> A watchful shadow > by Askre > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1. Silver Gloom. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1 The dinging and whirring sounds of slot-machines echoed around the gambling room as ponies pulled the levers or pushed the buttons to activate them, some had put their very lasts bits into them while others had just started wagering away. Occasionally there was a loud celebratory noise as one or two machines granted a patron a winning who led out a loud shout in victory, at other times a pony sighed dejectedly as they had no more money to spare and walked with a hanging head and ears bent low. A similar atmosphere was around the card tables, the craps, and the roulettes. Some ponies cheered loudly as they won, while others grumbled and left unable to deal themselves back in. Some tried to desperately plead with the dealers but were simply shoved away by security. Crowds of ponies and occasionally other creatures, who were not playing were gathered around some tables, watching with interest, quite invested in the tense wagering sometimes going on. Some even cheered with the winners, others gave the losers a sympathetic smile or a pat on the back. Better luck next time. An especially large gathering was around one of the craps tables. A big spender was being very lucky tonight at the Mareage Resort and Casino in Las Pegasus. The dice kept coming up on the numbers he bet on, if anyone suspected magic trickery, it would be difficult to believe as the pony was a pegasus. Dark gray, his mane was black and neatly trimmed. He wore a black tuxedo jacket over a white shirt with a wingtip collar and rounded Prance cuffs, a black bow-tie went around his neck under the collar. His emerald looking eyes, stared intently as the dices rolled again. “And another winner,” the stick pony announced as the dices landed on the numbers the pegasus had bet on. The pegasus smirked, grabbed for his wine glass and drank from it. He glanced at the bluish-green unicorn stallion playing as well, wearing a flashier purple and blue suit, that one was glaring resentfully at him. “Another round, Mr. Silver?” the base dealer asked with a business-like smile. “No, I believe I will be calling it quits, it is getting late,” Silver said and finished from his glass and put it on the edge of the table. “Cash me out.” “Aw, don’t you want to play one more round, Mr. Silver?” a cream-colored earth mare asked, wearing a glittery silver dress placed a leg around the pegasus, fluttering her eyes at him. Silver glanced at her with a small smile. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind trying to win some of my money back,” the purple wearing unicorn snorted, shooting Silver another withering glare. “As much as it would please me to continue to entertain you, I fear I must depart for now,” Silver told the mare while accepting his winnings from the dealer. He ignored the unicorn who grumbled and drank from his martini glass. The mare pouted but it did not affect the pegasus. Carrying a specially made purse to carry his newly won bits under his wing, Silver pushed out of the crowd as another player moved in to take his place. As Silver left the gambling area, he subtly glanced back. The unicorn in the purple suit was following him at a distance. The pegasus smiled then looked around, spotting the restrooms he headed to them. He swiftly entered the ones marked for stallions, followed soon after by the unicorn. A minute passed and Silver came rushing out of the restroom looking rather alarmed. He immediately went to a nearby staff member. “Excuse me, there has been an incident in the stallion restroom, a guest has keeled over rather unexpectedly,” the pegasus addressed the pony. Silver watched with concern as the earth stallion, wearing hotel staff uniform, rushed over to the restrooms. It took the earth pony only a second before he was running back out, calling for a fellow employee to come and help him. “We have to get this guy to a hospital; he looks like he suffered a stroke or something!” Silver heard him say as the two ponies hurried into the restroom. This commotion had gathered a crowd of spectators watching what was going on. Silver blended into it, watching intently as the others, listening to the other ponies whisper amongst themselves, wondering what was going on. Soon the two hotel employees came out carrying the unicorn in the purple suit. The pony lay limp on their backs, staring vacantly into the distance with bloodshot eyes, his tongue hanging out from the corner of his mouth, soft moans escaped his lips. The ponies watching grimaced, more questions on what had happened whispered around. For a moment the unicorn’s eyes met with Silver’s, for a slight second there was a shark-like grin on the muzzle of the pegasus as he licked his lips. The unicorn’s eyes widened, terror came over them, but it was as if he had no energy to scream just a gave a soft whimper. “Mr. Silver, you were present, do you know what happened?” another employee had approached the pegasus who still by all appearances looked concerned, this time a mare, her badge indicated she was a manager. “I am not sure, just a few minutes before we were having a rather spirited competition at the craps table. I went to the restroom