over him.

The unicorn did have one advantage, though. He knew these alleyways. Though it was taking a bit, he was slowly making his way back to where the pub was. He just had to constantly dodge the barrage of green magic blasts and go another direction every time Chrysalis cut him off.

“Agh, enough of this!” Chrysalis growled and this time went for a grab with her magic. She lifted the unicorn and slammed him up against a wall and let him go. Barricade slowly sunk to the ground with a groan. The changeling was seething as she stepped closer.

“I was going to ensnare you in my magic, but wouldn’t you know it. Sombra just had to have a hidden spell inside of you that prevents me from doing that,” the changeling snarled.

Wait, what? Barricade slowly looked up.

“He is so obsessed with you and your brother, he just has to make it difficult for anybody else to have some fun,” Chrysalis snorted and lifted Barricade up in her magic aura, glaring at the unicorn. “Now where is he!?”

“Oh bite me, cheese legs,” Barricade grunted, hiding how nervous he was actually feeling. Having Sombra mentioned wasn’t exactly making him feel so good about this whole situation. Chrysalis pulled him closer until they were muzzle to muzzle.

“Don’t tempt me,” the queen snarled and gave a frightening hiss. “I would suck the love out of you if she hadn’t told me not to harm you.”

She? Barricade blinked and then it dawned on him who the changeling was referring to. Suddenly the dark alley was filled with a soft and very familiar-sounding chuckle. Oh…shit.

The shadows from the dim lights began to move. Slowly they congregated towards a single spot in front of Chrysalis and Barricade. The changeling queen slowly turned the unicorn so he would face them.

Slowly the shadows rose until they began forming the shape of a unicorn. Barricade started to get visibly worried, Chrysalis was smirking. A steel-clad hoof was placed under the stallion’s muzzle and it lifted his head slightly so he stared right into the smiling face of Queen Rabia.

“Hello again, handsome,” Rabia greeted him softly. “My, has my son done some work on you. I can feel the spells, they’re almost undetectable.”

“I was going to mesmerize him, put him under my spell, but I got a very clear ‘Barricade is mine. Get lost’ message when I tried,” Chrysalis grumbled. “So it took a bit to get him here. He would only be fooled so long by my disguise.”

“So possessive, my son. It isn’t healthy,” Rabia murmured and nodded as she removed the hoof from the stallion. “You did well, Chrysalis. I won’t fault you, at least you got him.”

“What do you want?” Barricade asked and tried to struggle against the magic aura that held him.

“Oh, I have simple needs. I just want Saddle Arabia burned to the ground, its citizens screaming in pain and terror, much like my subjects did when they were all slaughtered. I want their ruler skewered on a pike, tortured and violated, much like my daughter was,” the Dark Pony said with a small smile. “And I want to know where my son is.”

“And what makes you think I know where he - is!” Barricade grunted when he was dropped to the ground by Chrysalis, who had received a signal from Rabia to release him. He looked up only to have Rabia being right in his face, smiling sweetly.

“Come now, Barricade. I know what my son did to you. You have nothing to gain by keeping him secret. In fact, you will get so much sweet revenge against him if you reveal him to me. I have so much in store for him. He did betray me, after all,” the dark queen purred and reached with a hoof to gently caress Barricade’s mane.

“And he did so much to you and not to mention your brother,” Rabia rose up, her expression turning sympathetic. “Forcing your brother to become his vessel if he died, possessing Private, hounding and tormenting him and you could do nothing to help.”

“Doesn’t it just,” Rabia’s eyes turned green as she locked eyes with the unicorn. “Fill you with rage. Knowing everything he did to your brother, did to you and he just got a cozy cell in Tartarus? But he isn’t there now, is he?”

“No,” Barricade growled, feeling a sudden surge of anger come over him. It was odd. One moment he was nervous in the presence of Sombra’s mother. Now he was filled with anger. “They took him out… to help find you…”

“Oh now, what kind of punishment is that?” Rabia asked, the purple mist coming from the corners of her eyes was turning darker, the glow of her eyes was getting brighter.

Chrysalis watched with a frown; this was different from how she had seen Sombra do things, yet she recognized the signs of dark pony dark magic being fed. She glanced down at Barricade and saw he was starting to seethe; his eyes were glowing now too as if locked in a spell.

Oh, so that’s how she does it, the changeling realizing that Rabia was not feeding off of fear like her son, she was feeding off of anger. Ah, of course, Queen of Rage and Wrath.

“It isn’t!” Barricade snarled, feeling even more anger going through him. Finally, he roared in rage. “He should be still rotting in Tartarus! But they took him out and even put him with my brother - the pony he possessed and tormented the most!”

“Ah, so that is where…” Rabia’s words were cut short when something struck her hard, interrupting her spell and tossing her back.

Barricade gasped as his eyes turned to normal. He looked around confused, breathing rapidly, then saw Rainbow Dash hovering above them. The mare had just rammed herself into the dark pony queen.

“You!” Chrysalis snarled and took to the air, shooting a blast of magic that Rainbow quickly dodged.

“What… what just happened?” Barricade stood up, then cringed when seeing that Rabia was slowly standing up again.

Rabia ignored the unicorn, she was glaring towards the battle above them. Rainbow was zipping around, avoiding the magic blasts coming from Chrysalis, quite literally flying in circles around the changeling queen.

“Fall back, Chrysalis. We have what we want,” the Dark Pony called and sighed when there was no sign that the changeling heard her.

The Dark Pony growled and started to transform into her smoke form, but a violet-colored energy blast connected with Chrysalis, sending the changeling crashing to the ground. Immediately Rabia instead sunk into the shadows and disappeared.

Chrysalis snarled and started to rise up just as Twilight Sparkle landed in front of Barricade, who was still too dazed to do much. He had only been able to observe, still barely able to realize what was going on. Rainbow Dash landed right beside him.

“Give up, Chrysalis,” Twilight said, her wings raised and horn already building up for another blast.

“Never!” the changeling snarled and charged forward. She was rewarded with another blast that sent her flying. She had been too late to deflect it with her own magic. The queen smacked so hard against a wall that it left a large crack. From there she sunk to the ground with a groan.

Twilight wasted no time, casting a spell that chained the changeling’s legs and put a magic block on her horn. Only then did the alicorn turn around to look at Barricade and Rainbow Dash.

“Are you alright?” she asked, looking mostly at Barricade since Rainbow Dash seemed fine.

“Just give me a sec,” Barricade whispered as he tried to calm himself down. “That cheese legs over there… posed as Barbell, then Queen Rabia… it’s fuzzy after that.”

“Rainbow?” Twilight looked at her friend who nodded.

“Yeah, Chrysalis managed to lure him away disguised as Barbell. I kind of didn’t realize that it couldn’t be her until too late. Went out to look for them. I just about spotted Chrysalis and a female Sombra, guess it was Queen Rabia, standing over him. I heard Barricade roar something, but by then I was already flying towards them to give them a smackdown.”

Twilight nodded and glanced back at Chrysalis, who was snarling and trying to use her chained hooves to get rid of the block on her horn, to no avail. The alicorn went into her saddlebag and produced a quill and a scroll, wrote on it and sent it away via magic.

“I’ve contacted Princess Luna to come here and help me take Chrysalis to Canterlot. We’ll interrogate her there. You take Barricade home,” the princess told her friend. Considering what had just happened, she would wait to talk to Rainbow, though she had a feeling she now knew who the pegasus had gone to talk with.

“Right.” Dash nodded and soon she and the unicorn had departed the alley. Behind Twilight, Luna appeared.

“I came as quick as I could. We had a situation in Fillydelphia,” the moon princess addressed Twilight, glancing down at struggling Chrysalis. “And I see you have been busy as well.”

“What happened in Fillydelphia?” Twilight asked worried, fearing Sombra had done something. Her brow sunk when Luna told her what had occurred. “Wait, he was doing what?”

“We’ll speak more about it once we have dealt with this one,” the lunar princess said, glancing at the hissing and spitting changeling.

Twilight nodded and the two princesses used both their magic to lift up the changeling. Then Princess Luna used her own powers to teleport them away. They failed to notice a shadowy silhouette deeper in the alley who had watched the whole thing.

Still forming? That makes no sense at all, it should have been fully formed the moment he came back to life… Rabia frowned. What are you up to, my son? Well, guess it is time to find out.

She held back a chuckle and soon the shadow disappeared.

End chapter 14

Chapter 15. All ponies are different.

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Chapter 15

It was morning when Sombra woke up again. Light shone through the window and he could hear voices outside his room. The Dark Pony raised his head, glancing at the magic bubble surrounding him before eyeing the door. As he gave a mighty yawn, there was a knock.

“Enter,” he simply said, still a little groggy from his slumber.

The door opened, and Dew Doe flew inside, holding a tray with food. The king arched his brow; the pegasus didn’t look as apprehensive as usual. If anything, the smile she was giving him was almost sympathetic.

“Celestia said I should be able to push the tray through,” Dew said as she landed close to the bubble. “Figured you would be hungry after yesterday.”

Well, she’s not wrong, though not quite for the reason she believes. Sombra nodded for her to proceed. The pegasus tried to push the tray against the bubble and the contents did start to go through.

Sombra grabbed it from his end with his magic and put the tray on the nightstand, which was also concealed by the bubble. Then he looked at Dew Doe, who still hadn’t moved. “I take it Princess Celestia has arrived?”

“Yes. She is downstairs. She wanted to allow you to wake up and eat,” Dew confirmed, then shifted a little nervously. “So um… you were actually dying?”

“No, it was an elaborate plot to get you to take off my magic block so that I could cast a few preparation spells just in case my mother would find me here,” Sombra said and started eating. The king glanced at Dew, who was rolling her eyes and shaking her head. The Dark Pony assumed she thought he was being sarcastic.

“You really do not like talking about things, do you?” the pegasus said.

“Force of habit. In Dark Pony culture, stallions were seen, not heard,” the Dark Pony simply said and resumed his meal, noting that Dew had grimaced at hearing that. At least she hadn’t pushed for a better answer to her previous question.

“Must have been a hard life,” Dew smiled sadly. Sombra raised an eyebrow but said nothing. The mare chuckled weakly. “Jeez and I thought getting Private to talk was hard.”

“You really care for him, don’t you?” the king replied and rose to sit fully in the bed.

“I do. Private was one of the few stallions I’ve met who never treated my sister as anything else but a pony. He never looked at me as some object to be desired. He’s a reclusive grump, but he is a reliable, reclusive grump,” Dew Doe said, her eyes narrowing a little. Sombra shook his head.

“Oh, go on, start your tirade if it makes you feel better,” he groaned, half expecting a rant coming his way about all the horrible things the dark pony had done to Private.

“I think I’ve already said my piece on that when you first came here,” the pegasus told him. Sombra looked at her confused. “It won’t help to always be angry.”

“Excuse me?” Sombra blinked; this wasn’t even close to the reaction he was expecting.

“I’m a therapist. Getting things off your chest is good and all, but words only do so much good. If the other party isn’t receptive to them.” Dew Doe rose to stand, shrugging while she did.

Sombra wasn’t sure how to respond to that, being far more used to ponies wailing at him for all the harm he’d done to them.

Movement by the door caught his attention, and he glanced at the door to see Princess Celestia standing there. Dew Doe glanced back herself at the alicorn.

“Morning Sombra,” the princess addressed the dark pony, entering the room.

“Morning,” Sombra simply replied. He watched Dew Doe turn around and walk out of the room, then turned his attention back to the princess. “She is different.”

“All ponies are different,” Celestia glanced back for a moment before looking at the Dark Pony. “So, I hear you require your dark magic to maintain that body of yours.”

“It should hold until I’m thrown back to Tartarus after mother is captured,” King Sombra said and lay back down on the bed, but kept his eyes firmly on Celestia.

“You seem sure you will be thrown back,” the princess said and really had to hold back a chuckle at the look she received from the Dark Pony.

“Oh please, you honestly expect me to believe I will be free to go after my mother is stopped? If you manage to stop her, that is,” Sombra snorted and shook his head.

“You never know. We might consider alternative sentences once this is all over. Depending on your behavior, of course,” Princess Celestia replied as she activated her magic and summoned a manacle. She sighed. “How much dark magic do you need?”

“Not much. Just enough so that it is active in my body,” Sombra shrugged. He watched Celestia fiddle with the manacle in her magic before pushing it through the bubble and putting it on his horn.

Already Sombra could feel most of his magic being blocked, but could actually feel a hint of his darker powers. Not enough to do anything with the manacle on, but it did what he needed it to do. Celestia then expelled the magic bubble from around him.

“That should allow you to be stable. Why didn’t you tell us about this sooner?” she asked.

“I thought my body was solid enough. I was as surprised as anypony else,” Sombra shrugged and stood up from the bed now that he could. Celestia’s only response to that was to tilt her head slightly, looking curiously at the king.

“We caught Chrysalis yesterday, well, Twilight Sparkle did,” she informed him since it didn’t look like he would be indulging anything more on what had happened to him. “She and your mother attacked Barricade in Manehattan.”

“Chrysalis is working for mother?” Sombra frowned. He found this rather strange news. “That’s odd; mother hates changelings.”

“Well, clearly, she found an exception this time around. Chrysalis is refusing to speak about it so far. We still don’t know what they were trying to do. Rabia disappeared shortly after Twilight arrived. Thankfully Rainbow Dash was there as well to prevent Chrysalis from escaping,” Celestia said. “We will be continuing to interrogate her, but I doubt she will be cooperative.”

Hmm, it sounds like mother dumped Chrysalis, but she would only do that if Chrysalis was no longer of use to her… What did she want with Barricade? Sombra frowned in thought, but said nothing for now.

“Well, I must be going now that we have sorted the magic block on you. I’ll be back later when you are ready to further indulge us about your mother. Foxy and Dew Doe are around,” Celestia turned around to walk out.

"What about Private?" Sombra asked and followed.

“He went to Manehattan to check on his brother,” Celestia told him as they left the guest room.

Sombra showed no reaction to that answer. He stopped at the top of the stairs as the princess descended. He watched Celestia look into the living room to address the pegasi sisters before departing the house. When the princess was gone, the Dark Pony walked down the stairs himself.

Foxy and Dew were sitting in the living room. The maroon pony was going through a magazine while the blue one was writing on a notepad. They both looked up when the king entered.

“So, any more surprises we should know about? Heart diseases? Food allergies? Old head traumas that flare up periodically?” Foxy asked, holding back a snicker when seeing the odd look Sombra gave her.

“Foxy,” Dew glared at her sister, then looked back at Sombra. “Don’t mind her. She’s joking.”

“I will bear that in mind,” Sombra grunted and turned his attention to Dew. “Speaking of food, I noticed there was fish amongst that food you brought me. I seriously doubt that is something any of you eat.”

“Oh right, while you are staying here, we will be getting deliveries with certain foods you require. Twilight and her friends have connections in Griffinstone,” she explained, ignoring how Sombra rolled his eyes and sneered in disgust when hearing the princess’s name. Dew Doe went back to the notepad. “Speaking of food, we still have to get the ones all of us eat.”

Sombra walked over to the bookcase, not really interested in that. He started to browse the book selection, ignoring the chatter between the sisters; mostly, it was Foxy pointing out what was missing in the pantry.

“I would have thought with Private living here, there would be more history books,” Sombra muttered. He had only seen two so far, and the dark unicorn had already read them.

“He’s hoarding them in his study,” Foxy remarked, having heard him, prompting the king to glance over.

That explains it, he refrained from chuckling, even if he did find that thought amusing.

“You want to add anything to the grocery list?” Dew Doe asked since the king was now looking again in their direction.

“Me?” Sombra’s brow rose. The stallion had not exactly been expected to be included in a supply run.

“Well, you are living here temporarily,” the pegasus pointed out. “Private has a few things on this list only he wants, so does Foxy and me as well.”

“Coal gets to add to the list when she stops asking for just candy and cookies,” Foxy chuckled, prompting her sister to smile as well.

“This isn’t some half-brained attempt to make me feel included, just because you feel sorry for me after you saw me dying last night, is it?” Sombra growled and narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“Sorry we asked, well Dew asked,” Foxy snorted and made a face. She folded her legs and looked away in a huff when Dew held up a hoof towards her.

“We are just trying to make living together a little more tolerable. We don’t want you here. We have to have you here, so do you want anything specific or not?” Dew Doe asked more firmly, giving the king a hard stare.

King Sombra narrowed his eyes even further; Dew still maintained the same hard, firm look on him.

“I doubt you can afford it,” he finally said and eased up his expression but looked very skeptical.

“Try me,” Dew Doe challenged.

“I wouldn’t mind wine of some sorts,” Sombra said, figuring that was something far outside her expenses.

“Applewood, Crystal Empire, Abyssinian, there is Saddle Arabian, but I don’t think you want that,” Dew Doe counted up without even blinking an eye. The dark pony had to restrain his jaw from dropping.

“There are also some brands from Ponyville; Canterlot has a brand, didn’t Dodge introduce a new one a few years ago?” Foxy shot in as she tried not to laugh at the look coming over the king.

“Are you particular to red, white, rose, sweet, or sparkling?” her sister then asked for further clarification.

“How do either of you know about wine?” Sombra finally asked, completely stunned.

“Please, it isn’t a thousand years ago, Sombra. Wine is much cheaper these days. Granted, some brands are expensive, but even us ‘filthy commoners’ sometimes indulge in a little wine drinking. That aside, you have met our mother. She is a former model and now a model agent; she rubs elbows with high society ponies and attends parties,” Dew Doe finally let out a small chuckle, then wielded her notepad. “Soooo, any preferences?”

“Red will do, I suppose,” the king muttered and returned to the bookcase. His mind was no longer on the books; he was raking his brain over what he had already learned of modern society and what he thought he already knew. Sombra had been positive he had figured it out already for the most part, but this tiny revelation just kept nagging at him. He wondered what other items considered a luxury back in his time were now just commonplace.

Sombra started to glance around the living room. He knew Private was an historian, a scholarly position, respected, could pay decently if sponsored. He looked at the mares, Dew’s attention was on her list, and Foxy was sunk into her magazine. He heard talks about therapy; now that he thought about it, he had no idea what that was.

