No Strings Attached

Sparkling Scroll awoke in a lavish bed, a few shafts of sunlight piercing through the snow to land where her head was resting on the pillow. She yawned as she sat up, clambering out of the four-poster bed and stumbling towards the connected bathroom. She began to tidy her unruly mane with one of the many brushes she found in the bathroom, this room’s purpose possibly being quarters for important emissaries in the past.  Once she had finished she looked into the mirror, her purple eyes reflected back at her. She tugged at the piece of cape covering the wound above her eye with both front hooves, pulling the makeshift bandage away from her head. The wound was quite small, thankfully, and did not appear to require any further medical attention. Sparkling used a washcloth to clean away the blood from the surrounding area, aided by the warm water.

As she walked out of the room she went over the events of the previous day, her thoughts straying to the new creature that was now the self-proclaimed ruler of the Empire. She was willing to bet that none of the other citizens would question this, considering the circumstances through which he came to power. She began to descend a staircase, one of many in the palace, this one leading down towards the main entrance hall. She paused briefly to look out a window, the sky while cloudy no-longer possessed the thick menacing black clouds that were there yesterday, few shafts of sunlight were piercing the heavens amidst a light shower of snow.

Sparkling continued on, reaching the bottom of the staircase and finding herself in the entrance hall, the hall being illuminated by the many light-emitting crystals that were installed in many of the buildings around the empire. She pushed open the throne room doors and was greeted by a strange and disturbing sight.

Slouching in the crystal throne, with his feet resting upon a rug that appeared to be made out of the skin of Sombra was Doflamingo, the biped’s head resting on his shoulder, the shades he wore still covering his eyes which made it look like he was looking down in thought. Sparkling advanced toward the sleeping Emperor, making sure to keep her distance from the morbid floor rug.

“Um, good morning Sir…”

Doflamingo slowly stirred, lifting his head to gaze at her.

“What? Hmm. Seems I’ve forgotten to find a bed again eh?” said Doflamingo with a chuckle.

Sparkling couldn’t help but giggle at the biped’s lame joke, Doflamingo pushing his shades upward an open palm to wake himself up and rub the sleepiness from his eyes. Doflamingo stared down at the giggling mare, noting the drastic change from the nervous wreck he had encountered just yesterday.

“You seem chipper this morning, I’m sorry, but I didn’t catch your name yesterday.”

Sparkling stopped her giggling when she was reminded of the day before, her good mood slightly dampened “My name is Sparkling Scroll sir.”

“Please Sparkling Scroll, drop the formalities, I got enough of that back home.”

Sparkling’s ears perked up at this, the origin of the Emperor shrouded in mystery, Sparkling not even knowing what his species was called. “Anyway, is it alright if I address you as Sparkling while we’re in an informal setting?”

“Yes si- Doflamingo,” Sparkling managed to stop herself calling him ‘Sir’, pleasing the Emperor, the biped clapping his claws together.

“Good, well then Sparkling, what do we do now? I would ask my predecessor but,” Doflamingo glanced down at the Sombra rug, “I think he’s too busy lying down on the job.”

Sparkling didn’t know what disturbed her more, the fact that Doflamingo had just made a joke regarding the pony-skin rug or the fact that she actually found it a little bit funny, maybe she should find a job which has her interacting with unstable, violent individuals less often.

“I believe that now is the time for morning court Doflamingo,” she began before scanning his form, “but would you possibly like to, um, excuse me for saying this but, clean up first?”

“Why would I do that?” responded Doflamingo, “I’m fine as it is.”

“Well Doflamingo,” Sparkling continued, “your clothes are kind of dirty, and you are covered in bloodstains.” She found herself staring at a particular stain located on the area around his stomach was, the stain shaped like a heart, the brown dried blood standing out from the white color of the cloth. “They might scare any subjects who wish for your guidance.”

“And my floor rug made out of the skin of their former Tyrant wouldn’t?” deadpanned Doflamingo.

“You… do have a point there; in all honesty it is incredibly disturbing.”