and he followed soon after. He seemed to wish to speak with me, but before he had a chance to, he just fell over as if something had struck him,” Silver explained to her. The heavy concern in both his voice and face “I did notice he was consuming a rather alarming amount of drinks during our game.” The mare nodded and seemed satisfied with that explanation and walked away, already the crowd was dispersing as the unicorn had by now been taken out to the lobby and away from the resort. Silver smirked to himself then headed to the lobby and in confident strides approached the counter. He was almost immediately greeted by a blue unicorn. “Evening, Mr. Silver, heard you had some luck at the craps table.” The young stallion smiled, the pegasus chuckled politely. “Heard the noise of the crowd, I take it,” Silver said and smirked when the pony nodded. “Yes, too bad about Mr. Jackpot, saw them carrying him out, he looked in terrible shape.” The counter clerk shook his head sadly. “Yes, I fear I was witness to that. Keeled right over in the restroom.” Silver shuddered a little. The clerk cringed slightly then smiled in sympathy. “I would like the key to my room please,” the pegasus then requested with a pained expression, as if the event he witnessed bothered him greatly. “Of course, sir.” The unicorn turned to the shelves holding the guest keys. He took one from there using his magic and floated it over to the pegasus. “I do hope you are enjoying the suite.” “It is satisfactory for my needs.” Silver nodded and put the bit purse on the counter table. “Please see to it that this is put in my safety deposit box.” “Right away, sir.” The unicorn nodded, before he could grab the purse, the pegasus fished out few bits from it and pushed them towards the stallion. “Something for your trouble,” Silver flashed a weak smile, the recent event still heavy on his mind. The unicorn accepted the bits with a polite thanks, before taking the purse to the back where the safety deposit boxes were. Silver carefully put the key in a pocket before heading off towards the elevator. The lift operator saluted him and quickly opened the elevator door. “Top floor please,” the pegasus requested quietly, his expression sad. It was granted quickly and the young pony manning the elevator pressed the button and pulled the lever to operate it. It took a moment, but they were soon on the top floor of the hotel. Before leaving the elevator, Silver fished up some extra bits he had on hoof and gave them to the pony, who smiled and thanked him kindly. Silver then turned away and headed to the door of his room. As he was now alone, his expression was turning grimmer. The pegasus fished up his key and opened the door and entered the suite. All the windows were covered by thick velvet curtains, the living room had two luxurious couches and silver framed table standing on a fine woven rug. There was a private bar in one corner of the west wall, on the east one were two doors. The pegasus closed the door and made sure they were locked. He turned towards the doors on the east wall. Suddenly, a smoke-like shadow enveloped him and the pony grew taller, his wings disappeared and from his forehead produced a red curved horn. His mane and tail grew also and became wilder and flew with power, his eyes turned red and his pupils became slit. Even the expensive clothing had grown with this transformation. Thank you for the wonderful hate-filled meal, Mr. Jackpot. The pony chuckled darkly. King Sombra used his magic to undo the bow-tie and let it hang loose as he walked towards the nearest door on the east wall. Opening it, he entered a bedroom; the windows were also covered with velvet curtains and the bed was large. The Dark Pony arched his brow, on the king-sized bed lay the cream-colored earth mare, still wearing that silver dress. She regarded him seductively. “Now Mr. Silver. Is that any way to treat a mare, leaving so swiftly,” she said and winked as she caressed the silky blanket underneath her with a hoof. “I had a feeling that was you,” Sombra simply said, not looking too impressed. The mare grinned, green flame engulfed her entire body and she too enlarged in size. She became black with a green and blue carapace, her mane and tail became longer and translucent bluish-green, a jagged horn produced out of her forehead and the legs were riddled with holes. From her back now produced transparent bluish wings. Her dress had not been part of the disguise, it ripped to shreds when suddenly covering a much larger body. “Nothing gets by you, King Sombra,” Queen Chrysalis chuckled and used her magic to vaporize the shredded dress still clinging to her body. “How is life as Silver Gloom?” “A reprieve from spying on my enemies. Tomorrow, Silver Gloom will mysteriously disappear, never to be heard from again,” the king said, still not moving from the doorway. “How did you locate me?” “Oh please, I have my plans for Equestria and even now my changelings are everywhere, keeping tabs and gathering information,” the changeling queen chortled and put one hoof under her cheek. “It wasn’t hard to guess who Silver Gloom was, especially when hearing he was a dark gray pegasus.” “Well, unlike you changelings, illusion spells are quite limited and have a shorter duration,” King Sombra snorted as