More glancing around told him they weren’t badly off. They were not working-class, or so he figured. Frankly, now that he thought about it, the king was surprised they weren’t living in a bigger house considering the massive number of things in the living room. Bookcases, couches, tables, that contraption called a grammar phone, all kinds of pictures on the wall.

The mares finally noticed what the Dark Pony was doing and looked up. Watching him go in circles as he examined the living room. Dew exchanged glances with Foxy, both wondering what was going on. Finally, Sombra left the living room, and they heard him leave the house.

“Err, is he allowed to leave the house?” Foxy asked, not quite sure how to read into this situation.

“I don’t know, actually. We never discussed that,” Dew responded. She put down the list and took to the air, flying out of the living room and out the still-open front door.

Sombra hadn’t gone too far. He still stood in the front yard and was staring towards Fillydelphia. He had a thoughtful expression on his face as he regarded the slightly distant city center.

“What’s gotten into you?” Dew asked as she landed right next to the king.

“Where does one buy wine?” Sombra just asked.

“Well, for the more expensive brands, we buy them in wine stores, though cheaper brands can be bought in any grocery store,” the pegasus answered, a little confused by the question.

“You just buy it in the store? Just like that?” Sombra frowned hard.

“Why does that bother you?” Dew raised her brow a little. What she wasn’t expecting was the king cracking a smile, easing his frown, and chuckling slightly.

“It doesn’t. I just realized suddenly how old I am,” he said, still staring towards the city. “And how much I have missed. Not just because I was exiled and then dead, but just because I ignored most of it due to my…”

Sombra clamped his mouth shut and eyed Dew Doe, who looked a little surprised at this almost heart-to-heart talk. The king sneered and turned around to head back inside, silently berating himself.

“Sombra?” the pegasus addressed him.

The Dark Pony stopped on his way and glared back at Dew Doe. The pegasus stared right back, a neutral expression on her face.

“Do you want to help me go get groceries?” she asked, though the mare figured he would refuse. “And no, this is not a half-brained scheme to make you feel included because we feel sorry for you.”

“Fine,” Sombra grunted. He was bored anyway, and this gave him something to do. Besides, he needed to play nice and he figured this was part of helping around the house as he was required to do.

“Let me just get my list and saddlebag,” Dew Doe said and trotted back into the house.

Luna was waiting for Celestia in the throne room. The Moon Princess watched her sister approach the throne. Both sisters gave each other a knowing look.

“He was lying through his teeth; the moment I put the manacle back on, I detected many spells he must have cast while none of us were looking,” Celestia told her.

“I thought as much. I decided to play along because I wanted to see what he was up to. I didn’t buy that his body was disintegrating for a second. He would have been a shapeless form in Tartarus if it were still unstable and just fueled by his dark powers,” Luna snorted and rolled her eyes.

“The fact that Sombra didn’t notice that you weren’t actually buying it is quite commendable. He is not easy to fool,” her sister pointed out with a proud smile.

“Thank you, sister. I think it was high time we pulled a fast one on him,” Luna chuckled slightly, clearly very proud of her acting ability. Then she scowled. “This begs the question, though, why didn’t he just bust out of my magic bubble and make his escape? Sure, it would have alerted me to it, but he’s certainly powerful enough to manage to escape before I arrived.”

“Because he really is hiding Luna. He does think his best bet is to stick around where he is for the moment. No, Sombra really is fearful of his mother. He would rather be somewhere where we know he is instead of somewhere secluded where he might risk running into her. He does not want to face her alone,” Celestia told her sibling and took a seat on the throne. Luna turned to face her, looking mildly confused.

“The spells I detected were defensive in nature; also, there was one that looked like an alarm spell. I have a feeling if Rabia approaches Sombra, we will know it,” the Sun Princess explained and smiled ruefully. “To think, all we needed to keep Sombra in check was to have his mother around.”

“I do not understand. How can she have such a powerful hold on him? Sure, she is powerful and frightening in her own way, but…” Luna scowled as she tried to piece this together. When her sister turned solemn, the lunar princess arched her brow.

“Because you never spoke with Prince Sombra alone,” Celestia quietly whispered. “He would clamp his mouth shut the moment he thought his mother might be around. He would always glance around to make absolutely sure she wasn’t there. Every time he even just said the word ‘mother’, the only feelings towards it were resentment and fear.”

“Don’t you remember when we captured him? He said he felt safer letting us capture him and punish him. As much as we resented him for all the pain and torment he had caused, he knew we would be far kinder to him than anything his mother would be. At least that’s how his mind works.” Celestia shook her head.

“I see your point. We are not going to keep others in the dark about this, are we?” Luna asked and let out a breath in relief when Celestia shook her head.

“I have already explained it to Private, Dew, and Foxy, but told them to play along. The manacle is still in place; Sombra is still depowered. Let us allow him this reprieve and think he has played a fast one on us. He’s been surprisingly cooperative, all things considered. Granted, he could be more cooperative, but it is Sombra we are talking about,” Celestia told her. “For once, he is preparing for his mother, not against us.”

“One thing though bothers me. How could he do this?” Luna wondered with a heavy frown. “His show was very effective.”

“Sombra is pretty creative even with only very limited magic. I told him what little magic I granted him couldn’t affect living things, and nothing he did affected the living. He just figured out how to cast a very minor illusion spell; he just couldn’t control it effectively with the magic block on him,” Celestia said. “He would probably have had it much subtler if that was the case.”

Luna nodded. Now that she thought about it, what had tipped her off that this had been all a play, was the excessive amount of cracks and smoke coming from him. It had been enough to fool Private and his friends, though, none of which had great knowledge of magic.

“Well, I better go to bed. This has been a long night,” she then declared, having realized it was almost mid-morning. Celestia nodded and smiled.

“We’ll speak more when you wake up. Have a good sleep, sister,” Celestia told her and watched her depart the throne room. Then she summoned her secretary to begin her more regular mundane duties for the day.

Foxy Stripes scrutinized the magazine she was holding, then she held it further away and stared at it skeptically. Then she held it closer to her face as she continued to examine the contents of the page.

“Has this pony even made cloud sculptures before?” she muttered and turned to a new page. “Ooh, puzzles.”

The mare looked up and grinned when seeing that Dew had left the pencil behind on the coffee table before going to the store. Foxy leaned over, grabbed it in her mouth, and pulled herself back.

While she sunk herself into her puzzle, she didn’t notice a shadow pass by the window of the living room. The mare scratched her head, trying to figure out the solution. A soft knock on the door finally prompted her to look up.

“Cooooming,” she sang out and threw the magazine and the pencil to the couch. The pegasus rose from the chair and trotted out of the living room and to the front door, briefly wondering who was coming at this time in the morning.

Foxy opened the door and blinked at the sight in front of her. Queen Rabia stood there, a small smile on her muzzle. The pegasus blinked some more, not quite clicking with her who that was even though her clothing looked awfully familiar. “Errr… hi?”

“Greetings, I understand my son is staying here,” Rabia spoke softly, never losing that smile.

Oooh crud, is that Queen Rabia? Foxy froze when she realized who it was. Then she chuckled nervously.

“I’m terribly sorry. You’ve got the wrong building.” She immediately tried to slam the door shut, but Rabia’s magic held it back. The queen chuckled and pushed her way in, forcing the pegasus to back further into the hall.

“I don’t think I do,” Rabia said, grabbing Foxy up in an aura of magic as she slammed the door shut after her. “Where is he?”

“Not here right now,” Foxy tried her best to grin, masking how absolutely terrified she right now was. Rabia frowned and carried the pegasus to the living room and promptly dumped her on a couch.

“Where is he?” the queen asked again, her eyes turning green and red.

Foxy sunk in the couch; now, she was thankful that Barricade had come to demand his daughter be removed from the house. It didn’t help her current situation, but the mare took what she could.

“He went shopping,” the pegasus whispered and closed her eyes, expecting all kinds of things would happen. When nothing did, she carefully opened one eye. Rabia’s eyes had stopped glowing, and now the queen looked mildly befuddled.

“Shopping?” Rabia repeated after her skeptically.

“Yes, my sister got him to go help her shopping downtown,” Foxy explained quickly, still fearful something was going to happen, so she braced herself with her wings.

Rabia snorted and promptly sat down on the opposite couch of the pegasus. Foxy slowly looked up, still wondering when things would go more downhill than they already were. The queen looked almost annoyed now as if things hadn’t quite played out as she had anticipated.

“Then we wait for him to return,” Rabia claimed.

“Greaaat….” Foxy chuckled nervously and sat up more properly. “So… uh, you’re Sombra’s mom, huh?”

“I am his mother, yes,” Rabia confirmed with a nod. Foxy nodded, nervously clapping her hooves together, eyeing furtively around.

“Are you going to torture and torment me?” the mare then asked.

“You have responded to my questions without the need for such excessive encouragement, though we are currently testing the truth of your statement that he is indeed only out for a little while, shopping,” the Dark Pony stated and started examining her right hoof guard.

“Well, since we aren’t going anywhere… I was kind of wondering,” Foxy gulped and kept glancing around before eyeing the queen again. All Rabia did was arch her brow. “Who is Sombra’s dad? I mean, you are his mom, of course, but uh… you know, it takes two to tango and all that.”

Rabia raised one eyebrow high when hearing the question. “I do not understand what you are referring to with tango, whatever that is. However, if you are asking who Sombra’s sire was, his name was Vago. He was the Captain of my royal guards.”

“Oooh, really,” Foxy slowly nodded, recalling the distant discussion she and her friends had had about Sombra’s possible father. The mare was just trying to keep herself from freaking out right now, and usually, she did that by talking. Right now, Rabia didn’t seem interested in harming her. How long that would last was another matter entirely. “What was he like?”

“He killed me,” Rabia simply stated, her expression turning darker.

“Ah…” Foxy immediately detected that she was treating dangerous territory. Alright, Foxy girl, don’t piss off any further the mare who gave birth to King Darky… let’s live to see another sunrise.

“Should I just shut up now?” the pegasus asked, knowing her mouth did sometimes have a habit of getting her into trouble.

“That would be very much appreciated,” Rabia growled softly. Foxy’s only response was nodding furiously that she understood perfectly.

Well, I was always wondering when it was my turn to be face-to-face with a powerful mad pony, the mare thought and glanced at the clock, wondering how long it would take Dew and Sombra to shop.

End chapter 15

Chapter 16. I am not dignifying that.

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Chapter 16

Dew Doe trotted along the road, carrying both her saddlebag and a new bag that was full of groceries. Sombra walked alongside her and had relented to carry the remaining two bags. The pegasus had used the opportunity to buy a little more extra since there were two of them. They were heading home now, and the pegasus was very contemplative.

“Go on, just say it,” Sombra grunted, already feeling he knew what was on her mind.

“Eh… that was surprisingly uneventful,” Dew Doe smiled nervously, feeling a little guilty that the whole time she had been second-guessing herself taking Sombra on a shopping trip, half-fearing that it would be a disaster.

Nothing she had pictured had come to pass, although many ponies stayed clear away from them, looking at the pair nervously, especially Sombra. Yet the Dark Pony had not spared them a single glance, just accompanied the mare to the stores without uttering a single word. He had been observing, though, looking at things attentively.

The only real incident, if one could call it that, was at one point a pony who wasn’t paying attention to where he was going had bumped into Sombra. The king had just glared at the poor pony and gave a bit of a growl, but the other stallion just quickly excused himself and ran off as if his life depended on it.

“I assume you figured I was incapable of behaving civilly?” Sombra asked, smiling a little smugly. “I did promise I would behave myself.”

“Yes, I mean no… ugh…” Dew stopped for a moment to rub her forehead with a hoof. The king stopped as well to look at her. “You really can’t blame us for not trusting you fully.”

“Please, Miss Dew Doe, I was raised in a royal court. I know how to properly conduct myself when amongst the peasantry,” the Dark Pony chuckled and resumed walking.

“I am not dignifying that,” the pegasus grunted and now followed slightly behind the large unicorn, who just chortled a bit.

I can’t wait for all of this to be over, she quietly snorted and felt so relieved to see her home in the distance. Then the pegasus almost walked into Sombra, who had suddenly come to a dead stop.

“What’s wrong?” she asked and walked closer. The pegasus was halted when Sombra held out his hoof to prevent her from going further. The king was staring forward, his brow sinking into a hard frown.

“Tell me, has Private told you about how Dark Ponies can in a way sense each other?” he quietly asked, never taking his eyes off the house.

“Yeah, a little,” the pegasus nodded, eyeing the house and Sombra uncertainly.

“Private and the other descendants have to concentrate to feel it. A pure-blooded Dark Pony doesn’t. We just feel it,” Sombra said, his voice almost in a whisper. “There are only two Dark Ponies alive today. My mother and I.”

“What are you…” Dew froze when it hit her what Sombra was talking about. “Oh no… Foxy!”

Before Dew could even think of racing forward, Sombra stepped right in front of her, then glared back at the pegasus.

“Dew Doe, if I can sense her from here, she can sense me. She knows I’m coming,” Sombra told her sharply. “Wait here; I will get your sister out.”

Dew was too worried about her sister right now to be surprised about this uncharacteristic offer from the king. Right now, her mind was just focused on helping Foxy, and right now, help appeared to be on the way, even if it was King Sombra. So, the pegasus just nodded, shifting her hooves on the ground nervously.

Sombra turned back to the house and started walking. A sneer crossed his lips, and his eyes narrowed to slits. He had worried this would happen. It now occurred to him what his mother had been doing in Manehattan. Barricade knew Sombra was here, so it was clear that Rabia had received that information from him.

The dark unicorn stopped for a moment in front of the house, deep down, steeling himself for the upcoming confrontation. As he was about to open the door, it swung open with red magic that was not his. Grunting, Sombra entered and didn’t even need to be told where to go. He stepped into the living room entrance, where Rabia sat on one couch, and Foxy sat on the other.

“Mother,” he growled at the one pony he had hoped never to see again.

“My son, enjoyed your shopping?” Rabia looked over, smirking at her seething son.

“You, get out.” Sombra glared at Foxy. The mare blinked in confusion and looked at Rabia, who just shrugged, apparently not caring at all.

Foxy didn’t need to be told twice, she jumped from the couch, and Sombra stepped out of the way so the pegasus could run out. The king fully entered the living room and sat down on the couch Foxy had previously occupied.

“I did have a feeling that after our last meeting, you would figure a way to get out of Tartarus, a rather interesting place though you found it to hide in,” Rabia remarked, retaining the same smirk on her muzzle. “You really thought you could hide from me, my Little Shadow?”

“Then again, that is what you were always so good at. Hiding,” the queen snorted and rolled her eyes. “Hiding, hiding, always hiding. It took some serious effort to get you to stop that finally.”

“Yes, I remember those efforts very well. In fact, I still have some of those scars from those efforts,” Sombra growled low before glancing down at himself. “Well, not the physical scars, I suppose, new body and all.”

“Well, it worked, didn’t it? You stopped recoiling at every little thing I was trying to teach you,” Rabia snapped. Sombra said nothing, holding back a wince as he raised his head to resume glaring at his mother.

“Seriously, a Dark Stallion who freaks out at the sight of blood, even his own? What kind of a stallion is that?” the queen snorted and shook her head in dismay.

“Are you here to collect me, or are you just here to remind me of the ‘tender’ and ‘loving’ care you raised me with?” her son snorted. He really had to use all his willpower not to recoil when his mother fixed a cold gaze on him.

“I recall also teaching you not to SPEAK unless given permission to,” she snapped. She sneered when Sombra smirked at that. “What are you smirking about?”

“I’m sorry. I’m allowed to speak?” the king asked mockingly. What happened next was too fast for him to react; Rabia was suddenly on all fours, raised her hoof, and struck him so hard in the cheek that Sombra was thrown off the couch and crashed on the floor.

“Do not be smart with me, Sombra!” Rabia snarled, glowering at her son. “You will show me some proper respect!”

Sombra lay on the floor, breathing heavily, refusing to give his mother even an ounce of satisfaction. Slowly he looked up at her, nothing but hate and contempt directed at the mare standing above him.

“Isn’t it funny how you keep complaining how emotional stallions are when you are the only one here raging in emotions?” he snorted. This earned him a kick from Rabia, knocking the wind out of him.

“STOP IT!!”

A blue flash suddenly rushed into the living room. When Sombra looked up, Dew Doe was standing between him and his mother. The pegasus looked absolutely livid, glaring up at the much taller unicorn mare.

“How in Equestria can you call yourself a mother! What kind of a pony treats their child like this! I don’t care who you are! I don’t care what you can do. No parent treats their children like that!” Dew Doe snarled, stomping her hoof down.

“I thought Sombra was the absolute worst pony I had ever met. Well, I guess I now know who I can thank for that. If this is your idea of how to interact with your children, it’s a small wonder Sombra turned out as he did. I can see now why he ended up running away. To get the Tartarus away from you, you crazy bitch!” The pegasus was so mad she flew up to be at eye-level with the queen, who was starting to sneer and her horn beginning to glow green and purple.

Sombra could already see what was going to happen. The king quickly rose and used his head to push Dew Doe out of the way. But as Rabia was about to shoot, a maroon flash collided with her, throwing the mare off her hooves and crashed into the couch. The magic energy flew into a wall and left a large gaping hole there.

“Let’s get out of here!” Foxy declared as she quickly made a beeline for the entrance. Dew had already corrected her flight and saw that Sombra was already standing up and flew out after them.

They didn’t get too far. In the front yard, they heard a terrifying roar coming from the inside. The pegasi and Sombra looked back, the mares cringing when seeing black smoke pour out after them through the door.

“Keep running!” Sombra snapped and galloped away; the sisters didn’t need to be told twice and sped after him on their wings.

“What do we do?” Foxy called, her eyes grew wider when seeing the black smoke filling up the sky above them.

“You two continue,” the king declared and ground to a halt and turned around. He sneered at the sight before him; the horizon itself was slowly filling up with the black, shadowy smoke.