“I disagree, it serves as proof that Sombra will no longer threaten the ponies here ever again,” answered Doflamingo, digging his heels into the rug, “and while it’s soft and comfortable, it’s also useful in deterring any who would be foolish enough to take the throne from me.”

“I see…” commented Sparkling, before turning towards the door, “however no one appears to be here, they’re all probably still hiding from Sombra.”

“Probably, I did see things hiding in the houses when I arrived,” Doflamingo scratched his chin as he recalled this.

While he was lost in thought, Sparkling decided to ask some of the questions on her mind, hoping the Emperor would be forth coming with answers.

“Um, Doflamingo…” the aforementioned human stopped stroking his chin to stare down at Sparkling. “I wanted to ask you about what kind of magic did you use to defeat Sombra? I don’t know very much about magic, but yours seems especially different from anything that I’ve heard of.”

Doflamingo smiled at the question. “Well Sparkling, the power I used against Sombra wasn't magic, but strings.”

Sparkling stared dumbfounded at the Emperor. Strings!?! How could strings even be considered magic, let alone a weapon to defeat the tyrant King?!?

“Bu-but Sir!!! That just makes no sense! Strings are just lines of thread! How could you use such a thing to defeat Sombra! You can’t call strings a form of magic!”

Doflamingo only smiled as Sparkling yelled. He witnessed himself that magic was a real possibility in this world and while it had many potential uses, he didn’t know much about it himself. In contrast, his power wasn’t magic at all, but was enough to fool anyone who didn’t know the full details of his power. He debated whether to tell Sparkling Scroll more and decided that he should. After all, she would be very important to him in getting his empire back up and running and telling about the basics of his power wouldn’t hurt him in any way, but just to be safe…

“Well Sparkling, that would be because it isn’t really magic as you know it.” Doflamingo answered while Sparkling Scroll listened intently. “I received the power to produce strings from anywhere on my body after eating what’s called a devil fruit back in my world. A devil fruit’s powers are different depending on what fruit is eaten, and the Ito-Ito fruit I ate allowed me to become a string man.” Sparkling nodded, slowly understanding and growing more excited about learning more about the Emperor’s past.

“Now, as for how I used these strings to defeat Sombra…” Doflamingo continued. “The strings themselves are near invisible, incredibly strong and durable. The thinness of the string allows me to cut objects, which you might remember that Sombra was receiving cuts to his body with mere swipes from my hands.” Sparkling nodded, recalling the fight in greater detail. “Also, while Sombra was suspended up in the air, I was actually holding him there with my strings and just kept cutting him. While strings may not seem like much Sparkling, they still have their uses.”

Sparkling nodded and thought about what the Emperor said. He was truly powerful indeed if he could defeat the most powerful and evil dark-magic based unicorn with just some strings. Satisfied about getting the chance to learn more about the Emperor, Doflamingo spoke to her again.

“I have an idea Sparkling,” the mare looked at him quizzically, “you should go around and spread the word that the Empire’s under new my rule instead of Sombra’s.”

Sparkling thought about the idea, it was quite sound and it could work well. She smiled at Doflamingo and nodded.

“I’ll get on it right away, you can count on me,” she replied before rushing out of the room to complete her task.

Before she was out of sight Doflamingo yelled out to her.

“Oh and Sparkling!” Sparkling turned to at the sound of the Emperor’s voice. “It would be best to tell anyone you meet that I used magic to defeat Sombra. After all, you didn’t believe strings was the correct answer, and neither will anyone believe you if you tell it to them. Okay?”

Sparkling nodded her head at the Emperor’s advice. “Don’t worry sir, I won’t tell anyone the truth. I hardly believe it myself, but I do know that it’s still amazing in a way. All right sir, I’m off.”

“Have a safe trip!” as Sparkling galloped off, Doflamingo chuckled; the mare’s cheery attitude was infectious as it helped to improve his own mood as well. He sat and waited, drumming his fingers whilst contemplating the situation. Overnight he had become an Emperor, he killed a slaver and he had acquired a rather upbeat assistant, all-in-all a rather productive day.