he began taking off the jacket. “I do not feel like squandering power right now; it’s not been that long since I returned to life. So, I make do with the appearance of a smaller pegasus.” “Risky, when your enemies are looking for you,” Chrysalis pointed out, waving at Sombra with the other hoof. “Ah but that’s the thing, they are looking for me in the wilds. They think I’m in some corner or a cave, gnawing at my hatred for them, cooking up wild plans and schemes to finally end them all,” Sombra chuckled, he opened a closet and rescued a coat hanger from there and put the jacket on it. “They are certainly not looking for somepony hiding so openly and living in relative luxury, even if it’s temporary.” “Yes, I see your taste for luxury hasn’t changed,” the queen remarked and glanced around the luxurious-looking bedroom. “So where do you hang out when not Silver Gloom or whatever other names you use.” “Now why should I tell you?” Sombra snorted and after hanging up the jacket, began unbuttoning the shirt, after removing the bowtie. The Dark Pony barely raised an eyebrow when Chrysalis was engulfed in green flame again and took on the form of Princess Celestia. “Would you tell the mare of your dreams?” she asked in Celestia’s voice, giving him bedroom eyes and her smile was seductive. “That depends,” the king said and stopped unbuttoning his shirt, a sly smirk came over his muzzle. “Is this show eyes only or will I be embracing that form.” “Why don’t you finish undressing, close that door…” Chrysalis said softly, her smile turning a little wicked. “And find out.” Sombra started to grin almost devilishly, he took off the shirt and put it in the closet. Then he fully walked into the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him. “I have taken residence in an abandoned fort up in the Tall Mountains, within mountain goat territory,” Sombra explained as he filled two wine glasses with red wine, floating one over in his red magic to the changeling who accepted. It was very late in night and the two had moved out to the living room. Chrysalis lay lazily on one couch and Sombra was walking away from the corner bar, having gone there to retrieve drinks. He lay down on the other couch, taking a sip from his wine as he did. “I periodically lay low there, to throw off any scent. Equestrians have no access to the mountain goat lands and it’s loaded with supplies if I ever need them,” he continued. “It is a useful refuge when I’m not actively spying on our enemies.” Chrysalis nodded and drank her wine, she didn’t require food and drink, but changelings could still consume it. Came in handy when needing to blend in. “So why seek me out? Aside from your rather generous offer in exchange for knowing where I reside?” the king asked curiously. “What? Are you telling me you didn’t want to give that new body of yours a test run?” Chrysalis gave him a coy smirk. “Already have. That is how I realized it was you. That mare you posed as was a professional mare I enjoyed the service of a few weeks ago. Then I sucked her nearly dry of her fears. Last I heard she is still recovering in a mental institution.” The Dark Pony grinned maliciously and drank from his glass. “Her name was Whipped Cream; her fears were delicious. Among other things I took from her.” “I’m sure,” Chrysalis remarked, matching the king’s malice in her grin. “Very well. I sought you out because, as I said, I have my plans for Equestria. I was making sure you weren’t up to something that might ruin it,” the changeling queen then said, narrowing her eyes. “I would hate for us to suddenly become… enemies.” “Oh, have no fear, my dear little love bug,” King Sombra chortled and finished from his glass, putting it on the table. “My plans have very little to do with Equestria, for now. I am not ready, so do what you must, I’ll continue to watch. All I ask is that certain ponies are left be. No worries, they are not ponies you are interested in.” “Oh really?” the changeling queen raised a brow. “Who might they be?” Chrysalis wasn’t sure what to make of the strange look that came on Sombra, his smile was almost nostalgic now. The king used his magic to teleport the bottle of wine he had left at the bar to the table, then lifted it and refilled his glass. “Descendants of my race, Dark Ponies who escaped the destruction of the empire, migrated to Equestria,” he whispered and drank from his glass. “Perhaps to further ensure that I do not interfere with your plans, we could make a deal. I do need service of those who can more easily infiltrate Equestrian society.” King Sombra returned his gaze towards the changeling. “I can provide you with few drones for your use.” Chrysalis nodded, seeing no problem with that. She and Sombra were old allies, she had provided him with spies before back when he ruled the Crystal Empire, in exchange he provided her hive with slaves to feed on what little love remained in them. “So, did you hear about Tirek?” the changeling inquired and nodded when the king offered to refill her glass. “Yes, interesting choice to just start blasting everything in sight when he had finally sucked out all the magic from the ponies,” King Sombra snorted and shook his head. “He almost made my life easier.” “I know, all those helpless ponies. I could have swooped in with my