Well, we’ll find out soon enough if my preparations worked, he thought as he watched his mother’s head form above. Then he noticed that the pegasi sisters had stopped a short distance away and were watching. “Didn’t I tell you to keep flying!?”

Before either could respond, there was a brilliant flash of light. Rabia’s head howled in pain when a yellow beam of magic struck her in the head. Sombra arched his brow, and the sisters gasped. Celestia was flying through the air, her mane and tail glowing like fire.

“Stand down, Queen Rabia!” the Solar Princess boomed in her royal Canterlot voice.

Rabia snarled, and large, shadowy tendrils shot out from her smoke form, aiming for the princess. Celestia dodged them and fired more beams of magic, dissipating them. The queen sneered, then she suddenly compressed her form and started to speed off with the Sun Princess right behind her.

“Okay, that happened,” Foxy said as she and Dew landed right behind Sombra.

Sombra glared back at them and opened his mouth as if to say something, and then he changed his mind. He turned his head forward, Rabia was already a distant speck on the horizon, and despite the daylight, they could still see the bright glow of Celestia. The king held back the relief he was feeling.

“It is not coincidental. I was not entirely honest yesterday,” he growled. Since Celestia had arrived, it was clear that one of his spells had, in fact, worked.

“You weren’t really dying? Yeah, we know,” Dew Doe said and couldn’t help but snicker when seeing the look of utter confusion the Dark Pony gave her.

“Yeah, you didn’t fool Princess Luna at all. She knew. She and Celestia just played along, then told us and told us to play along,” Foxy grinned.

Sombra growled softly to himself and wondered what had tipped them off. However, he had planned to confess the ruse the moment any of his contingency spells activated, which at least saved him that trouble. Now another question remained - how would they view this. This could be interpreted as him causing trouble while staying here.

“Well, I guess it’s back to Tartarus with me then. I suppose this counts as me breaking the agreement we made,” he grunted and glanced back when noticing a flash of light. Celestia had teleported back to them.

“It could indeed be viewed that way, Sombra,” Celestia agreed in a neutral tone of voice. She took a moment to look back. “I’m afraid your mother managed to escape; she traveled faster than I could fly.”

“So, Sombra, why did you feel the need to deceive us so you could put alarm spells on yourself in case your mother found you?” the princess turned back to the Dark Pony, still sounding and looking neutral.

“Oh yes, I was just going to ask you politely to take off my manacle for a few moments while I did those spells? I can see how well that discussion would have gone,” Sombra snorted and turned to face the princess fully. “None of you trust me, and I sure don’t trust any of you. And I didn’t just put on alarm spells. I added some extra layers of defense. I know too well how hard mother hits.”

“Well, if you want to go back to Tartarus…” Celestia began, but at that moment, Dew Doe sprang forward, putting herself between her and Sombra.

“Wait, wait, let’s not be too rash,” the pegasus said, quickly making a bow for the princess as she did. The alicorn just tilted her head but waited for Dew to continue.

“I will admit that after hearing that Sombra fooled us after all, I was a bit miffed and almost just wanted to have Private ask you to toss him back to Tartarus, but after recent events…” Dew Doe glanced at the house and cringed when seeing the smoking hole in the wall, wondering for a brief second how they would explain that to the landlord.

“I can see now that Sombra was desperate,” she said, turning back to the bigger ponies.

“Now hold on there,” Sombra protested, only to have Dew to fly up to be at his eye level.

“Can it!” the pegasus said quietly but sharply as she pointed at him. The king arched his brow and snorted, half in amusement, half mildly indignant of being told to shut up by this mare.

“When Foxy ran out of the house, I was already sneaking closer. So we both snuck closer and managed to listen in on their conversation. Princess Celestia, I’ve had to deal with my fair share of abusive parents while working in social service. Even some of the ponies I’ve helped settle back into society after having been in jail have confessed to me about how terrible their upbringing used to be,” Dew returned to the princess, who just kept listening.

“Sombra does put on airs; he shows us all how big, tough, and dangerous he is, flaunting his powers and all that, even when depowered as he is with that manacle on. We have barely managed to keep him in line,” the pegasus continued and eyed Sombra, who didn’t look overly impressed.

“You should have seen him when talking with Rabia. There was none of the usual confidence - oh an untrained pony might not have seen it, but I watched his body language. He was terrified; he kept struggling to put on mask after mask. Rabia absolutely dominated the conversation. Sombra managed to put in some snark, but there was always that briefest hint of body language that he was just waiting to be hit. He knew, no matter what he said, she was going to hit him.” Dew shook her head. Then she looked at Sombra fully.

“Tell me something, Sombra, and there is nothing behind this question. I just want to know. For all your talk about wanting power and more power, like I’ve heard Private tell us, is it because you want power, or is it because you want to be more powerful than her? To be able to beat her up, as she beat you?”

Sombra eyed the pegasus grimly for a moment; then he looked at Celestia, who still had not dropped the neutral expression.

“Yes,” he finally muttered and said nothing more, He walked a bit away and sat down with his back turned to them.

“You certainly have a talent there, Dew Doe. I can see why your calling was to help ponies,” Celestia finally smiled as she regarded the pegasus, causing Dew to blush a little at the compliment.

“However, the secrecy of this place has been compromised, and I do not feel comfortable leaving you all here with Rabia still on the loose. You three shall accompany me to Canterlot until we have figured something else out,” she declared and beckoned for Foxy to come closer. The only response from Sombra was silence.

“What about Private? He’s still in Manehattan,” Foxy pointed out.

“Twilight is already in Manehattan keeping a watch over his brother after last night’s incident. I’ll send her a message to direct Private to Canterlot once he’s done,” Celestia assured the sisters. The princess fired up her horn and then teleported all four of them away.

Sombra averted his eyes when the teleport flash happened. When he could see again, they were all in the throne room. He could hear Celestia address the pegasi sister about something. Glancing back, he saw a guard escort them out of the throne room, no doubt to go somewhere they could rest after what had happened earlier. He rose when the princess turned her attention to him.

“I was considering doing this a little later, but with Rabia’s current show of force, I think I can not delay it any longer,” Celestia said while approaching the Dark Pony. “We have Chrysalis in custody; she’s refused to speak to us. However, we need to know where Rabia is hiding. Do you think you could talk with her?”

Sombra arched his brow. “That is far beyond our initial agreement, Celestia,” he snorted.

“I know. Fine, name your terms,” Celestia said, her eyes narrowed slightly when Sombra raised his hoof and pointed at the manacle around his horn.

“We don’t trust each other, Celestia. I’m not fooling myself into thinking we have any reason to do so. However, I do promise that I will not use my powers on anyone in Equestria, even Private, while I help you hunt down my mother,” King Sombra said and grit his teeth. “Dew was not wrong about me. I am terrified of my mother and… while she is loose, I am just as much a prisoner in Tartarus as out here, even with my powers. She didn’t even waste any time once she found out where I was. She will hound me, again and again, and it’s just as much in my interest to catch her as it is in yours.”

“Chrysalis is just as much a liar as I am, just as deceptive and just as stubborn. However, I can do things that you refuse to do because of your morals, and you know it. You may not agree to it, but you will have to agree that I can get things to talk,” he concluded.

“You give me one reason, any reason at all, that manacle is going right back on, even if I have to hunt you down to the ends of this world and beyond,” Celestia said sharply but quietly. When Sombra nodded, she took a deep breath, activated her horn, and the manacle around the king’s horn fell to the floor with a clank.

“Don’t make me regret this,” the Sun Princess then added and turned around. “I’ll show you where we are keeping Chrysalis.”

“Lead the way,” Sombra shrugged and smiled when feeling his powers surging through him once more.

End chapter 16

Chapter 17. Thank me? Whatever for?

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Chapter 17

Twilight Sparkle felt relief wash over her when she finally returned to her castle in Ponyville. She had to resist an urge to head over to the school to see how things were going there, trusting that Starlight could handle things for now while the current situation was being addressed.

Right now she had one more thing to do before calling it a day. She entered the castle and headed towards the map room. Spike was already running towards her.

“Hi Spike, are they here?” she asked her assistant.

“Yes, Fluttershy just arrived,” he reported with a nod. The dragon was then allowed to jump on her back as the princess continued.

Twilight was a little nervous. After she had caught Chrysalis and transported her to Canterlot with Luna, the friendship princess had been tasked with watching Manehattan, especially where Barricade lived, just in case Rabia tried anything else. But, as it turned out, things had taken quite a different turn. Private had arrived to check on his brother and stayed there for most of the day until Twilight got a message that he needed to go to Canterlot once he was done. It turned out Rabia had attacked his home.

The friendship princess was just out of a meeting with Celestia, Luna, and Cadance regarding this recent development and what to do next. Now she needed to discuss it with her friends. A small part of her was not looking forward to it.

Rainbow Dash had helped her keep an eye on Manehattan, and when Twilight got the opportunity, she had finally cornered her friend to talk about what was bothering her so much. Dash had been evasive at first before finally spilling it out, and due to that, Twilight was even more skeptical this next meeting was going to go well. She reminded herself that the important thing was that she remained calm.

Well here goes nothing, she thought and finally opened the doors to the map room and entered. All her five friends sat on their respective seats and turned to look at her.

“Hello, thanks all for coming. I’ve got some news and, boy, is it a doozy!” Twilight addressed them with a smile.

“Sure thing, Twi. Ah take it relates to that Queen Rabia?” Applejack asked what the rest of the mares were thinking.

“Yes, it does,” the princess nodded as she got seated on her chair; as she did, Spike jumped down to his own little chair right next to hers.

“Rainbow, have you had time to tell them we caught Chrysalis?” Twilight looked at the pegasus, who nodded.

“She hasn’t stopped talking about it,” Rarity remarked with a wry grin.

“Hey, what can I say? It was awesome. I pummeled into Queen Rabia and easily dodged Chrysalis when she flew up to attack me. Then Twilight came and blasted her down. Too bad we didn’t get a chance to grab the Queen too,” Rainbow Dash smirked and puffed out her chest in pride.

“Well, there were only two of us,” Twilight said and then looked over the group. “Rabia was busy today.”

Twilight told them what had happened yesterday night, Rainbow Dash adding her two cents at first. Then she told them what happened elsewhere, also explaining what had been happening today when Rabia had finally made her move in Fillydelphia.

“Oh my, are they okay?” Fluttershy asked concerned, referring mostly to Foxy and Dew.

“They are all fine. Sombra’s little trick was an alarm to Celestia if Rabia attacked him. The princess got the call and arrived on time to chase her away,” Twilight assured her friend. Then she sighed. “Unfortunately, Rabia escaped.”

“However, we now have Chrysalis in custody and confirmation that she was working with Queen Rabia. Celestia has…” Twilight hesitantly glanced at Rainbow Dash. “asked King Sombra to interrogate her for Rabia’s location.”

“What!?” Rainbow snapped and stomped both front hooves on the table. “First, she let this bozo out of Tartarus. Now she’s letting him interrogate Chrysalis?”

“Rainbow, let her finish,” Applejack glared over at the pegasus.

“No, no, it’s alright, Applejack. Rainbow does have a good reason to feel this way, don’t you, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight said calmly and looked at the pegasus. Things hadn’t exploded as badly as the princess had feared, then again, Twilight knew she tended to overthink things.

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes, sneered a little, then fell back to her seat, folding her legs. For a moment, she just stewed here. Twilight gave everyone a sign to just let her. Finally, the pegasus eased her expression and gave a deep sigh.

“I just absolutely hate him. He captured me, tortured me, then when we went to Tartarus to talk with Tirek, he tried to pull me into his cage, saying he was going to eat me,” Rainbow told them quietly and shuddered a bit. “It bothers me that we are letting him run loose like this. It’s like he is not being punished at all. I want to see him blown up again like we did in the Crystal Empire when we first dealt with him.”

“Oh darling, it’s quite understandable that you feel that way,” Rarity said and dropped down from her seat and trotted over to Rainbow. She placed a leg around her friend in a reassuring hug. “You know you can always talk with us when feeling like this.”

“Yeah, we don’t like him any more than you do,” Pinkie bounced over and grabbed Rainbow in an even firmer hug.

“We do understand how you feel, Rainbow Dash. We really don’t like this arrangement any more than you do. We can only really trust that Celestia and Luna know what they are doing. They clearly think we need Sombra to deal with Rabia. Don’t forget; we really thought it was a bad idea when she suddenly decided to reform Discord, and you can see how that turned out…granted with few bumps in the road.” Twilight smiled warmly at her friend. Glad to see this was going better than she had anticipated. “And it’s not like we are trying reform Sombra. We are just enlisting his help in dealing with a pony who is threatening to destroy another nation. Ponies who shouldn’t have to pay for the crimes of their ancestors.”

“Yeah…I guess that’s true.” Rainbow nodded and then hugged both Pinkie and Rarity back. “Thanks, guys, I was just…”

“Just being you, Rainbow. We understand,” Applejack chuckled, and so did the rest of the mares. Dash grinned a little.

“Alright, enough sappiness,” Rainbow declared, freeing herself from her two friends. “What happens now?”

“Well, we are no longer looking for Chrysalis. Our focus is now on Queen Rabia. If the interrogation is successful, we will find where she is hiding. Celestia is also going to try and reach Saddle Arabia again. She hasn’t heard anything from Ambassador Saddlefar, and that concerns her,” Twilight explained once everybody was back in their respective seats. “However, Celestia wants us now to be ready for anything. Rabia might try and go for Sombra again, but if not, her next move will be on Saddle Arabia.”

In a prison cell in Canterlot Castle, Queen Chrysalis sat and glared at the pony sitting in front of the bars. King Sombra just looked neutral as he regarded the captured changeling. After Princess Celestia had shown him where the queen was being kept, he had just sat down in front of the cell and started watching her.

“I see they have not only let you out of Tartarus, but allowed you access to all your powers,” Chrysalis finally retorted, narrowing her eyes. Still, Sombra said nothing, just kept watching.

“Don’t tell me you are actually willingly working for them? Ponies both of us look at as enemies,” the changeling snarled in contempt. The king just raised his eyebrow slightly.

“Didn’t we used to be allies? I supplied you with spies; you supplied me with slaves. Surely that counts for something here. Free me since you have your powers,” Chrysalis demanded and stomped her hoof down.

“Do you not wonder why you are here in a cell?” Sombra spoke up, at last, speaking in a quiet tone of voice.

“Because Twilight and that rainbow pegasus captured me, that’s why!” Chrysalis snorted and rolled her eyes as if that had been the stupidest question she had ever heard. She sneered and glared at Sombra when the king started to chuckle.

“You weren’t alone there, Chrysalis. Wasn’t my mother there? You are not wondering why she didn’t help you? Why hasn’t she sprung you out already? I’m sure she made promises to gain your assistance, doubt those promises included being captured again,” the Dark Unicorn pointed out.

Sombra noted that this caused Chrysalis to pause, dropping the sneer. She now seemed to be thinking about what the king had said. The queen scowled as she was thinking over the events that had led to her second capture.

“What was it that you were supposed to do for my mother?” Sombra asked, though he had a feeling he knew the answer to that question, considering his mother’s impromptu visit to where he was staying.

“I was to locate you or find a way to locate you. I recalled you having this obsession over these dark pony descendants and Rabia pointed me to that pony in Manehattan. She came personally to interrogate him once I had him isolated,” Chrysalis shrugged. “By the way, I ran into one of your spells inside of him when I tried to mesmerize him.”

“Yes, I recall I asked you to leave those ponies alone. I meant it,” Sombra frowned heavily. “Glad to see how well you keep to your promises to me, my dear ally.”

“Hey, don’t you turn this back on me. I’m not the one working for Princess Celestia right now,” Chrysalis snapped.

“And you were working with my mother!” Sombra snarled, his eyes flashing green as he rose. The room started to darken. Shadow tendrils struck out from the king, grabbed Chrysalis, and slammed her to the cell's back wall. “That is a pretty bad strike as far as I’m concerned.”

“You are nothing without your hive, Chrysalis! I watched you after your second defeat. Yammering on and on in the woods how you would finally get your revenge. Doing nothing but blathering. You are absolutely pathetic without your subjects to boss around,” the Dark Pony growled and squeezed the changeling with the tendrils.

“And now look where it has gotten you. You have been captured two times and played like an absolute fool by Queen Rabia. I would sooner work with Princess Celestia than ever suffer my mother ever again!” he snapped and slammed the queen to the floor, finally letting her go.

Chrysalis coughed and retched as she tried to regain composure again. The world was spinning after being tossed around like that. Slowly she started to rise, glaring at the king the whole time.

“You call me…” Chrysalis's words froze in her mouth when Sombra assumed his shadow form, fully emerged into her cell, looming over her, baring his teeth. Extremely sharp crystals sprouted all around her and threatened to skewer her right there and then. There was a murderous glint in the king’s eyes.

“Say it.” Sombra hissed, his voice laced with nothing but hate and contempt. “Go on. Say it.”

Chrysalis felt a small tinge of worry. She knew Sombra well and knew he never made idle threats. The crystals continued to edge closer slowly, all around her. The changeling couldn’t help but wonder if this was an approved Celestia method. This didn’t look like something she would allow at all.

“Alright, Celestia, call him back. You made your point,” Chrysalis called and looked worried at Sombra. When she was facing his mother, at least she did have access to her powers, but now she was completely defenseless.

“Celestia will not help you, Chrysalis. We are all alone here. Right now, all I am seeing is a bug my mother used to get her way, yet again,” Sombra snarled and started to come closer. “Do you have any idea how happy I was when I heard she had been killed? Or the dread I felt when I accidentally brought her back? No, you don’t because you are just absolutely incapable of having those feelings. I don’t know what my mother offered you, but it was clearly good enough for you.”

“Alright, Sombra, that’s enough.” Chrysalis never thought she would be so happy to hear that voice coming from somewhere else in the room. Yet Sombra was not stopping his crystals.

“Give me one good reason why not, Celestia?” the king snapped, still not backing off.

“She knows where your mother is,” Celestia pointed out.

“She’s in a cave in the woods, near the Mcintosh Mountains! I swear! She’s holed up there with some mindless slaves she captured somewhere! She’s staying there until she’s ready to attack Saddle Arabia!” Chrysalis shouted and closed her eyes tight, expecting to be impaled at any second now.

The crystals vanished, and King Sombra returned to his previous position and pony form in front of the cell. Celestia stepped up to look into the cell. Chrysalis was slowly opening one eye, still flinching at the expected execution.

“Thank you, Chrysalis. Now, we are still waiting on word from King Thorax regarding what to do with you. You do have to answer for the crimes you committed in Equestria. However, you are also being held responsible for what you did to the Changeling race. You will be kept in this cell until that time,” she addressed the queen.

Chrysalis was genuinely too shaken to respond to that, slumping back down and watching Sombra stand up and walk away. Celestia departed and left the changeling to stew alone in her cell.

“That was a bit excessive,” Celestia remarked as she and Sombra returned to Canterlot Castle proper.

“I thought it wasn’t excessive enough,” the king snorted and just continued walking without looking at the princess. “Regretting our deal already?”

“That remains to be seen. At least we know where she’s been hiding. However, I am concerned about those mindless slaves. I’ve had no reports of ponies missing,” the alicorn furrowed her brow in thought.

“You have actually,” Sombra stated, causing Celestia to look at him, confused. “Didn’t you say you haven’t heard from the Saddle Arabian ambassador? Doesn’t that strike you as a little odd?”

“Oh no…communications are not that slow…I must contact the Emir immediately,” she gasped in shock and started to hurry her pace towards the throne room. Sombra just shrugged and decided to follow since he wasn’t quite sure what was the next move. He assumed going directly to deal with his mother, but he really didn’t have any desire to confront her right now at all.

As they continued, Celestia was starting to gallop, a door opened, and Private Iceland came out of it. The unicorn blinked when seeing the sun princess race past him, then froze when seeing King Sombra, with no manacle on his horn.

“Private,” Sombra just addressed him simply and continued to follow the princess. He chuckled when hearing the door slam behind him, assuming the unicorn had run back inside the room he had been in. He halted when hearing a nervous voice address him. Glancing back, Private stood there, shaking a little but still didn’t move.

“You have nothing to worry about. You’re no longer my custodian. I’m staying here in Canterlot under the watchful eyes of the Princesses until my mother is dealt with,” Sombra told him.

“Actually um…I wanted to uh… thank you…” Private rubbed the back of his head with a hoof.

“Thank me? Whatever for?” the king turned around to face the unicorn.

“Saving Dew and Foxy…She told me what happened and uh…you got Foxy out and after that, you saved Dew from that blast…” Private continued shifting a bit on his hooves as he spoke.

“They are fine friends. You are lucky to have them,” Sombra shrugged, not really seeing the big deal himself. “I can see why you love her, though.”

“Yeah,” Private nodded, then glanced at the door. Then he eyed the king again. “I uh…was also supposed to get you to talk about your mother…but guess that’s moot now.”

“I can almost picture how well that would have gone,” Sombra snorted, rolling his eyes, and started to turn around. “Well, if there was nothing else, I better get myself back to where Celestia can see me. I am still bound by agreements made, and I intend to honor them until this situation is resolved.”

“You hate your mother that much that you would actually honor the agreements?” Private asked, somewhat surprised. The unicorn was amazed the king hadn’t tried escaping now that his powers were no longer suppressed.

“Private, at this point, I will even work willingly with Princess Cadance and the other ponies that blew me up, if it means seeing my mother dead again,” the Dark Pony growled as he resumed walking towards the throne room, not even looking back at the now uncertain unicorn.

Sombra finally reached the throne room. Princess Celestia stood before her secretary, Raven Inkwell, furiously writing on a scroll, which she promptly sent away with a spell. Then she was given another by Raven and began writing on one that as well.

“I take it you have no way to directly communicate with the Emir?” Sombra asked as he walked closer.

“This is the most direct way we have, save teleporting all the way to Saddle Arabia and talking with him and his regent in person,” Celestia informed him.

“Well, why haven’t you just been doing that in the first place?” the king wondered, confused. It sounded to him like there shouldn’t be any communication problem. The princess sighed and glanced back at the king.

“I am bound by certain diplomatic agreements. Saddle Arabia is run a little differently than Equestria, also because we haven’t been sure what Rabia was going to be doing. It hadn’t reached the state of emergency that required immediate contact yet,” she said a bit sharply.

“I can’t help but feel there was a jab there aimed at me…wait,” Sombra frowned as he realized what Celestia had just said regarding the Emir. “Regent?”

“Emir Horsefar is only ten. His mother runs most governmental affairs for him until he comes of age.” Celestia returned her attention to the scroll she was writing, then when satisfied with it, sent it away with a spell.

“The Emir also has limited authority - his role is largely ceremonial. He oversees the legislative council and approves laws, but elected council members do the majority of the governing of Saddle Arabia.” Sombra turned his head at the voice addressing him, arching his brow when seeing that Private had followed him to the throne room.

“Elected?” the king was just a bit too stunned right now to form a sentence fully.

“By the Saddle Arabian population,” Private clarified. He was pretty sure that Sombra knew perfectly well what elections were.

“Not too far from how it’s here in Equestria either, though Luna and I do have more a hooves-on approach to the government,” Celestia remarked and finally turned fully around after dismissing her secretary.

Sombra glanced over to her, but before he could say anything, there was a flash of magic, and an official-looking scrolled popped into the room. Celestia quickly grabbed it in her magic and unfurled it. She took a moment to read it, her brow rising high before lowering it, looking mildly surprised.

“Well, we may have to teleport after all. Sombra, are you up for a trip?” she asked.

“To where?” Sombra asked, looking and sounding very skeptical.

“To Saddle Arabia. The Emir wishes to see you,” Celestia told him.

“Excuse ME!?” Sombra all but shouted. Then he quickly composed himself and sneered. “Why would I want to see him!?”

“That’s just it. I don’t know,” Celestia said and raised the scroll back up and read from it:

“To her Magnificent Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria. We have received your stark warning and will act promptly. We also understand from your letter that your warning comes from His Royal Highness, Prince Sombra, now defacto King Sombra of the Great Dark Pony Empire. We wish to extend an invitation to him to speak with us regarding his mother, Her Majesty Queen Rabia, the former ruler of the Great Dark Pony Empire. With haste, Emir Horsefar of Saddle Arabia, co-signed, Regent Manemin of Saddle Arabia.”

Celestia lowered the scroll again. She and Private now observed Sombra, who looked too stunned to speak. They didn’t dare think that his world view had been shattered by one letter, but it almost did seem like it had suffered a mild hit.

“That didn’t sound like a ten-year-old colt,” Sombra finally snorted.

“It was probably written by his mother, in his name,” Celestia quickly pointed out.

“Alright fine, I will come along and witness this farce, on two conditions,” the king snorted. To Private, the Dark Pony sounded more as if he had been told to do the laundry again.

“Always with the conditions. Fine. Name them,” the Sun Princess shook her head tiredly.

“I get even one hint that I don’t like how this is going, I’m out. You can throw me back to Tartarus for all I care,” Sombra growled and felt a little satisfied when Celestia nodded in agreement. “Second, Private is coming along as my retainer.”

“Wait, WHAT?” Private blinked in confusion. Sombra glared at the unicorn.

“You are a Dark Pony by ancestry. If this Emir Horsefar insists on dazzling me with titles, even if they are my rightful titles, another Dark Pony will accompany me to his court,” Sombra snorted.

“That does sound reasonable, I suppose. Private, I will be there as well and keeping an eye on Sombra. We do need to coordinate with the Emir at this point, especially if Sombra is right that Rabia has abducted Ambassador Saddlefar,” Celestia looked sympathetically towards Private.

“He already looks at me as his servant. Why do I have to agree to anything?” Private grumbled, giving Sombra a stink eye. The king sighed in frustration.

“That’s a companion. That’s not the same as a retainer,” the king grunted under his breath. He then muttered. “I want someone around that I can trust.”

This time it was Private and Celestia who were stunned. Sombra was cringing as if he couldn’t believe he just admitted this, yet he made no move to correct himself.

“I…uh…just let me let the girls know,” Private said and quickly vacated the throne room.

He does sound different. Has his short stay at Private’s home actually given him insights he’s never considered? Celestia thought as she regained her composure. Sombra was headed to a row of seats intended for ponies waiting for her audience.

No, let’s not think too far ahead. He is at least somewhat reasonable. The princess started to walk towards a side entrance. “I’m going to let Luna know that I’ll be taking a trip, then prepare myself for a long-distance teleport. Unless you wish to do that?”

“I am not wasting an ounce of my powers. I need everything I currently have in case I must face mother again,” Sombra growled. He was now seated in one of the chairs. Celestia just nodded and departed the throne room.

End chapter 17

Chapter 18. I raised them to be strong.

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Chapter 18

Saddle Arabia was a large peninsula in the distant south. It was not too far from Mount Aris, where the hippogriffs lived. To the west across a bay was Abyssinia. Equestria was to the far north, past what had once been the Dark Pony Empire and Somnambula.

The northern part was a vast desert, hemmed in at the far north by a mountain range that once marked the Dark Pony Empire's northern borders. As one went further south, a mighty river crossed the peninsula that gave home to vegetation and granted the locals the ability to farm food.

The river also cut right through the capital of Saddle Arabia, a large city that sprawled far enough that it reached to the northern desert. The city gates were situated both on the north wall and the south wall, and during the daytime, it had a constant stream of ponies and other creatures coming and going.

The Emir's palace was close to the eastern wall and the biggest building, with three large, spiraling towers topped with golden oval roofs. The main building itself was a large golden dome, and the walls were made of pure marble. The courtyard was a lush green garden, with flowers and trees from across the known world and a large, four-layer fountain as its centerpiece. Palace staff was kept quite busy tending to it all.

The city was busy as usual at this time of the day. The marketplace was full of merchants selling their wares, shouting over one another to attract customers. Regular citizens walked back and forth, attending to their various businesses. Inside the palace, things were a bit tenser.

The guards were nervous; they had been informed of an incoming visitation and asked to make sure to keep anyone too curious away. This was meant to be as secret as possible. They were though not that worried about the ruler of Equestria coming for an impromptu and rushed visit. It was who was accompanying her that worried them.

The last time he had been here - over a thousand years ago - it had not been pleasant. And though now it was ancient history, it was still history most Saddle Arabians had ingrained into their memories as the terrifying descent of the Lost Son of Queen Rabia upon the palace, his slaughter of the last king and his court in revenge for what they had done to the Dark Pony Empire. They still believed his howls of rage could be heard in the northern desert wind.

So it was somewhat understandable when some guards cringed slightly when three ponies appeared inside the great hall within the palace in a flash of light. Princess Celestia was a welcome sight, but the dark unicorn wearing his crown, red cape, and armor was a far more frightening one. Thankfully, they didn’t need to do anything as a palace aid was already approaching them.

“Y-your majesties,” the nervous, dark yellow Saddle Arabian pegasus bowed before them. He barely even dared to look at King Sombra, who was scowling and looking around as if he expected an attack at any moment.

“I believe Emir Horsefar wished to see us urgently,” Celestia addressed the nervous aid. She looked tired, even for her teleporting all the way to Saddle Arabia took a lot of energy.

“Yes, this way. His Eminence waits for you in the throne room.” The aid raised his head and gestured for them to follow.

Sombra snorted, but otherwise remained quiet as he followed Celestia and the aid. Trailing behind them was Private Iceland, still unsure why he was there, aside from the fact that it was the only way the dark pony would even set a hoof in this place.

He did take the opportunity to look around. Private had never been in Saddle Arabia; his parents had, due to their archeological work in the old Dark Pony Empire. As he looked around, admiring the swirling marble columns and the colorful banners, the unicorn noticed that he wasn’t the only one looking around. Sombra was as well; his scowl now changed to mild confusion.

“This has changed. Where are the emblems? The smug paintings of their past rulers? This looks more like Canterlot, if anything,” Sombra muttered, sounding baffled.

Sombra got no answers to his questions; Private was silent. Unseen since she was in front of them, Celestia was smirking, having overheard him. They arrived in the throne room, and once again, the Dark Pony was very confused. The throne was a simple silver embedded chair. He remembered a big ornate seat, studded with jewels and gold.

Before them stood a tall, bluish-colored Saddle Arabian mare. She had a simple tiara on her head and was draped in a silver-colored silk dress. Next to her stood a young colt, brownish-colored, with a white muzzle, wearing a simple green robe with golden hems.

“Emir Horsefar, Regent Manemin, it is a pleasure to meet you both,” Princess Celestia addressed them with a warm but tired smile.

“Your highness, I thank you for your prompt warning and response to our request to meet,” the mare spoke and nodded her head. Then her eyes landed upon Sombra, who looked back completely stunned. Then to his further surprise, both she and the colt bowed. “Welcome, your majesty. Thank you for agreeing to see us.”

“It was with some reluctance,” Sombra finally found his voice and sneered. “Let’s stop wasting time on empty platitudes. Why do you want to see me?”

Celestia glared at Sombra, but before she could say anything, Emir Horsefar stepped forward. His mother nearly reached out with a leg to pull him back, looking worried and biting her lips.

“It was my idea, Your Majesty. Your people were unjustly destroyed by mine. I know nothing we say or do can bring them back, or your sister. But, I still wanted to say this. We are sorry. Sorry for what the old king did to your people, to your sister. We committed a heinous sin that we may never be redeemed from, and now it seems we must face the wrath of your mother for it.” The whole time the young ruler spoke, his head was bowed down, his muzzle nearly touching the carpeted marble floor.

“All I can ask on behalf of my people is mercy. You have already justly punished the king who spearheaded the invasion and murdered your sister. Please help us stay the wrath of your mother. Let her not punish those whose ancestors opposed the invasion and did not celebrate the slaughter of our northern brethren.”

“Am I to believe that there were Saddle Arabians who opposed the invasion?” King Sombra snorted, almost ready to laugh at the very idea. This time Manemin stepped forward; she gently put a hoof on her son’s back, nodding to him before nervously looking at the dark pony.

“Your Majesty, if you yourself recall, despite hostilities between our two nations, there was still diplomatic relations. Several noble families here had business in your empire, and several of yours had connections in Saddle Arabia. When Queen Rabia died and your sister Queen Ira came to power, several hoped this would end the hostilities. They had heard of Ira’s more gentle nature and hoped she would end this long feud between our nations,” Manemin said, then sighed sadly. “Unfortunately, the king’s will ruled. He like his predecessors, despised your empire and with nobles loyal to him, rallied the forces that destroyed your empire. But after you justly executed him and the nobles celebrating in these very halls, those nobles opposed to the invasion quickly used the chaos to seize control.”

“Equestria, Abyssinia, even Mount Aris, they all cut us off after hearing of what had happened. My son’s own ancestor, Emir Ridefar, was declared the new ruler. What was left of the old royal family was exiled, as were those who had been an accomplice to the invasion. It took centuries to rebuild our reputation. We were nearly destroyed ourselves. It has only been in recent years that Princess Celestia herself has re-opened Equestria to us,” she continued to explain in a quiet tone.

Sombra frowned heavily, then slowly he glanced back at Private. Suddenly the unicorn realized why he was here. King Sombra did not trust a Saddle Arabian; he probably didn’t even trust Celestia for information like this. But the king had said he trusted him.

“It’s true,” confirmed Private. “Remember what I told you once? The Saddle Arabians call the destruction of the Dark Ponies their “Great Shame”. Their neighbors started shunning them, cutting off trade. They barely survived on what they could themselves produce and for centuries became one of the poorest nations in the world. Abyssinia finally opened trade with them again a few hundred years ago, and Saddle Arabia slowly started to recover, but they were never the same again. You were asking where all the paintings of their former rulers were; they burned them and tossed out all emblems of the previous ruling family,” Private told him.

“Do you want to see our museum? Dedicated to your race? I promise it is quite accurate, thanks in part to Equestrian archaeologists, all descendants of Dark Ponies,” Manemin asked. Hoofar almost looked hopeful.

“If we do, we must be quick about it, don’t forget, Queen Rabia is still at large,” Princess Celestia gently reminded them.

“Fine,” Sombra glared back at the Saddle Arabian rulers. “Let’s take a look at that museum of yours.”

The museum was a large building in the northern part of the city. Made of similar marble as the palace. Oval columns supported the great roof, instead of the more swirling, Saddle Arabian ones. A golden plaque adorned the entrance. It read:

“This museum is dedicated to our long lost brothers and sisters in the north, unjustly murdered by King Mustangfor IV. May it always remind us of our Great Shame.”

When King Sombra entered - a heavy scowl on his face and suspicion in his eyes - he immediately found himself in a great hall. The centerpiece was a large glass case. Within it, resting on a big velvet pillow, was an ornate crown with jewels, a necklace with a reddish gem in the center, and a scepter made of gold and silver. The Dark Pony immediately recognized the crown jewels of his mother.

Glancing at the walls, he saw many paintings, and there were several exhibits with wax figures made to resemble dark ponies of all three types. Most were doing ordinary things Dark Ponies did in their everyday life.

Sombra walked to the first painting. It showed a tall unicorn mare, walking through the desert in the dark of the night. After her was a long line of dark ponies, carrying supplies on their back and guarded by armored ponies. A plaque under it read:

“Queen Odio the First, leading her people through the northern desert to freedom from the yoke of the Saddle Arabians who cruelly hounded them.”

“No need to lay it on so thick,” Sombra muttered, ignoring Princess Celestia, Emir Horsefar, and Manemin, who stood by and let him explore the museum. Private was himself going around looking with great interest at everything.

“Ooh, Hall of Rulers,” Sombra heard Private remark and just missed the unicorn darting through a door on the far side of the hall.

I suppose they think this glittering show will placate…Sombra halted by an exhibit. It showed a dark pony battling a Saddle Arabian pony. He noticed that it correctly showed how the dark pony used his shadow walking ability to emerge from a shadow.

“The Dark Ponies were attuned to magic considered forbidden by the Saddle Arabians. It was mostly for defensive purpose, and though it could be used for terrible destructive effect when mastered properly, Dark Ponies rarely attacked first in any of the many skirmishes between themselves and Saddle Arabia.” He read on an information board.