changelings to feast on their love,” Chrysalis shook her head ruefully. “Oh, and Twilight and her happy little friends found a village near the borders of the Frozen North, the leader was… interesting to say the least. I’ve spotted her around Equestria, spying on that little princess.” King Sombra rolled his eyes and took a large gulp from his wine. “Anyone we need to worry about?” the changeling wondered. “No, a simple delusional fanatic, Starlight Glimmer I think she was called. Doubt she’ll cause much damage on her own,” the king responded with a shrug of his shoulders. “I almost considered approaching her, but I didn’t want her to bore me to tears with her spiel.” Chrysalis nodded and finished drinking from her second glass. Then the changeling rose from the couch, stretching a little as she did. “Well, I must depart. I shall send drones to your little mountain hideout once I return to the hive,” she told him, engulfing herself with green flame she turned into a yellow unicorn with a red mane. King Sombra just nodded and continued to drink from his glass. He kept staring downwards as the changeling trotted past him and towards the exit. The Dark Pony was deep in thought, barely paying attention to it when the door opened and closed. He was now alone in the suite, slowly a smirk crossed his lips. I do wonder how Private is doing. It’s been a while since I last checked on him, he thought, his smirk slowly morphing into an eager grin. End chapter 1 > Chapter 2. Shadowy travels. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2 Donning his Silver Gloom guise once more, King Sombra arrived in the lobby and put the key on the counter. This time it was a white earth pony who was manning it. “Morning, Mr. Silver, I understand you are checking out?” the pony asked and smiled. “I hope you have enjoyed our service.” “I have indeed, I have a purse of bits in my safe deposit box,” Sombra said giving the pony a friendly smile. The clerk nodded and went in the back to retrieve it. When he returned, Sombra opened it up and used the money contained there to pay for his stay and any extra service he had received. Once he had signed out, the Dark Pony left the resort, using his pegasus wings he took to the air. Sombra departed Las Pegasus and started heading east, for a while he maintained his disguise but once certain that he was alone, the king reverted into his shadow form and descended back to the ground. He came upon a forest area and immediately blended in with the shadows there as he continued his way east. The trip took most of the day, it was almost evening when he arrived far further east in Equestria. He had taken his time, not going too fast, ensuring no one saw or detected him. Slowly the king made his way to the suburbs of Fillydelphia. The Dark Pony smiled to himself as he continued to blend in with the shadows, only moving between them when no eyes could see. He edged closer and closer towards a white house with a red-tiled roof and brown window frames. A picket fence surrounded it and in one corner of the garden was a toy fort. This is a risk. My enemies are keeping a subtle watch themselves. I must move with the uttermost caution. He thought as he slunk into the shadows produced by the fort and waited. Lights were still on in the house, Sombra could see movements. A maroon mare with a white muzzle appeared in the window, talking with someone inside. Sombra kept waiting, the sun went down and it was now dark. The king smiled wider when spotting a unicorn stallion, dark gray with a blonde mane appearing in one of the upper windows. If you only knew, he thought to himself, holding back a cruel chuckle. Time went on, ponies passed the picket fence, oblivious to the presence in the shadows beyond it. The light started to turn off in the houses around, one by one. Eventually, that began happening as well in the building Sombra had his eyes on. Soon it was all dark. Still the king waited patiently, the moon went higher and higher, still he didn’t move from his hiding place. It was close to midnight when Sombra finally began edging closer to the house, slinking up the walls and approached the window he had seen the unicorn in. Using the shadows, he slipped easily inside and was in a bedroom. Soft snores came from a single bed. Sleeping peacefully was the blonde maned unicorn. Sombra slithered closer and started to rise. As he did, he carefully lit up his horn with his dark magic and cast a deep sleep spell. “Oh, Private Iceland. If you only knew how easy it would be for me, to just come here and whisk you away,” Sombra whispered and reached to caress the mane of the sleeping pony, now unable to wake up due to the spell. “Ah, if only I was ready. I can’t take the chance right now,” the king smiled wickedly, tracing his hoof to the cheek of Private and gently stroke it. “Soon you will be by my side.” King Sombra slowly began dissolving into shadow, the hoof still caressing the unicorn’s cheek turning into a tendril and the Dark Pony sunk into the darkness. As he slunk back out he lifted the spell keeping Private asleep. Missing the unicorn jerk awake, rise in the bed and look fearfully around. “DEW!” Sombra heard an alarmed frightened cry come from the bedroom window as he disappeared back to the grass below. As he continued