Well, I suppose that’s true, Sombra shrugged and then saw an exhibit of dark ponies preparing a meal.

“Unlike the southern Saddle Arabians. Dark Ponies originated in the sandy regions of Saddle Arabia, mastering the desert life. As plants were scarce, they adapted to live a more omnivorous lifestyle, not unlike the Griffins in the distant north or the hippogriffs of Mount Aris. Thus meat along with vegetables was on their diet. The propaganda that they also ate other ponies has been thoroughly debunked, and no dark pony ever ate another sapient being.”

“Well of course we had to, we…” Sombra fell silent and glared back at the rulers watching him. Then his name was spoken, and the king looked over at Private, who was in the entrance to the hall of rulers.

“Sombra, you may want to see this,” the unicorn said and disappeared back into the room.

“Oh, this had better be good,” King Sombra snorted and relented to follow Private into the hall. There were even more paintings there, showing mostly tall unicorn mares wearing similar garb he was wearing. There was the occasional stallion, but there was always a mare in the back with him. Glancing around, he actually recognized the depiction of the Dark Pony Empire's various past rulers, and then he realized these looked very similar to paintings that had been on the walls of his old home in the empire.

Private was standing at the center. A big painting was stood there. Magical light shining on it. Sombra’s brow rose a bit when his eyes laid on it. A young unicorn mare was depicted on it, clad in the dark pony royal gear, but with a simple silver tiara resting on her head. The king knew the tiara was one of mourning that a new ruler wore for a year after the previous ruler had passed away. That however, was not what caught his attention. He recognized the painting too well.

“Queen Ira the Second, the last ruler of the Dark Pony Empire. Cruelly slain and violated by King Mustangfor IV,” Private read on a plaque under the painting.

Ira was depicted on a balcony overlooking a city. Her expression was sad as she looked towards whoever viewed the painting. Although the sky was sunny and bright and the city looked peaceful, ominous-looking clouds had been made in the far distance, as if foreshadowing the oncoming tragedy that would befall her and her empire.

Sombra approached the painting, never taking his eyes of the sad-looking mare on the canvas. Behind him, Celestia and the Saddle Arabian rulers stood in the entrance watching everything.

“Too kind for a cruel world,” Sombra muttered and tore his eyes away from the painting, looking down at Private with a sneer on his muzzle. The unicorn could see the dark pony was struggling to hold back tears. “Why am I here, Private? Why do they think this will change anything?”

“They don’t. But they are as afraid of Queen Rabia as you are,” Private said and frowned. “I mean, why haven’t you destroyed Saddle Arabia?”

“I killed the king and the ones who at…” the words froze in Sombra’s mouth. He looked back at the Emir, who watched him right back, despite his young age, his eyes full of trepidation.

“That was enough for you. You had nothing against the general population or the nobles who didn’t partake in the attack, right?” Private then asked. “They are not asking you to like them, but they are hoping you can help them. I don’t think your heart is as black as ponies like to say.”

“What? Who said that about me?” King Sombra blinked, then noticed Celestia coughing and looking nonchalantly away. “Oh…of course. Thank you, Celestia.”

“Well, to be fair, you did enslave the Crystal Empire, among other things,” the princess pointed out.

“Fair point,” Sombra grunted and turned towards her and the others. He glared at the Emir and his mother. “Fine, I will stop my mother. I was helping Celestia anyway, might as well go full force. On one condition, though.”

“More conditions?” the Sun Princess gave an exasperated sigh. The Emir and his mother, however, nodded for the king to proceed.

“Statue of me, holding the severed head of Mustangfor IV, here in this hall,” Sombra smirked at the princess.

“Uh…Done. I’ll have the royal sculptor get to work on that,” Manemin blinked at this fairly simple albeit gruesome condition.

“Have it say, ‘The Lost Son enacts the vengeance of the Dark Ponies’ or something along those lines,” Sombra chuckled and pushed past them as he walked out of the hall. “Come along, Celestia. We have a raging queen to stop.”

Deep in the woods near the Mcintosh Mountains, Queen Rabia stomped back and forth in front of the three rocks where she had secretly buried the sarcophagus of her deceased daughter. The mare was fuming.

“How dare that insufferable pony cast aspersions on me as a mother,” she snarled, her tail swishing back and forth.

“I nursed them personally myself. No nursemaid was worthy enough,” her ramble continued, dark purple mist poured from the corners of her green glowing eyes.

“I raised them to be strong. Brave. To face adversity. Sombra was a pedigree, Ira…” Rabia stopped and looked at the rune carved rocks. “Ira… was my heir…”

“Oh, my daughter,” the queen whispered and approached the rock, her rage diminishing for now as she gently touched the runes. “I never meant to leave you so soon. But your father…that selfish oaf!” Rabia sneered. She pulled her hoof back and stomped it on the ground.

“He killed me, saying I had driven our son away, and he would no longer stand by and watch me twist you. How dare he! I was molding you to be queen. Unluckily for him, I still had enough life left in me to kill him in turn before my spirit departed my body and went to the stasis mirror in my personal study….” Rabia fell silent and looked at the rocks once more. A single tear started to crawl down her cheeks.

“I was trapped, Ira…in the mirror. Only someone of my blood could open the secret passage, only a dark pony could activate the mirror to bring my spirit back to life…” the queen whispered, and she looked down towards the ground.

“I heard it all. I heard their screams of terror… I heard our subjects being butchered above… I heard your pleas of mercy… but I could do nothing. I had not yet shown you the secret passage. Only Sombra knew of it… you were not ready…” Rabia grit her teeth, and another tear escaped down her cheek. “That was all that was needed, one of you coming down, freeing me from the mirror, and I would have come and saved you all…”

“But…I am here now,” the Queen started to smile and looked up, a mad glint in her eyes. “Yes, my little dark foal. I am here now, and I will avenge you and our subjects. I will destroy them just like they did you.”

“Then I will show that insufferable mare what kind of a mother I am. Saddle Arabia will feel my rage as a Queen; they will feel my wrath as a mother,” she lifted a shaking hoof to touch the runes again. “They will relearn why they feared me so, for I am the Queen of Rage and Wrath.” Rabia’s voice started to deepen as her body dissolved into shadow and smoke, her head growing larger and more demonic. “And they will rue the day they murdered my daughter! They will pay for every dark pony’s blood spilled!”

Then with a rage-filled roar, the Dark Pony Queen took to the air, and her direction was south towards the far distant mountains that marked the beginning of the Saddle Arabian peninsula.

End chapter 18

Chapter 19. This is mother’s work.

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Chapter 19

Twilight Sparkle and her friends rushed through Canterlot Castle towards the throne room. They had received an urgent summons from Princess Celestia to come at once. The strangest part about the summons was that they were to bring the Elements of Harmony with them.

Each pony carried their respective necklace around their neck, and on Twilight’s head was the crown of the Element of Magic. Celestia had made no explanation as to her request, but that in itself was not unusual.

All six ponies burst into the throne room; half worried that something serious had happened. They all screeched to a halt when inside, so abruptly that Pinkie Pie actually fell over herself and ended up on her back. The reason for their abrupt stop was seeing King Sombra standing there with no manacle on his horn.

“Princess Celestia…” Twilight started looking towards the Sun Princess, but she was interrupted by Rainbow Dash.

“What is he doing here, and why isn’t he having his powers blocked?!” she snapped, where she hovered in the air, pointing a hoof at the king.

“Please calm down, Rainbow Dash,” Princess Celestia addressed the rainbow pegasus gently yet sharply. “All will be explained.”

“Yes, why did you want us to bring the elements?” Twilight asked, shaking off her shock that Sombra was standing in the throne room, clearly with full use of his own powers. Then she noticed that Princess Luna was also attending, as was Princess Cadance.

“It is time we head after Queen Rabia. We have a plan, but Luna and I will be needed in Saddle Arabia for one part of the plan. We need you six and King Sombra to ferret her out from her hiding place and, if needed, engage her. The elements will give you extra firepower if necessary,” Celestia began to explain.

“I think we should use them on him,” Rainbow snorted and folded her legs, glaring at Sombra, who just smirked at the pegasus.

“Be quiet. Let the princess talk,” Applejack whispered sharply towards her friend.

“The elements should only be used as a last resort,” an old voice addressed them. There was a clink of bells, and an old, bearded unicorn stallion walked forward; he had been partly obscured from view by King Sombra. The stallion wore a blue wizard’s hat and a cape adorned with bells.

“Starswirl?” Twilight blinked when seeing the old wizard. Then she recalled that Princess Celestia had mentioned having contacted him in the hopes he knew anything about Rabia.

“Lest we forget, the elements could only banish King Sombra. Dark Ponies are a unique breed; their strength is their natural affinity to dark magic, very emotional magic. It’s also their weakness, for they are heavily affected by whatever emotional magic is the opposite of the one they are in tune with. King Sombra, for example,” Starswirl glanced at Sombra, who just arched his brow. “He is highly attuned to fear and hate; thus, a magic fueled by love or courage can far more effectively work against him than more harmonious magic, like the elements.”

“Which is why the crystal heart killed him and why my magic is so effective against him,” Cadance broke in. She ignored the glare the king gave her.

“Indeed.” Starswirl nodded in agreement. “Queen Rabia has mastered rage and wrath. Anger fuels her. That is difficult magic to master and a perilous one. Not as easy to counter, it is possible the elements of harmony could temporarily disable her, or they might not work at all. You need a clear and calm head when engaging her.”

“Um… I suppose I know a few calming spells, but not exactly something useful for combat,” Twilight cringed. It was one thing to fuel magic with love, but she didn’t see how she could do that in this case.

“Which is why Rabia was always a difficult opponent for the Saddle Arabians. They knew how to counter the dark ponies and their emotion-driven dark magic. Rabia truly stumped them because countering Rabia also requires compassion and mercy, something they were never going to extend to their enemies,” the old wizard continued.

“I do not like where this is going,” Sombra muttered to himself. No one heard him as the others were focused on the old unicorn.

“Wait a minute, compassion, mercy… that sounds like kindness…” Twilight blinked, and now all eyes turned to Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus shrunk back when realizing everyone was now looking at her.

“Oh my,” she whispered and grinned nervously.

“Wait, we aren’t going to let Fluttershy fight Queen Rabia, are we?” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, looking extremely shocked.

“No, of course not,” Twilight quickly assured her friend. “We are all going to face her together.”

“However, Fluttershy’s element may be just your strongest asset as you face her,” Starswirl noted. A snort from Sombra prompted everyone to look at the dark pony.

“Weren’t we just saying the Elements may not work on my mother?” he growled.

“Yes, may or may not. Magic can be quite contradictory sometimes.” The old wizard nodded.

“Ugh, don’t get me started on that one,” King Sombra muttered with a shake of his head.

“To get back on topic, what is it we need to do?” Twilight figured it was high time they started discussing the finer details of the plan.

“This may sound counter-intuitive, but if you fail to subdue her yourself, we need you to get her to the Saddle Arabian capital,” Luna explained. Not surprisingly, all six element-bearers looked very confused at that idea.

“More specifically, to the museum. Have no fear. We are already working with the Emir to evacuate the city and the surrounding area. If it works, no one will get hurt. Luna, Starswirl, and I will be waiting there to spring a trap. But for it to work, we need her in the museum,” Celestia added in.

“Pardon me for asking, but what museum and why there specifically?” Applejack spoke up.

“I think they mean the Dark Pony museum in the capital,” Twilight was the one to answer her friend, though she couldn’t answer why.

“Well, there is the off-chance that seeing such a tribute to her people might temporarily calm her down. Rabia is a proud mare and even prouder of her own race. But more specifically, there is a portrait there we are hoping might stun her long enough to trap her,” Celestia said and now looked at Cadance.

Cadance realized then it was her turn to talk. The love princess stepped forward and, for a moment, gazed over everyone.

“When Queen Rabia invaded the Crystal Empire to receive the sarcophagus of her daughter, I noticed that she stopped for a moment when seeing the lid, which was in the form of a statue of Queen Ira. She seemed to completely forget that she had just broken through our defenses and invaded the country. She acted far more like a grieving mother. Despite her actions past and present, I do believe she deeply cared for Ira,” Cadance explained, ignoring the snort of contempt coming from Sombra.

“So that portrait will remind her of her daughter?” Applejack wondered. Most of the royals and Starswirl nodded.

“We admit it is a long shot, oh hush, Sombra,” Celestia said, then glared at the king who had snorted again. “But we are prepared to take that risk.”

“Right, so engage Rabia and if we can’t stop her, try and lead her to the capital of Saddle Arabia and the museum,” Twilight nodded, figuring she got the plan. Most of her friends nodded, though Rainbow looked rather skeptical. Then it dawned on her what the princess had said earlier, confirmed when King Sombra started reluctantly to walk towards them.

“Oh right, we have to do it with him,” Rainbow grumbled, already hating this idea even more.

“Hey, I am just as thrilled to be working with the ponies who had a hoof in blowing me up,” King Sombra grunted and glared back at the celestial princesses. “But with them in Saddle Arabia, I’m the only one you have in case we need a long distant teleport.”

Then he looked at Fluttershy, who shrunk a little from his sight. “That is unless your more chaotic friend wishes to render assistance?”

“N-No, Discord has been pretty adamant he’s staying out of this one,” Fluttershy smiled nervously.

“Hey, I can teleport,” Twilight protested, meeting the unimpressed stare King Sombra gave her.

“All the way to Saddle Arabia, with six ponies in tow?” he asked.

This deflated the friendship princess a bit. “No… come to think of it,” Twilight had to admit. Sure, she could teleport long distances on her own, but adding her friends and King Sombra might be a bit too much for her.

“Twilight, my ponies, I know it is a difficult concept right now. But we need you to work well together. King Sombra has assured me that he will cooperate and he has so far not shown me any reason not to trust him on that,” Princess Celestia addressed Twilight and her friends. They did, however, catch a faint expression on her clearly meaning that they should still be watchful.

“Rabia’s last known location was in the woods near the Mcintosh Mountains. There is a cave there where she dwells. You may also find Ambassador Horsefar there and his entourage - in what state I can’t tell you. So all of you, be careful and good luck,” she said finally and nodded to Sombra.

The six element-bearers were startled when Sombra dissolved into his shadow form, but before even one could raise a voice in protest, he had already grabbed all of them with shadowy tendrils and disappeared, taking them with him in an explosion of black smoke.

“You really trust him?” Cadance asked skeptically as she looked at Celestia.

“I trust his fear in his mother,” the Sun Princess said and turned to her niece. “I trust you will take care of things for us here in Canterlot while Luna, Starswirl, and I head to Saddle Arabia?”

“I will,” her niece assured her. The Love Princess glanced around. “Are Private, Dew, and Foxy still here?”

“Yes, they are staying in the guest quarters in the east wing until we have secured Queen Rabia,” Celestia told her.

Cadance nodded and made a note to herself to swing by there at the earliest opportunity. She watched Celestia, Luna and Starswirl gather together before all three of them teleported out of the throne room.

“Please get me a scroll and a quill,” Cadence addressed Raven, who bowed and trotted off to do just that. Better write Shiny and tell him I’m overlooking Canterlot. Again.

Six ponies, most annoyed and somewhat startled, were dropped unceremoniously to the ground as they all appeared deep in the woods by the Mcintosh Mountains. Twilight rose and started dusting off herself as she glared at King Sombra, who was assuming his pony form again.

“A little warning next time?” she grunted and made sure the crown was still on her head.

King Sombra just smirked down at her before he began looking around. The other ponies grumbled a bit while picking themselves up and then did the same as the king.

“Ick, what an unpleasant sight,” Rarity shuddered as she looked around. “What is this ghastly place?”

“This doesn’t look like the woods near Mcintosh Mountains. Braeburn has always told me they are quite pleasant looking,” Applejack frowned, knowing Appleoosa wasn’t that far from the mountain range and the woods.

The trees were starting to look twisted, and thorny vines were beginning to choke the undergrowth. The sky looked dark and gloomy, even if it was still supposed to be daytime. The air itself felt stuffy and unpleasant to breathe.

“It isn’t natural. It’s slowly being corrupted,” King Sombra remarked and started to walk.

“What do you mean, corrupted?” Rainbow Dash asked, frowning heavily as she started flying after him.

“Dark magic, if not kept in check by the dark pony using it, can start to corrupt and twist the environment. You have seen it before, in the Crystal Empire. But this time, it is not me. This is my mother’s magic,” Sombra told the pegasus without sparing her a glance. “When I teleported here, I homed in on the biggest source of dark magic. We shouldn’t be too far from the cave.”

“Maybe the elements can ease up on the corruption,” Twilight suggested in a worried tone. She did not like the sight of this. It did indeed remind her of how the Crystal Empire was being corrupted as Sombra advanced on it after Cadance’s shield fell.

“If you do, keep it aimed away from me, I do not fancy another 1,000-year exile in ice,” Sombra snorted. Rainbow Dash was about to respond to him, but Applejack yanked at her tail and shook her head firmly at her.

“Don’t let him rile you up. You know how he operates,” she whispered sharply to her rainbow friend.

“Where are the animals? I can’t even hear insects. Oh, I hope they are all right,” Fluttershy commented and looked around, frightened. This reminded her a bit too much of the Everfree Forest, yet even in there was at least some animal life.

“Soo, are we shooting the elements at the forest?” Pinkie Pie asked, looking uncertainly around.

“No, let’s hold on to that. Starswirl did say we should only use them as a last resort,” Twilight decided. As much as she wanted to clear up this corruption, it was probably best they wait until they met Rabia.

The six ponies halted when seeing that Sombra had stopped and was looking around, scowling heavily. Twilight and her friends exchanged unsure glances before the princess approached the dark pony.

“Something wrong?” she asked.

“I am sensing dark magic everywhere, but not my mother,” the king responded. He glanced back at them, noting some of them were confused. “Dark ponies can sense each other’s presence.”

“So, does that mean she is not here?” Applejack looked at Twilight, who was still watching Sombra.

“Or she is concealing herself. She is powerful enough to do that,” Sombra added. “Which, of course, would mean she is expecting us.”

The dark pony continued walking, and the others followed. Finally, they entered a clearing and saw an old cave. It pulsated darkness from its opening. Sombra halted when seeing it, freezing for a split second but managing to shake it off as the other ponies also came into the clearing.

“Alright, let’s take care of that Rabia!” Rainbow Dash cried and would have just barreled towards the cave if a red magic aura hadn’t caught her and pulled her back.

“Sombra!” Twilight snapped at the king, who ignored her and was glaring at Rainbow Dash, who returned the look.

“Do you not see the darkness literally pouring out of that cave? This isn’t because the cave doesn’t have light. This is dark magic darkness!” Sombra growled and let the pegasus go. “This is where the corruption is coming from.”

“Oh my, he’s right,” Rarity cringed when seeing how the dark empty hole seemed to occasionally extend and then retract as if it was a breathing mouth, letting out cold winter air. It just spewed shadows instead.

“Well, we have no choice. If Rabia in there, we need to face her,” Twilight said and stepped towards the cave.

“D-do we have to?” Fluttershy whispered. She did not like the idea at all. Unfortunately, her friends missed it and were already, though slowly, approaching the cave. The pegasus sighed and started to step forward, but then she noticed that King Sombra hadn’t budged an inch.

“Um… Mr. Sombra?” she addressed the king. She raised an eyebrow. Sombra was frozen. His right eye was twitching. She looked towards her friends, who were all closing in on the cave. “Uh, girls? Girls!?”

She finally did manage to address them loud enough, prompting everyone to look back. They first looked at Fluttershy, then at what she was pointing. They were not quite sure what to make of it. Sombra was starting to breathe harder and seemed to be really struggling to hold his scowl.

“Uh, what’s his deal?” Rainbow Dash scoffed.

“Sombra?” Twilight turned around, Sombra’s mouth was moving as if he was muttering something to himself, but not even Fluttershy, who was right next to him, could make out anything.

“If Ah didn’t know better, Ah would say he was terrified,” Applejack looked at Rarity and Pinkie Pie, who both nodded in agreement.

They didn’t get much more chance to wonder about the king’s peculiar behavior. Suddenly out of the blackness of the cave, there came an unearthly scream, and something struck out of it. A creature that looked like it had once been a unicorn but was all disfigured, black pulsating veins covered its entire body, and tattered remains of clothes were on it. The eyes glowed green with purple mist pouring out of the corners.

The five ponies shrieked and just about managed to get out of the creature’s way as it swung at them with its broken horn. The hooves were cracked and looked more like sharp claws.

“What is that thing!” Rainbow Dash cried out as she turned around from her brief escape flight.

The creature reared up on its hind legs, letting out another cry as if it was simultaneously both in great pain and royally pissed off. But before any of the six mares could react, three sharp crystals burst out of the ground, skewering it, but not killing it.

Sombra was running straight at it, letting out a roar that sounded almost panicked. He smashed the crystals, causing the creature to tumble to the ground, twitching and gurgling horribly. The dark pony blasted it with his magic, then started stomping on it madly with both hooves, even after the creature had long stopped moving and the eyes had dimmed. Sombra didn’t let up. He continued to trample the corpse, breathing rapidly, snarling, and growling.

“Sombra. SOMBRA!” Twilight shouted. “I think you got it.”

The king stopped but kept looking frantically around, and then he froze again. The mares noticed he was staring towards the edge of the clearing. Glancing back, they all winced at the sight. More creatures were walking closer all around them, just as disfigured and twisted as the creature from the cave. They were too big to have been Equestrian ponies and wore tattered clothes. The mares all quickly backed away from the clearing and closer to the dark pony.

“Sombra, what are they?” Twilight whispered sharply to the king.

“Rage mutants,” Sombra’s voice was broken, panicked. “This is mother’s work. This is her doing.”

“Heaven to Betsy, he is afraid,” Applejack whispered when noting the tone of the king’s voice.

“Are… are these Saddle Arabians?” Rarity asked worriedly.

“Mother always took pleasure in twisting spies into these monstrosities,” Sombra didn’t sound like he had calmed down yet.

“What do we do?” Twilight gulped. There was so far no sign of the queen, just the rage driven creatures approaching them.

“Fight. Fight like your life depended on it, because it does,” Sombra’s voice was starting to darken.

End chapter 19

Chapter 20. I will put it on my schedule.

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Chapter 20

“My Queen, I really must protest. The boy is far too young to be exposed to… this!” The voice of Captain Vago echoed through Sombra’s mind as he charged for the nearest rage mutant, skewering it with his horn, lifting it, and tossing it away.

“Are you again presuming how I should raise my child, captain!” his mother’s voice growled. Sombra snarled and turned on his magic, blasting two mutants who had managed to corner Pinkie Pie.

“I… no My Queen.” Vago’s defeated voice remarked in the king’s mind as he reared up on his hind legs and slammed his front hooves into another creature.

Images were also flashing through Sombra’s mind. Memories of these same creatures he and the element-bearers now fought. He was a young colt in them, his mother dragging him towards the mutants, insisting on showing him these creatures. Saddle Arabian spies that had been caught and had been twisted and disfigured with her powers.

“Sombra! If these are Saddle Arabians, isn’t there anything we can do for them?” Twilight called. She had spent most of the fight using her magic to toss and otherwise restrain the attacking mutants, feeling reluctant to harm them if there was a possibility they could be saved.

“My mother is not that merciful!” Sombra growled as he blasted another creature with his magic, the memories still playing vividly through his mind. A creature had lunged at him back then, with his mother just coldly watching. As a colt, he hadn’t noticed it was chained and couldn’t actually reach him, but Sombra recalled screaming in terror and trying to hide away. His mother had dragged him forward and forced him front and center of the snarling mutant.

Sombra managed to make his way to where Twilight was. The others were doing marginally well, dodging and scoring hits to keep the mutants at bay. Fluttershy had even managed to play a decoy, so Rainbow Dash could punch one hard enough to throw it away.

“Whoever these Saddle Arabians were…they are long gone. These are just husks. There is nothing left inside them except the rage. The only reason they aren’t clawing their own eyes out in their wrath is because mother has a firm hold on them.” Sombra looked around. The creatures were still advancing. Finally, he looked at the Friendship Princess.

“If you recall my trap at the inn when I was possessing Private Iceland, this is almost the same, but far, far worse,” he added to give Twilight some proper context.

Twilight gulped, recalling too vividly the burning inn and the patrons, all driven mad with fear. Although she had managed to save their lives, most of them were still in mental institutions, barely with any minds left. One or two had managed to miraculously recover slightly, but they were still never the same.

They looked back when hearing a shriek. Fluttershy had landed badly and lost her footing, tumbling to the ground. A creature was already almost on top of her, ready to bury its claw-like hooves into her. The pegasus was frozen, unable to escape.

The creature never struck. A large sharp crystal burst out of the ground, skewering it high in the air. Pinkie and Rarity were quickly on the scene to drag their petrified friend away. Twilight sighed a breath in relief, looking at Sombra, whose horn was glowing purple and green.

“Thank you.” Twilight was actually grateful. She wasn’t sure if she would be quick enough to get her friend out of the way before she got seriously harmed, or worse.

“Just didn’t fancy a visit from Discord,” King Sombra remarked, then glared around. “Perhaps it’s time you all deploy the elements.”

“Yes, you’re right. Girls, Elements of Harmony,” the princess called. Her friends were already grouping together around Fluttershy, who was still recovering. Twilight’s crown and the necklaces of the others began to glow.

Sombra steeled himself, not sure if this would affect him or not. The harmonic weapon was not being aimed at him, just the general area. Right now, though, he didn’t care - he just wanted these bad memories of his youth to be gone. All six ponies lifted from the ground, glowing with power. The creatures made a mad scramble for them. Those who got too close to Sombra got skewered on a few more crystals.

There was a brilliant flash and the area was bathed in a rainbow light. Sombra closed his eyes and got ready; nothing happened to him. It was as if the weapon knew he was currently on the element’s side this time. He heard the painful and enraged roars of the creatures slowly fading away.

When the king opened his eyes, the six ponies were dropping back to the ground. The corruption all around them was gone and so were the creatures. The mutants had all been disintegrated into dust. The cave now just looked like an ordinary dark cavern. Twilight glanced around sadly.

“I wish we could have done something for them,” the princess whispered sadly. Rarity, who stood next to her, gave her a sympathetic pat on the back.

“You did what you had to do. Their suffering is over,” Sombra addressed the princess, who looked at him, surprised to hear these kinds of words coming from the king. The dark pony, however, was now walking past them towards the cave and entering it.

“Seriously, his mother is sick,” Rainbow said and looked around. The woods looked peaceful now and the sun shone brightly in the sky above them.

“Can’t argue with that,” Applejack nodded and fixed her hat, then the farmer glanced at the cave. “Ya recon she is in there?”

“No, she’s not,” Sombra responded as he returned out of the cave. “We simply sprung a trap she set up in case anyone found her hole.”

“Well, at least we know where he gets that from,” Dash muttered, but no one heard it.

Twilight started to rub her muzzle in thought. If Rabia wasn’t here, that had to mean she had abandoned this hiding place, quite possibly after her attack in Fillydelphia. Now the question was had she found a new one or, worse yet, was she already heading for Saddle Arabia? While she thought this over, Fluttershy was approaching King Sombra.

“Um… uh, thanks for saving me,” Fluttershy addressed the dark pony hesitantly. Sombra just glanced down at her, to her credit the pegasus didn’t shrink back, just gave the king a friendly smile.

“You were really scared of them, weren’t you?” she then asked, causing the dark pony to look away quickly. “It’s okay. We are all scared of something. I guess even a master of fear has to be scared of something.”

“You are… not wrong,” was all Sombra would relent to say between his teeth. He was sorely tempted to ditch the six ponies. He had all his powers now. They would never be quick enough to stop him. But the dark pony knew that no matter where he hid, his mother would find him eventually, and while she was still out there, he had to see this through.

Then the king felt something. He looked into the forest and furrowed his brow. Suddenly he took off in that direction. Fluttershy blinked at this sudden departure and looked between her friends and the running pony, then she took to the air and hurried after Sombra.

“Hey!” Pinkie Pie noticed and bounced after them, but stopped when her name was called. She looked back and saw that the remaining four ponies were staring at her.

“Quick, Sombra and Fluttershy went this way,” she called and then darted into the woods.

Fluttershy felt a little better about the woods as she flew in the direction she had seen Sombra run into. The trees looked normal and the sunlight filtered through the canopy above. She could even hear birds and definitely saw some bugs flying around.

The pegasus landed when she saw that the king had stopped, landing next to the stump of a tree that looked like it had been blown up. Another similar stump was nearby.

Oh, dear, what happened here? She thought, glancing warily at the destroyed trees before returning her attention to Sombra. He stood in front of three large rocks with runes engraved into them.

Hesitantly the pegasus approached but was slammed to the ground when Pinkie tackled her in a hug. Fluttershy, however, by now was quite used to her friend. “Oh, hi, Pinkie.”

“Why did you run off like that?” Pinkie Pie asked, showing a hint of worry as she let the pegasus go and helped her stand up.

“I don’t know. Sombra ran over here,” Fluttershy said and gestured to the king where he stood and seemed to be reading the runes. Behind the two mares, their remaining friends came running.

“What are these?” Applejack wondered when she beheld the scene in front of her.

Fluttershy approached first, followed close by Pinkie. The other four followed soon after. Twilight tilted her head when seeing the runes. She recognized them as Dark Pony in origin, but couldn’t quite make them out. They did look like spells to her.

“Protection runes, these are grave markers,” Sombra finally turned around but didn’t look at the ponies; instead, he was looking towards the distance thoughtfully. “Mother buried my sister here.”

“So she went through the trouble of invading the Crystal Empire to retrieve her body, just to bury here out in the middle of nowhere?” Twilight was rather confused to hear that.

“She probably intends to move her later. She just wants to finish with Saddle Arabia first. At least we know where my sister is so that she can be relocated to a more proper place,” Sombra said. He glanced back and raised his brow when seeing that Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy had gathered some flowers and placed them by the stones. “What are you two doing?”

“What? Just because your mother is a big meany and you aren’t much better, your sister at least deserves some respect,” Pinkie said with a wide grin. Twilight cringed a little at her friend's blunt honesty. Sure, none of them particularly liked the king, but they did need his help. Thankfully Sombra just tilted his head then smirked. The princess wondered if he was actually pleased to see his sister being given a small tribute, even if it was by ponies he saw as enemies.

“Darlings, Ira was a queen. We need to arrange this properly,” Rarity stepped forward and grabbed the flowers and began using her magic to weave some into wreaths and arranging others by color and even plant type.

“What is happening?” Sombra was now stunned as Applejack came over to help them as well.

“They are being friendly and respectful. Isn’t Ira the real victim in all this current family drama?” Twilight said with a small smile. “You are just witnessing friendship in action.”

She’s not wrong, Sombra thought, but made no move to intervene as the ponies continued to decorate the gravesite with what materials they had available around them. Even Rainbow Dash was now helping, putting some of the wreaths on top of the rocks.

“You think your mother is headed for Saddle Arabia?” the princess then turned to more pressing matters, allowing her friends this brief reprieve. She felt they needed it after the recent battle.

“That is my thought. Maybe not directly; that is not her style. But probably heading there, finding a new place to prepare, and then she will strike,” Sombra nodded, still watching the proceedings at the grave.

Twilight agreed with that. Since Rabia had failed to do anything with her son, it seemed most logical that Saddle Arabia was her next target. The princess did still think it was a little odd how cooperative and even calm Sombra was, wondering, much like Celestia had, if his stay at Private’s home had had more of an effect on him than the king would ever admit. She was almost starting to see why the Sun Princess was willing to take the risk of having him help.

“Hey, there is something written on the back,” Rarity called. She had gone behind the rocks to see if something could be added there. This prompted Sombra and Twilight to look at each other confused, then walk over, all the ponies gathered around behind the middle rock. On it was a small message, not written in runes but in a script. The king and the princess recognized the dark pony letters, but only Sombra could read them.

“These are more freshly carved.” Sombra frowned as he began to read. “If you are to find this place, my son. I’m in Odio’s Square.”

“What’s Odio’s Square?” Applejack looked at the dark pony whose expression was darkening.

“The town square of the capital of the Dark Pony Empire,” the king growled and narrowed his eyes. “She’s waiting for me. She knew I would come here soon.”

“So the trap was more meant for you?” Twilight wondered, remembering the king’s reaction to the mutants. Sombra slowly inclined his head in a nod.

“Oh boy, here we go again,” Rainbow Dash grunted when Sombra immediately assumed his smoke form, grabbed every one of them, and they all vanished from the grave, now richly decorated with flower arrangements around the wreath-dressed rocks.

“How is the evacuation going?” Celestia asked when seeing Luna coming in for a landing. The princess stood on the steps in front of the museum.

“The city is almost empty, and so is the surrounding countryside,” her sister announced and glanced around the deserted street before them. “I haven’t been here for a long time.”

The Sun Princess nodded. Luna, Starswirl, and she had arrived when the evacuation was in full swing. Luna had volunteered to assist with that while Celestia and their old mentor began setting up the trap they intended to spring on Rabia. They were mostly done by now, but Starswirl had insisted on making some finishing touches, so Celestia had headed outside to see how things were going there.

“Hopefully, these streets won’t be empty for too long,” Celestia remarked, not liking seeing the city so empty of life.

“I don’t think we have discussed this, but if we capture Rabia alive, what do we intend to do with her? Throw her into Tartarus?” Luna asked, just now realizing they had never actually talked about that.

“Tartarus is reserved for great threats against Equestria and monsters that have proven to be a threat enough to our subjects. Rabia has made no show that she is interested in us. Granted, she has made minor incursions, but they were all either to get her daughter’s body from the Crystal Empire or in search of her son. Her main threat has been against Saddle Arabia,” Celestia explained and turned to her sister. “We may have to hear what they want to be done.”

“Much like we are still waiting to hear from King Thorax regarding Chrysalis,” Luna nodded, understanding that. Though it could be argued that Rabia had shown her to be a sufficient enough threat, Celestia did have a point that Rabia’s actions in Equestria were just to look for her son and to retrieve her daughter’s body.

“Rabia had power enough to wipe out Saddle Arabia several times over during her reign, but never did. She was never a conqueror. She may also just not be in her right state of mind. She was brought back to life over a thousand years later, her empire in ruins, her daughter dead and her son… maybe if we could get her to calm down, maybe talk with her,” Princess Celestia couldn’t help but wonder.

Luna arched her brow but said nothing. Her sister did have a habit of always wanting to give a second chance and see the best in ponies and creatures. Everybody thought Celestia had gone absolutely mad when she had intended to reform Discord, yet that had worked out surprisingly well.

“If that fails, I get to rib you about it for the next several years,” the Lunar Princess warned with a small smile.

“I will put it on my schedule,” Celestia smiled as well. “Daily ribbing from Luna. Six o’clock sound good to you.”

“I may just have to put that on my schedule,” her sister chuckled, but assumed then a more serious expression. “That is if it will even be necessary. Twilight and her friends may just end up dealing with her for us.”

“That is a distinct possibility as well,” Celestia agreed and turned towards the museum entrance, as did her sister. They saw Starswirl standing there, having just arrived.

“Princesses, I do believe I have made things as ready as they can be,” the old unicorn announced. “If all goes well, a simple ambush will suffice. But if not, more drastic measures are in place.”

The two princesses glanced at each other, nodded, and then walked to the museum entrance to follow Starswirl inside. Before she fully entered, Celestia glanced back towards the north, frowning. She could have sworn she saw faint whisps of black smoke in the far distance.

Guess we’ll find out soon enough if it works, she thought and went inside the museum.

End chapter 20

Chapter 21. I only wanted to avenge my daughter and my people.

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Chapter 21

Sombra stumbled a little when he and the six ponies arrived in the old empire's capital ruins. He had assumed his pony form and looked more tired. This had taken a bit out of him, but the king quickly rose back and never lost his grim expression.