to quietly slither away, he let out a soft cruel chuckle. Hm, I do wonder where Private works. It was a museum, wasn’t it? Sombra hid again under the fort, waiting for the morning daylight. He made sure to always keep to the shadows and out of sight. As the sun began to slowly rise, ponies were already emerging walking away from their houses, some heading straight for the city proper. The door of the white house opened and out stepped Private, carrying a saddlebag. He turned around to speak with someone inside the house. “Are you sure you want to go to work today, that was a pretty bad episode you had last night,” a soft voice addressed him. Private just nodded and used his magic to close the door. Sombra noted that the unicorn looked a little nervous, carefully glancing at every single shadow around him as he trotted to the gate of the fence. Oh, I really shouldn’t. I should resume my watch on my enemies, continue to study them. Yet I just can’t resist. Sombra smiled as he watched the unicorn exit through the small gate. I wonder if I can fool him with one of my disguises. King Sombra waited, then slowly crept forward and under the fence. As Private passed it on the sidewalk, the Dark Pony merged with the unicorn’s shadow, tethering himself to it and let the oblivious pony take him towards the city. Sombra could feel the fear and apprehension, drunk it in and fueled his powers. He was careful though not to actively feed on it, least Private became aware something was off. The unicorn still occasionally glanced around him, he didn’t relax the whole trip, not even when more ponies were around as they approached the city. Private didn’t stop his walk until they came to a large museum building. Two stone statues of manticores guarded it. As the unicorn walked up the steps, Sombra let go of the tether and slunk over to the shadow of one of the statues. Watching as Private used a key to gain access. The king noted that Private locked the door once he was inside, the museum was still not open for business. The king had to wait some more, moving with the shadow of the statue as the sun gained altitude. Sombra frowned and glanced around at the ponies walking past. When one got close enough, he hitched a ride on that shadow until they passed an alley which he silently slipped into. Once he was out of sight, Sombra emerged from his shadow form. He quickly activated his magic and cast his illusion spell. His body shrunk, the horn vanished and he sprouted wings. His mane became more silver-colored and shorter and his hooves turned from black to gray to match his coat. The eyes turned from red to blue and the pupils became round. One final spell gave him the illusion of having a raining cloud for a cutie-mark. “And thus, Rain Cloud is born,” Sombra chuckled to himself and trotted out of the alley. Sombra made his way back to the museum and saw ponies entering, meaning it was finally open. Smirking, the Dark Pony climbed the step and opened the glass door and stepped in. “Hello and welcome to the Fillydelphia History Museum,” an amber mare greeted him at the counter. “Thank you, how much is it for entry?” Sombra asked politely. “It’s ten bits for an adult,” the clerk informed him. Sombra nodded and paid the necessary amount with a warm smile. Then he entered the museum and started to walk around. There were already many ponies in there to take a look at the various exhibits, all carefully watched by staff members, who occasionally would approach guests to answer questions if they had any. The Dark Pony frowned; he could see no sign of Private. The king glanced around, then trotted towards a section that was marked Pre-Equestria. Entering it, he saw exhibits for various pony nations that had existed before Equestria was formed. Now where would Private be hiding here? Sombra thought and looked over the room, then his eyes caught something familiar. It was a battle armor, very old, cracked and rusted. The helmet had the remains of a steel horn. Underneath was a plaque that read, ‘Spartacornian battle armor.’ “Excuse me, am I reading right that this is a Spartacornian armor?” he addressed a light gray unicorn mare that looked like part of the staff. “Why yes, it is. Our very own Spartacornian expert was on the dig that dug it up,” she said cheerfully and walked closer to the armor with Sombra. “Indeed, I have a mild interest in Spartacornia, would it be possible to meet this expert? If she’s not busy,” Sombra asked slyly, glancing at the mare. “Oh, the expert is a he,” the mare corrected him, then she looked over to doors that said, ‘staff only.’ “Private Iceland, he usually works in the back, but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind coming out here to talk about Spartacornia,” she offered and smiled at Sombra, her eyes only seeing his pegasus disguise. “That would be quite lovely,” the dark pony nodded, internally laughing at how easy this was. Sombra watched the mare leave for the staff door, then turned back to the armor, examining it with his eyes, feigning great interest. After a little while, the gray mare returned with an apologetic look on her face. “I am so sorry. Private requested with his supervisor to just be in the back today. He had a rather traumatic experience several months ago and he’s exempt at the moment from working the public areas unless we desperately need extra staff to help out,” she told him. Clever boy, Sombra silently grumbled, outwardly he put on a sympathetic smile. “Oh, I am so sorry to hear that, do you know what happened?” he asked, feigning curiosity. “I don’t know all the details, just that he had a terrible accident in the Crystal Empire. We don’t ask, it shook him pretty badly, he’s even more reclusive than normal,” the mare shrugged and again offered her apologies. “I could tell you something, I have been to Private’s Spartacornia lectures.” “That won’t be necessary, I’m rather pressed on time,” Sombra was smiling on the outside, inside he was cursing how his luck had turned. He quickly said goodbye and hurried out of the museum. Well that was a waste of time. Can’t risk slinking into the backroom. I was pressing my luck already as it was, he thought as he took to the air and started flying out of the city. One more stop before I head back to the fort and lay low for a little while. Might as well scout out Canterlot. Once more when he was out of sight, the king turned to shadow and returned to the ground to use that method to move about unseen and undetected. His trip to Canterlot was uneventful and slow since he still needed to avoid detection. Despite the distance not being far from Fillydelphia, it was evening when he arrived. Once at the Equestrian capital, the king once more donned his Rain Cloud disguise and started walking unnoticed by the populace. As he walked around, keeping his eyes and ears open for anything that might catch his interest, his stomach started to growl. The Dark Pony realized he hadn’t eaten in a while. Glancing around, the king spotted a nearby restaurant. Shrugging Sombra approached. The smell of food coming at him from the kitchen as he entered, roused his hunger even more. The place was filled with ponies dining or still in the process of ordering their meal. A waitress soon approached and offered to show him a seat at an empty table. Sombra sat down and picked up the menu, he quickly noticed that these were all Equestrian dishes, which meant no meat. The Dark Pony sighed, but knew it would do, he would draw attention to himself if he tried to order a more omnivorous meal. While considering what to order, his sharp hearing picked up a familiar voice. Slowly he lowered the menu a bit so he could peek over it. He frowned when seeing the table further away from him. Princess Twilight Sparkle sat at a table with four other unicorns and, Sombra had to hold back a snarl, Spike the dragon. One unicorn was wearing a sweater and had big glasses with white tape in the middle. Her mane was tied up with a small pink ribbon. She didn’t look like she wanted to be there. The other unicorns and Twilight tried awkwardly to strike up a conversation with her. Damnation, did I press my luck too far? Is she here looking for me? Sombra couldn’t say he was happy to see the alicorn. He was downright alarmed and almost tempted to hastily vacate the restaurant. The king resisted the urge to quickly head out, it would just arouse suspicion. Besides, the princess didn’t seem to be actively looking for anything. She seemed quite focused on the group of unicorns she was talking to. Sombra started to raise his menu again, his hunger distracting him a bit from fully paying attention to the other table. Then he spotted something else. A light purple unicorn with a purple mane that had a light blue streak in the middle. She was doing her best to conceal herself behind her menu at a table close to the one the unicorns and the Princess sat at. Still spying are you, Starlight Glimmer? Still sore that Princess Twilight ruined your little village? Sombra chuckled to himself, he glanced at the waitress who approached his table. Selecting a meal from the menu, he made his order. The mare smiled and jotted it down, then took the menu and trotted away. While Sombra waited, he noticed that Princess Twilight’s dinner was turning south. The glasses-wearing mare was leaving in a huff. The king raised his brow, wondering what this was all about. The remaining mares and Spike spoke for a bit before Twilight seemed to realize something and teleported out of the restaurant. Spike jumped out of his seat and quickly ran after the princess. Something must have happened, Sombra frowned a little, regretting having not paid close enough attention. The remaining mares finished their meals in awkward silence before departing the restaurant. When that happened, Starlight lowered her menu and looked very thoughtful and contemplative. Sombra ignored it, his meal had arrived and the Dark Pony began eating. When he was done, Starlight had left the restaurant as well. Perhaps it’s time to head back to the fort. Princess Twilight being here could mean I have attracted attention, or maybe not. Best not take any chances. I better lay low for a little while, the king thought as he rose up from his seat. He went to pay and then left the restaurant. Once more he took to the air to depart the city that way. When he was far enough way, he didn’t change into his shadow form. This time he teleported away, departing Equestria proper for now with these thoughts. I wonder what Barricade is up to. Perhaps I should check on him next. The end