“Woah,” Rainbow Dash was mildly impressed by the sight. It kind of reminded her of Daring Do novels.

Twilight was focused, already noting that the king looked tense. She figured that had to mean Rabia was nearby. When Sombra began walking, they all followed. They could already see a big open area in the ruins. Most likely the town square.

In the middle of the square was a base that had once carried a statue. It was long gone, but laying on top of it was Queen Rabia. She watched the seven ponies enter the square, smirking when her eyes met with her son.

“Ah, my son, I see you saw my message,” Rabia remarked, casually waving a hoof towards him.

“Queen Rabia, we can’t let you destroy Saddle Arabia. Whatever grievances you had with them, that is in the past. Modern Saddle Arabia had nothing to do with the destruction of your empire or the death of your daughter,” Twilight spoke up as she stepped forward, passing Sombra. The queen looked at her, her smirk changing into a sneer.

“Oh, and brought some friends, I see,” Rabia snorted and started to rise. “I was hoping I would be able to convince you to join me in the destruction of our enemies.”

Twilight scowled, not liking that she was being ignored. Her friends looked warily at Sombra. Rabia’s words worried them. Destroying his enemies certainly sounded like something the king would want to do, and they knew he really did not care much for the Saddle Arabians.

“Ah yes, and will the millennium of punishment happen right after that once we are done?” Sombra snorted. The sarcasm was heavy in his voice. “Oh, am I just so looking forward to that, mother.”

“I thought I had gotten rid of that impudence in you,” Rabia growled, and for a brief moment, fury was visible in her eyes. Then she seemed to calm down, and she smiled. “No matter, I have acquired some assistance anyway.”

“Yeek,” Pinkie jumped away when out of the shadow of a ruined building emerged a rage mutant.

More began to emerge from other shadows around the square until they surrounded the statue base and kept Sombra and the others coming closer. Twilight and her friends also noticed that the king had frozen again as he watched the creatures emerge. That hadn’t escaped Rabia either.

“Oh, still afraid of my pets, my Little Shadow?” she chuckled mockingly, reaching with a hoof to caress one of the mutants on the head.

“Where did you get all of those?” Twilight looked horrified around her. Every single mutant showed signs of having been normal once, but were now twisted and disfigured with tattered remnants of clothes on their bodies.

“Oh, I collected Saddle Arabian travelers here and there while biding my time, not exactly a grand army, but my powers will support them well enough.” Rabia took a moment to admire her handiwork before returning her attention to the group.

“Sombra, it’s okay. I know they are scary but remember in the woods. You could handle them; you can do that here,” the gentle, reassuring voice of Fluttershy addressed King Sombra. She reached up to give him a gentle pat. She felt very nervous, but she could already see that for the king, this ran much deeper than her general fright of the horrific-looking mutants gathering in front of them.

Sombra slowly stirred and turned his head to look at the pegasus. Parts of him were rather insulted to be talked like this as if he was a mere child. He had half a mind to snap at her and tell her to leave him be, but a more pragmatic part of him was already feeling this small gesture of kindness from a pony he usually saw as an enemy was having an effect.

It dawned on the king that he had misunderstood what Starswirl had meant regarding Fluttershy. What he feared most was his mother's wrath, and this small moment of compassion was helping him keep his mind clear, thus he was much more clear-headed. Thus he immediately noticed a fatal mistake his mother had made. Sombra returned his attention to his mother.

“Mother, there is just one problem with your little pets,” he chuckled and allowed himself to smirk. Sombra also now saw what his mother's plan was regarding the invasion. It all just became so clear. His horn began glowing purple and green. Suddenly over a dozen sharp crystals burst out of the ground, skewering most of the mutants. “They are still mortal flesh. Thanks for gathering them all in one place.”

“What!?” Rabia snarled as she saw most of the rage mutants dropping dead to the ground after having been so violently impaled. She didn’t quite get a chance to react further. Her son came barreling for her in smoke form, colliding with her and throwing her off the statue base.

“Get the elements ready. I’ll keep her occupied!” King Sombra roared as he continued to strike at his mother with shadowy tendrils. He knew what had to be done. Sombra needed Rabia to get angry, really angry.

“Go Fluttershy,” Pinkie cheered. They had, of course, seen the pegasus gently reassure the king and that had clearly encouraged him into necessary action. There were only about ten mutants now on the far distance of the square. They were already charging towards them, roaring in rage and pain.

Twilight tried not to think about the dead bodies as she and her friends began charging up the elements. As Sombra had told her, these were now just husks. Whoever these ponies had been, they were long gone. They were, however, momentarily distracted when there was a rage-filled roar. Up from the ground burst a mighty column of shadow and smoke, far bigger than Sombra’s and in it coalesced the demonic form of Rabia’s head as she continued to battle her son.

It was difficult to follow the battle. Shadowy tendrils were shooting all over the place, and the two shadow shapes moved like slow-moving tornadoes around each other. One was though bigger than the other. Sombra didn't seem to be actively battling. This looked far more like a distraction.

The element-bearers began to rise as the harmonic magic began surging through them. The remaining rage mutants could no longer reach them. Twilight closed her eyes and knew the moment she opened them; the full force of the Elements of Harmony would be unleashed.

Sombra noticed the increasing glow of light. Violently he ripped his shadow form away from his mother’s, ducking out of the way of the incoming blast he knew was coming. Rabia also stopped her attack, glancing towards the light.

Once more the Elements of Harmony shot out, bathing the area in the rainbow-colored light. The dark crystals, the rage mutants still around, and the dead ones' bodies began to disintegrate. On a half-dismantled roof of a ruined building, Sombra materialized in his pony body, averting his eyes. When it was over, the six ponies dropped to the ground. The area looked clean.

“Did we do it?” Rainbow looked around for any sight of Rabia. They all froze when hearing a mocking chuckle.

“Oh please, don’t tell me you thought I would just stand around and take the hit,” the mocking voice of Queen Rabia addressed them. She was herself standing on top of another mostly ruined building, having dodged the incoming blast. She didn't look pleased though, in fact, she looked positively livid.

“Well, Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Tirek did,” Pinkie Pie grouched, while most of her friends stared slack-jawed at the queen. “Heck, Discord did it twice.”

“You have robbed me of my army. My son refuses to join me. It looks like I’ll just have to do it all by myself,” Rabia snarled and started to dissolve into her smoke form. “Catch me if you can.”

Before anyone could react, Rabia took off over the desert towards the south with a terrifying rage-filled roar.

“We got to stop her!” Twilight shouted when she finally recovered from her shock. At that point, Sombra teleported himself to the group.

“No, we go to the second plan. I’m too tired to teleport all of you, but I can cut ahead if I go by myself. Remember, we need to lead her to the museum,” Sombra said and used his magic to conjure up six water canteens. What he didn't tell them was that everything was going like he had expected it to.

“Here is water. Saddle Arabia is straight south across the desert. There are roads that make the journey easier that you will be able to follow. It’s only a day’s journey if you hurry,” he said quickly, and before the six mares could even utter a word, he had already transformed into his own smoke form and disappeared in an explosion of black smoke.

“He’s right. Rainbow, you are the fastest. See if you can get there quickly. You will probably overtake Rabia, but avoid her and try and get past her and join Sombra and the princesses,” Twilight ordered. The rainbow pegasus saluted, grabbed the canteen left by the king, and was off in a blast. Twilight looked at the others.

“It seems Rabia is too smart for the Elements of Harmony to work effectively against her, but we have to get to Saddle Arabia. I can teleport us some distance south, but the rest we must run,” she said, gathered up magic in her horn, and soon the five ponies disappeared in a flash.

The hot desert wind blew through Sombra’s mane as he watched the horizon, standing on the Saddle Arabian capital's north wall. Far in the distance, he could see the approaching form of his mother. He could also see a rainbow flash approaching at a rapid pace. The king smirked. He had already noticed his mother looking a little weaker before taking off from the Dark Pony capital. The elements may not have hit her directly, but they had sapped her strength a bit.

“Glad you could join me. Where are the others?” Sombra addressed the pegasus when she landed next to him.

“On their way, but they won’t reach here in time,” Rainbow Dash remarked, eyeing the king warily. Rabia had not even bothered with her as the pegasus had zipped past her, either noticing Rainbow or not caring. The dark pony just nodded, never taking his eyes off the incoming shadow and smoke.

“I still don’t like you, but your mother is just sick and must be stopped,” the pegasus grunted and turned her attention to the north.

“I can live with that.” Sombra shrugged. He started to turn to smoke slowly. “Get ready; we need to get her to the museum.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got the plan,” Dash snorted and took to the air.

“Mother! Why don’t you catch me if you think you can!” Sombra shouted. He could by now make out Rabia’s face in the dark shadows rapidly approaching the capital. He smirked when hearing the enraged roar coming from it. He also noticed that her monstrous form was slightly a bit smaller than usual.

Rainbow and Sombra quickly left the wall just as Rabia descended onto it, smashing those parts that her shadow form touched and sending it crumbling down. The king darted towards the museum, along with Rainbow Dash. There they landed, and the dark pony assumed his pony form.

Rabia was quickly entering the city. Anything her shadow and smoke touched was shattered with a powerful force. The queen roared in rage, her eyes locked on where her son had gone. Slowly she started to approach them, smashing through any building that was in her path.

“Warn the princesses. They should be inside, and then keep out of sight,” Sombra instructed Rainbow Dash. The pegasus frowned, more wanting to smack her hooves into the oncoming queen, but decided to be stubborn later. She nodded and darted into the museum.

Yes, she looks tired. She won't be able to hold that form for much longer, Sombra thought to himself as he returned his attention to Rabia.

“I don’t know why I keep calling you, mother. You were never a mother to me. Even my most beaten-up slaves were more tender parents than you were,” Sombra snapped at the incoming queen. He was nearly blown off his feet at the enraged scream that was thrown his way. Right, that should do it.

Sombra quickly ran into the museum just as Rabia came barreling down to ground level. The Queen dropped out of her shadow form just as she hit the steps, unable to hold the form anymore. However she ignored her weariness. So mad was the mare that she tore the doors off their hinges with her hooves, then stalked inside.

“Get back here, Sombra!” She snarled. “I dare you to say that again to my face!”

Rabia glared around, wanting to smash the place up in search of her son. She lit up her horn as if to do just that but then noticed the crown jewels, which caused her to pause. Then she saw the painting depicting Queen Odio leading her people across the desert.

“What is this?” she snarled and walked further into the museum. “What mockery is this?”

There was no response, just eerie silence. The queen sneered and continued further into the museum. “I can sense you, Sombra! You can’t hide from me! You could never hide from me!”

The queen stopped when hearing a clang. Looking down, she saw that her hoof had struck a plaque. It was the one that had been at the entrance of the museum. When the queen had torn the door open, it had loosened and skipped inside.

“What!?” Rabia tilted her head as she read what was stamped on it.

Rabia kicked the plaque away and started to look around again. Then she noticed the entrance to the hall of rulers. The mare could sense a dark pony in there. With a sneer, the queen started to approach it.

“I know you’re in there, my Little Shadow,” Rabia hissed as she entered the new room. She glanced around quickly, barely noticing the paintings lining the walls. Then she looked forward, the sneer vanished from her face, replaced with mild shock.

Bathed in the soft magic glow was the painting of Queen Ira, still staring sadly towards anyone who was viewing it. Rabia started to approach it, mouth and eyes wide open. Once she was within reach, the mare raised a trembling hoof to touch the image.

“My daughter…” she whispered, her lips started to quiver. “Oh, you look so beautiful.”

“Why… why would they…” slowly Rabia tore her eyes away from the painting and looked at the others, seeing former queens and kings of the Dark Pony Empire, all looking so stern and majestic. There was even one of her, standing tall in front of her throne.

Rabia looked back at the painting of her daughter. A single tear started to crawl down her cheek. “My daughter… I just wanted you to be strong...like your brother…”

The queen raised a hoof to wipe the tear away. She then continued to regard the painting sadly for a moment. Then she sensed something; she started to light up her horn, but changed her mind. Instead, her expression turned grim and the queen didn’t move, just continued to stare at the painting. Rabia ignored a whispering voice the queen heard, didn’t even move when two magic barriers suddenly surrounded her. Shackles formed on her legs, and still, the dark pony didn’t budge. She didn’t even react when a manacle formed on her horn.

“It can’t be that easy.” Princess Luna appeared from behind the large painting, along with Princess Celestia and Starswirl. Rabia still just stood there, in grim, stoic silence, as she continued to stare at the painting of Queen Ira.

“Queen Rabia?” Princess Celestia addressed the queen with a frown.

“A queen knows when she’s been defeated,” Rabia simply said, still refusing to take her eyes off the painting.

“Uh, guess it was that easy,” Rainbow remarked, emerging from deeper in the room.

“No, she’s spent,” Sombra chuckled as he emerged from the shadows. “She wasted too much energy traveling here, smashing the wall and the buildings, then chasing me in here. She was going to do something, but realized she had no energy left. She also barely avoided the Elements of Harmony. That really drained her.”

“My plan did hinge on coming here with an army.” Rabia slowly looked at her son. “And you knew that.”

“Of course. You destroying Saddle Arabia alone? That was never going to happen, or you would have done that the moment you came back to life,” Sombra chuckled mockingly.

Rabia said nothing, just returned her gaze towards the painting.

“That’s why it took her so long to do anything. She was busy grabbing unwary Saddle Arabians, twisting them into her rage mutants. She probably had just enough to do some serious damage, no doubt intending to capture more from the fleeing population to create more of them. She left a contingency of mutants as a trap at her hideout to attack me, however, the Elements of Harmony dealt with them, then the remainder of her force was with her in the Dark Pony Empire. I dealt with most of them. The elements did the rest,” the king explained to the others.

“Rage mutants?” both Celestia and Luna looked confused. Starswirl, however, looked grim, and Rainbow Dash shuddered.

“Yeah, not sure you want to know,” the pegasus muttered.

“We will talk about that later.” Celestia nodded and returned her attention to the queen. “So you agree to stand down and face the consequences of your actions?”

“I only wanted to avenge my daughter and my people,” Rabia said coldly.

“Your son more than did that over one thousand years ago. The ponies living here today had nothing to do with the atrocities the ancient Saddle Arabians committed,” Princess Celestia said sternly and with Luna dispelled the magic surrounding the queen, who refused to comment on that.

“Sombra, I want to…” the words died in Celestia’s mouth when she turned to look at the king, but there was no sign of him. Everyone looked at Rabia when the queen started chuckling.

“What’s so funny?” Dash asked.

“My son is no longer here; in fact, he disappeared the moment you captured me. What you saw was an illusion. None of you noticed that he never left the shadows over there?” Rabia smirked slightly and pointed towards the dark area between the paintings where Sombra had stood.

“He’s gone!?” Luna shouted and would probably have rushed out if Celestia hadn’t stopped her.

“We’ll worry about that later. We still have his mother to deal with,” the Sun Princess said, but looked far from happy.

“Are you telling me Sombra is loose now?” Rainbow Dash groaned and hoofed her face.

“Come on, let’s get her out of here,” Princess Celestia said, gesturing to Rabia, who had reassumed her grim, stoic expression.

As they began escorting Rabia out of the hall of rulers and towards the museum's broken entrance, they met up with Emir Horsefar and his mother, along with a small contingent of guards. All the Saddle Arabians froze a bit when seeing Queen Rabia, even if she was chained up.

"We got a message that Queen Rabia had been caught," Manemin said, confusing Celestia and Luna, who had not sent any word yet of the capture.

"Who is that child?" Rabia snorted, for a moment dropping her grim expression, replacing it with mild confusion.

"This is Emir Horsefar, ruler of Saddle Arabia," Celestia informed her. The Queen snapped her head towards the Sun Princess, looking bewildered.

"The ruler is a CHILD!?" She shouted. She could barely believe it.

"You didn't know?" Princess Luna asked. Then again, Rabia had been busy plotting her revenge against her most hated enemies. She probably hadn't done any in-depth research on them; she probably didn't think she needed it.

"No, I did not." Rabia's expression turned grim as she faced forward again. By the first Queen, he's even younger than Ira...he barely understands the responsibility on his shoulders.

"Your Majesty. I... hope you understand why I can't let you harm my people. I had to ask the Celestial rulers of Equestria and your son to assist me," Emir Horsefar finally worked up a nerve to address the queen. He did take a step back when Rabia looked at him; Manemin almost immediately stepped forward a bit to shield him.

Amazing, even when she's all chained up, they still really fear her. Luna noted that the guards also had gotten ready for anything.

"You are his mother?" Rabia looked at Manemin, who nodded. "His Regent?"

Manemin nodded again. Rabia did so as well and then looked forward again as if she had nothing further to say. Then closed her eyes for a moment as if to consider her words before the Queen looked at Manemin.

"Then I am at your mercy," Rabia simply stated and finally fell silent, refusing to say another word.

What have I done, passed through her mind as everyone got ready to continue to escort her out. She did give one subtle glance over the museum. Is it possible that I was... wrong?

Multiple startled cries just outside then suddenly caught everybody's attention. Rainbow immediately darted to the entrance and blinked when seeing her five friends in a pile on the street.

“Guys? How did you get here?” she asked, surprised.

“I don’t know. There was just this black smoke, and suddenly we are here,” Pinkie Pie shrugged as she sprung to her hooves.

“What… she said,” Twilight could really only say. Still a bit dazed over her abrupt arrival and hard contact with the street.

End chapter 21

Chapter 22. Catch me if you can.

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Chapter 22

“I can come with you to talk to the landlord. Maybe having a princess backing you up might give a little more weight that you couldn’t help it about the damage,” Cadance told Dew Doe with a reassuring nod. The two were along with Foxy and Private in a private parlor in Canterlot Castle. The blue pegasus had just finished telling the princess of Rabia’s attack at their house.

“That might help, yes,” Dew Doe nodded and sipped the tea she was drinking. She had still been raking her brain how to explain that hole in the wall, especially since they hadn't exactly told the landlord who they were hosting in the house. “Thanks.”

“No, no, it’s us who should thank you. It’s the least I can do, what with you having to put up with Sombra in your house. That was practically just asking for Rabia to come to visit, once she found out,” the Love Princess assured her.

“I’m just glad we are not being involved in her actual capture,” Foxy grinned. “I think we’ve had our fill of dealing with powerful, mad unicorns.”

Cadance and Dew Doe chuckled. Private smiled a little but said nothing. The stallion was mostly relieved, no longer being involved, yet a small part of him was a little disappointed that he didn’t get a chance to talk with Sombra like had been previously planned. But upon reflection, he could now see that it was probably for the best. The king would have no doubt figured out what was really going on.

“Dew I heard you had to go to the doctor,” Cadance mentioned. Dew Doe nodded.

“Yeah, I felt a little dizzy earlier today. I’m still waiting to hear about the results, but when the doctor heard about how the last few days have been for me, she figured it was just stress,” the pegasus told the princess. She received a gentle pat on the back from Private. “I told her to send a message to the castle about the results. Didn’t know how long I’d be here, after all.”

“Yeah, could be.” The princess nodded and then smiled. “I’m sure you’ll be able to return home soon since they are actively going after Rabia now.”

They were interrupted when a guard opened the door; they all looked curiously at him.

“Princess Cadance. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have returned from Saddle Arabia; they await in the throne room,” the guard announced.

“Oh, hopefully, it’s good news.” Cadance smiled and dropped down from her seat. So did the three ponies, and they walked out of the parlor. They headed straight for the throne room where they just missed guards escorting Rabia out from a side entrance. Princess Luna and Celestia were watching it before turning around to face them.

“Oh, you captured her?” The Love Princess felt relief wash over her. Then she noticed the grim looks on her aunts. “What’s wrong?”

“While we were distracted dealing with Queen Rabia, King Sombra escaped,” Celestia said with a sigh, still berating herself for not having paid closer attention to the king.

“W-what?” Private blinked; Dew was already draping a wing around him. Foxy slapped her own forehead with a hoof.

“He’s escaped?” Cadance groaned and sunk her head to the floor.

“I am afraid so, but we’ll be seeing if we can’t find him again. Twilight and the others are returning the elements to the Tree of Harmony and will then conduct a brief search,” Celestia explained and shook her head.

They had done a brief search already in the surrounding areas of Saddle Arabia and the former Dark Pony Empire, but that yielded nothing. The king had completely disappeared. The Sun Princess wondered if he had planned for that the whole time. It certainly looked like something he would do.

“Private, we will resume the covert watch over you, your brother, and your parents, just in case.” She then looked at the unicorn, who just silently nodded.

Celestia was almost tempted to tell Private and his friends to stay there in Canterlot until they found Sombra, but considering last time, that had taken so long, it just wouldn’t be practical. Better to let them go back and resume their regular life, and hope the king would not bother them anymore.

“What about Rabia? What will happen to her?” Dew Doe wondered about the captured queen.

“She will, of course, be held responsible for her actions. The Saddle Arabians, unfortunately, do not have the security to hold someone as powerful as her, so we have agreed to keep her in custody until they have finished deliberating what to do with her,” Celestia told her, and then finally smiled. “But I do want to thank you all for your hoof in this. Keeping Sombra this placated and cooperative did aid in her swift capture.”

“Granted, he may just have played us all for fools, doing exactly what he hoped we would do,” Luna remarked with a snort. Celestia sighed and nodded in agreement; that was certainly also a possibility.

“Then I better go back to the Crystal Empire, just in case he tries something there,” Cadance said and turned to hug Dew and Foxy goodbye, just nodding to Private, who appreciated the non-hug. Then she used her magic to teleport away.

“I do believe your house needs to be repaired. I will have ponies sent to do that. Meanwhile, you can stay here until that is done. It might take a few days,” Celestia offered the three ponies. Deep down, she didn’t want to send them away just yet, in case Sombra was lying in wait there. The princess wanted to make absolutely sure they would be safe when going back home.

“But it’s only just one…” Foxy fell silent when Dew put a hoof over her mouth, then pointed at Private with a wing; the unicorn looked a little relieved not going home just yet, knowing Sombra was out there again.

“I said nothing.” the maroon mare grinned innocently, causing Celestia and Luna to smile. Then with a nod from the Sun Princess, a guard arrived to escort them back to their guest quarters.

“Oh Foxy, do you want a message sent to Manehattan to have your daughter be brought here?” Luna asked just before all three ponies left the throne room. Foxy halted and thought it over, then shook her head.

“Eh, she can stay with her dad over the summer if she wants. Send a message, but just that it’s up to her if she comes or stays,” Foxy said, figuring Barricade had more than earned being allowed to have Coal over for an extended period of time.

“I will have a message sent as soon as possible,” Luna nodded, and the three ponies left the throne room. The Lunar Princess looked at Celestia. “Can I go to bed? I really should be in bed right now.”

“Of course, go. Do you want me to do the message, or will you do that before you retire?” the Sun Princess asked her sister.

“Oh, I’ll do that, then go to bed. Keep me updated on Sombra, though,” Luna said and trotted to the side entrance, hearing her sister's assurance that she would indeed be kept in the loop.

When Princess Celestia was finally alone in the throne room, her eyes began to narrow.

“I would consider this a violation of our agreement. How long have you been watching?” she snapped.

“Oh, quite a while actually,” a dark voice spoke from the shadows. “Figured now that we are alone, I would let my presence be known.”

“I warned you, Sombra. I told you I would hunt you down to the ends of the world,” Celestia turned her head towards the voice. She didn’t bother doing anything, knowing already that the king wasn’t actually there. It was one of his illusions, but just as Luna had departed the throne room, she had felt dark magic building up in the shadows. “Where are you?”

“I think I’ll quote my mother. Catch me if you can,” Sombra’s voice said and began chuckling. It slowly faded out, and Celestia could feel no more dark magic.

Celestia stomped her hoof on the marble floor. Not wanting to admit it, but the king had called her bluff. Sombra was too aware that she was too busy to act on her threat fully. She might be able to deploy ponies to search or use what little spare time she had to do it. But unless it was a full-out emergency, she had duties that must be attended to, and while Sombra did nothing, that didn’t qualify as an emergency.

“One way or another, Sombra, I will find you,” she muttered and walked over to her throne and sat down, knowing that with Rabia captured, she had to resume her regular duties. She would have to send others to search for Sombra.

Rabia lay down in the prison cell she had been escorted into. What she didn’t know was that Chrysalis had previously occupied it. But just before Rabia’s capture, changelings from King Thorax had arrived to collect her to stand trial in the Changeling Kingdom. They probably only missed each other by a few hours.

The queen remained silent, not stewing or otherwise thinking. She just stared forward, the same grim expression on her face she had carried since her capture. Rabia didn’t even react when a shadow on the wall stretched and began forming into the silhouette of her son.

“Come to gloat?” Rabia asked quietly.

“They are reburying Ira in Canterlot, with full funeral proceedings,” Sombra stated neutrally. He was rather pleased with how things had gone. The moment he departed the museum, he had still made sure to be able to keep tabs on things. Sending a message to the Emir that his mother had been captured, then figured he might as well be a good sport and transported Twilight and the rest of her friends to the capital. There he did overhear, lying in the shadows, Twilight and the rest tell the celestial princesses about the graveside and how the sisters planned to move the body to a more proper burial place.

“Well, at least she will rest in royal ground,” the queen just said. Still, she couldn't help but wonder if she would be allowed to attend. Rabia doubted it.

“I have only one question,” the king’s shadow shifted slightly. There was something he really wanted to know and now seemed like the best time. “Why did you have the mad idea that Ira and I should wed?”

“Oh, Sombra, that was never my intention. I don’t know what you heard, but yes, that idea circulated amongst my advisors and was brought up to me. I merely told them I would consider it. I rejected it just about the same time you abandoned us,” Rabia’s brow sunk ever so slightly. There was silence from the shadow.

“Alright, I will forgive you that,” Sombra snorted, still finding it hard to admit he may have misheard that. It had been the final straw for him, the very reason he finally mustered up the courage to break out of his mother's iron hold. The shadow started to disappear.

“Well, since you are interrogating me anyway, don’t you want to know who your father was?” Rabia finally looked towards the shape of her son. The shadow halted, then fully formed again.

“I already know. It was Captain Vago. Who else could it be? I was the spitting image of him,” Sombra snorted, not really saying that he only considered it after hearing Private and the pegasi sisters wonder about who his father was. His mother's words only confirmed his suspicion. “He’s also Ira’s father?”

“Yes, but did you know he killed me?” Rabia asked, scowling harder when hearing the contemptuous snort from her son.

“Good. Too bad it didn’t stick. Then again, that one is on me. I suppose like father like son, royally messing things up,” King Sombra growled. He was sorely tempted to strike at his mother now that she was so vulnerable, but there was something he knew about dark magic resurrection; it was insanely difficult to kill a dark pony resurrected that way. The Elements of Harmony had only weakened his mother, after all. Finally, his shadow fully vanished as he departed.

Rabia continued to stare at the wall where Sombra’s form had been. Slowly she reached with a hoof towards it and touched the cold stone. A tear crawled down her cheek. My Little Shadow.

“Just got a message from Coal. She’s staying with her dad during the summer. She’s having so much fun with Cara and Chisel,” Foxy announced as she entered the guest room Dew and Private were staying in.

Only Dew was there, sitting on a chair, slowly banging her hooves together. Foxy tilted her head; her sister looked unsure and almost dazed. On the desk behind her was a note. The maroon pegasus approached, looking the Dew up and down.

“Uh, you okay there, Dew?” she asked carefully, not sure what to expect.

“I’m pregnant!” Dew suddenly spewed out, never looking at Foxy, her gaze still fixed forward.

“Uh, come again?” Foxy blinked, having barely caught that.

Dew Doe gave her a signal to hold for a moment, then she took a moment to calm herself down, taking deep breaths and let it out slowly. Then the pegasus looked at her sister. “I’m pregnant.”

“Oh my gosh, really?” Foxy exclaimed in excitement.

“Yes, I got a note from the doctor.” Dew looked back at the note. “She wants me back for a more thorough check-up, maybe determine how long it’s been since she wasn’t checking for that initially.”

“Aaaah, congratulation, sis!” Foxy pulled Dew into a tight hug.

“Erk…thanks,” Dew Doe gasped at the airtight hug. She was let go and now got to watch Foxy bounce around the room.

“I’m going to be an AUNTIE!!!” the maroon pegasus shouted in joy.

“Glad to see one of us is calm about this,” Dew couldn’t help but giggle at her sister’s antics.

“What’s going on in here?” Private asked just as he entered the room and saw Foxy jumping around. The maroon pegasus landed right in front of him, grinning deviously.

“Hiii, daddy,” she just said, then started to jump around again.

“What’s gotten into her?” the unicorn made his way to Dew, who was smiling innocently.

“Oh, nothing - daddy,” the blue pegasus giggled, unable to resist joining Foxy in this joke.

“Why are both of you calling me, daddy?” Private was starting to wonder if both mares had gone mad. He didn’t really get a proper answer just yet; Dew leaned over to kiss him right on the muzzle.

“You like eleven-month investments?” she asked once their mouths parted. Still unable to resist being a little difficult with the answers. However, she had a feeling Private would get it.

“Eleven months… wait…” Private fell silent, and slowly the gears started to click into place. “You… you’re….”

Dew nodded, then squeaked a little when the unicorn abruptly pulled her in a hug, refusing to let go. Giggling a little, she managed to free up her front legs to hug him back.

As Foxy continued to bounce around the room in excitement and the couple kept hugging each other, the ponies failed to notice a sliver of shadow slowly receding before it disappeared.

Well, well. Congratulations, Private. Keeping the Dark Pony line going, Sombra thought as he finally pulled fully out of Canterlot, having done everything he had intended to do and disappeared.

Few months later.

“Bad news?” Starlight Glimmer wondered as she entered Twilight’s office in the school. The friendship princess sat behind her desk, looking a little disappointed.

“Sort of,” Twilight nodded and gestured to her student counselor to come in.

“We have been spending the rest of the summer looking for any sign of Sombra, but he’s disappeared completely, again. I was just sending Celestia a message that with the school in full swing now, our friends and I can’t commit fully to looking for him,” the princess explained with an exasperated groan, wishing again for the days she really could fully commit to looking for an enemy.

“Ah,” Starlight nodded. The school had started again, and that meant an even more busy life for all of them. She also knew Twilight always hated to disappoint the princess. “I’m sure she understands.”

“Yes, I mean, she is running an entire kingdom. I can’t even begin to imagine how busy she and Luna are,” the alicorn shuddered a little. Then she turned a little solemn, a hint of disappointment in her eyes.

“I don’t know. When we were going after Rabia, there was something different about King Sombra. I thought maybe the unlikely had happened; maybe he was coming around. But the moment we captured his mother, and we weren’t looking, he was gone,” the princess grumbled and planted her face on the desk. Granted, she and four of her friends hadn't been present for the capture, but minor details.

“Any news on Queen Rabia?” Starlight asked. She hadn’t heard much about the queen after she had been captured. Really only what Twilight had told her when the princess had finally returned to Ponyville.

“The Saddle Arabians are satisfied if we keep her detained. The Emir even implored us to explore rehabilitation for her; they really seem keen to kiss and make up with her and her family. Princess Celestia is keeping her detained for now and has told them she would look into it, but isn’t optimistic,” Twilight told her and raised her head again.

The news had come as a bit of a surprise to the Equestrians. After all, Rabia had done a bit more than just property damage in the city. The princess shuddered as she remembered the rage mutants. When she had asked about that, the Emir and his mother had just looked sad and regretful.

"Just another price we must pay for our sin," Manemin had muttered. To Twilight's astonishment, even the guards had nodded in agreement. She decided not to argue. Clearly, the guilt over the Dark Pony race's destruction ran really deep with the Saddle Arabians.

Twilight wasn’t too optimistic about the rehabilitation process. Not when considering her son, and this was the mare he had learned everything from. Yet she was already hearing about Celestia and Luna exploring avenues to go in that direction. Twilight did ask about Ambassador Hoofar, and all those Saddle Arabians Rabia had twisted. She didn't really like the answer.

"The Saddle Arabians have to press the charges; they are refusing too," Celestia had told her, but assured Twilight that Rabia wasn't going anywhere soon, especially because of that.

“And Chrysalis?” Starlight wondered. There hadn’t been much in the news about that either.

“The changelings have her imprisoned and awaiting trial. That’s all I know.” The princess glanced at the stack of papers that still waited for her. The reason it was taking so long was mostly that the changelings really never thought they would end up putting their former queen on trial. Equestrian legal experts had been called to the Changeling Kingdom to help them.

“Sorry for the 20 questions. I was just so curious; everything’s been so silent,” Starlight chuckled, noting how Twilight was eyeing her paper stack. “I actually did come here because I think Gallus might need some extra tutoring. He’s still struggling a little in the kindness class. I just wanted to run it by you before I talked with him further about it.”

“Hm, yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” the princess nodded in approval. “Speaking of kindness, did Fluttershy show you that desert critter that was on her doorsteps.”

“Oh yes. Cute little thing. She said it was a desert fox or something. It had to have its leg mended. Didn’t it come with a strange note?” Starlight commented.

“Yeah, let’s see it said ‘Thank you. I found this little one injured in the desert. I felt it would get the expert care it needed with you’ or something like that,” Twilight rubbed her muzzle in thought. It slowly ground to a halt.

No, he didn’t, she thought, her jaw slowly dropping. The arrival of the little fox had surprised Fluttershy and the rest of her friends. All the critter could communicate to the pegasus was that a kind unicorn had found it and assured it that he knew of the right pony to take care of it. The next thing the fox knew, it was at Fluttershy's cottage.

“Something wrong?” Starlight wondered, a little concerned now. Twilight closed her mouth and quickly composed herself.

“No, it was probably nothing,” she assured her friend, silently chuckling. Well, maybe I wasn’t so wrong about him after all.

Ponies working in the Mareage Resort and Casino in Las Pegasus all stopped what they were doing and stared surprised, though it turned into a delight for some, as a tall, dark gray pegasus pony entered the lobby. He wore a tuxedo with a black bowtie. His mane was neatly trimmed, and his emerald eyes almost shone as he regarded everything around him with a friendly smile.

“Silver Gloom, you’re back,” a pony behind the counter exclaimed when the pegasus started to approach.

“I have indeed come back to enjoy your excellent service,” Silver addressed the unicorn kindly.

“You want your old suite? It’s available,” the pony inquired, almost ready to rush to the keys to go get them, but knew he had to wait for an answer.

“That is what I was hoping for,” Silver chuckled and used the opportunity to fix the collar of his suit.

“Right away, sir,” the unicorn rushed off to the keys to retrieve them, then grabbed the guest book so the pegasus could sign in.

“Welcome back to the Mareage. Hope you enjoy your stay,” the clerk said once Silver had signed the book and grabbed the keys off the counter.

“Oh, I intend to,” Silver Gloom chuckled and turned around to head towards the elevators.

Now let’s try this all again, but now with a little more observation, King Sombra thought as he approached the elevators, disguised as the big spender Silver Gloom, chuckling deep inside.

The end

Rage of a Queen, wrath of a Mother

by Askre

Chapter 1. Hello again, my son.

Chapter 2. That’s not Sombra.

Chapter 3. Sorry I’m late!

Chapter 4. Kitchen. Tea. Cakes

Chapter 5. Why him?

Chapter 6. That is none of your concern.

Chapter 7. Hello again, Private.

Chapter 8. Sharp ears.

Chapter 9. When we find Chrysalis, we’ll find Rabia

Chapter 10. And what if I had said no?

Chapter 11. Hello again, Sombra.

Chapter 12. I have an idea of how to locate your son

Chapter 13. Don’t go in there if you value your sugar level.

Chapter 14. Something up?

Chapter 15. All ponies are different.

Chapter 16. I am not dignifying that.

Chapter 17. Thank me? Whatever for?

Chapter 18. I raised them to be strong.

Chapter 19. This is mother’s work.

Chapter 20. I will put it on my schedule.

Chapter 21. I only wanted to avenge my daughter and my people.

Chapter 22. Catch me if you can.