“Hmm, she’s becoming very useful to me” said Doflamingo as he thought about his assistant.

“If she keeps it up, I might trust her enough to not only be my first friend in this world, but also the first member in my new family…” Doflamingo smiled as things were slowly improving for him.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Sparkling trotted merrily down the street; a good night’s sleep having put her in a great mood. The streets were deserted with not a pony in sight so Sparkling stopped at the door of the first house she came to, the building being made from a red crystal, the walls shining in the sunlight. She cleared the snow away from the step with a hoof and knocked on the wooden door. The curtain to the side of the door moved and a single, blue eye looked out. Sparkling raised her foreleg and waved at the eye, whoever was at the curtain quickly pulled it shut. She could hear hoof steps through the door, followed by the sound of multiple latches unlocking. The door opened a crack, a silver mare’s face appearing in the doorway, framed by a dull green mane.

“Go away, Sombra could be here any second.” the mare whispered fearfully.

“No he won’t, he was replaced by the new ruler, Emperor Doflamingo!” Exclaimed Sparkling cheerfully.

“What do you mean replaced?” questioned the mare, the door opening wider, revealing a small silver foal hiding behind her.

“Well, the Emperor and Sombra,” the silver mare flinched at the name Sombra, “fought and Emperor Doflamingo won, so that’s why he’s our new ruler.”

“He beat King Sombra?” the mare said in disbelief.

“With his magic!” replied Sparkling cheerily, perhaps a tad to cheerful considering the subject.

“The new emperor is that strong…” the mare replied, glancing at the ground before looking back up at Sparkling “What is he like?”

“Well,” began Sparkling “He’s a tall two-legged creature with purple tinted glasses, a light blond mane and he wears clothes, oh, and he wears this coat of pink feathers.”

“No,” said the mare “I mean, is he evil like Sombra?” as she said this she pulled her foal closer, the young colt glancing up at Sparkling fearfully through his light-gold mane.

“He’s actually really nice once you get over how he looks, but he does like to make some pretty bad jokes,” Sparkling giggled as she said this. The silver mare relaxed at this, and Sparkling decided to continue. “He did kind of kill Sombra and made a rug out of his skin though.”

SLAM!

Sparkling stared at the door, the mare having shut it violently in her face.

“Was it something I said?”

_______________________________________________________________________________

Sparkling continued on her quest, however the majority of the crystal ponies either refused to believe Sombra was truly defeated or that the new Emperor was any better. The snow had started to fall more heavily, and it was with an equally heavy heart that Sparkling found herself back at the throne room doors empty hooved, not a single pony showing up for morning court.

She let out a sigh and walked into the throne room, Doflamingo still sitting in his throne, looking down and smiling at Sparkling. Sparkling looked up at her Emperor, preparing for him to burst into disappointment. She began to open her mouth to tell Doflamingo the bad news but he beat her to it.

“You look a little down Sparkling, what’s wrong?” his smile lowered a bit, but it was still on his face.

Sparkling Scroll sighed. “None of the crystal ponies wanted to come, they are far too scared of y-“

“Woooooow!”

Sparkling turned towards the young voice that had interrupted her, the young colt from the first house she had visited was standing at the door way, taking in the sights of the throne room. The colt must have only been around the age of six or seven as it entered the throne room, before spotting Doflamingo and stopping in its tracks, amazement in its eyes…

“Hello there,” Doflamingo grinned at the colt and waved with a claw, the colt slowly trotting over towards the seated Emperor.

“Hel-ll-o Emperor Doflamingo,” the colt answered, bowing awkwardly upon the floor before the human.

“Don’t worry about the whole bowing thing,” dismissed Doflamingo with a wave of his hand, “what brings you to my fine palace young one?”

The colt raised his head, looking up at the large creature. “Is it true that you fought the King and beat him?” he asked.

Emperor Doflamingo let out a chuckle, pointing down towards the ground with a claw “Ask him yourself.”

The colt glanced down at where the Emperor pointed.

“AHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

The colt fell over in fright, covering his eyes with his forelegs, having spotted Sombra lying on the floor glaring at him and baring his fangs. He stayed like this on the floor shivering, waiting for the evil King to take him away to the Crystal mines. When no demonic-pony King came to grab him he cracked open an eye, the laughter of the Emperor filling the air. The colt once again looked towards Sombra, still in the same position as before, not having moved an inch. Upon closer inspection the colt noticed that the King was rather… flat and empty. The silver colt slowly got up and moved over towards Sombra, heading off towards the side, attempting to avoid the King’s dead glare.

“He can’t hurt you,” the colt broke his gaze and looked up towards the throne, the Emperor having gotten his laughter under control, “or anyone ever again.”

The colt cautiously approached the rug and poked it, his hoof connecting with Sombra’s blank-flank. Seeing that the King was truly dead, the colt began to poke the rug in earnest, over and over again, much to the amusement of the Emperor.

“fufufufu, hey kid, you should sit on him; go ahead and play with him. It’s not like he can do anything about it.”

The colt grinned at this prospect and planted his rump on the dead king’s back, looking like a human riding a horse, granted a dead and skinned horse. Doflamingo was already laughing in delight at the colt’s actions, his laughter only increasing when the young pony grabbed Sombra’s ears, using them to shake his head from side-to-side while roaring.

“GGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Sparkling was staring shocked at the spectacle, never in her life thinking that she would one day bear witness to a colt riding atop the back of King Sombra whilst using the King’s head as a puppet.

“SHINING BAUBLE, WHERE ARE YOU!?”

At the sound of the shout everyone stopped what they were doing in the throne room, Sparkling was looking at the doors, Doflamingo was no-longer laughing and the colt had ceased its activities, staring at the door way in fright.

“Oh no,” he whimpered, “Mom.”

________________________________________________________________________________________

Bright Jewel raced up the steps leading towards the entrance hall, her legs propelling her up the crystal steps, panic in her heart. Soon after that crazy mare had visited her house, proclaiming that Sombra was dead she noticed that Shining Bauble was missing. She traced the tracks of a foal that led to the palace, the place that contained one of the greatest evils ever to walk the planet. Without thinking she had rushed inside determined to find her son, worrying about all the dastardly things that the King could be doing to him. She burst through the wooden doors guarding the throne room, her heart stopping at the sight before her.

Shining Bauble was currently sitting on King Sombra and grasping the king’s black ears with his forelegs. The King’s face was set in a scowl, and Bright Jewel almost collapsed then and there when she noticed that the King’s dead eyes were locked right onto her. Her son was planted on-top of the King’s back and Bright Jewel could clearly see that his face was flushed with terror, although she found herself unable to move toward him, the sight of the King causing her to tremble in terror. To the side of the doorway, standing a little way over from the King was the mare that had knocked on her door, the mare currently staring at Bright Jewel in shock.

“Great, it looks like a second pony has turned up to Day Court; I hope it’ll be as interesting as the first!”

Bright jewel turned towards the voice, spying a biped seated in the Throne, a large tooth filled grin filling his features. She noticed that the biped appeared to be covered in dried blood, brown patches splattered all over its body.

“Stay away from my son you monster!” She half yelled, half sobbed, the stress of the situation finally overwhelming her. She sank down onto the floor, sobs wracking her body as she mourned the fate of Shining Bauble. If Sombra did not kill him, the surely the horror seated in his throne will. As Bright Jewel continued to sob she felt a small face nuzzle her, and she lifted her head up. Shining Bauble was standing in front of her, the colt having rushed over towards his crying mother to comfort her. She looked away from her son towards the King, his body having returned to a lifeless state, Bright Jewel now realizing that the King was no longer a threat to anyone.

“Please don’t cry Mommy!” spoke Shining Bauble as he nuzzled her. “Emperor Doflamingo is really nice and he really did beat Sombra!” The colt spoke the last part with glee.

Bright Jewel looked at the Emperor, his form, now that she had calmed down a little did not seem too monstrous, after all, she did vaguely recall seeing a dragon up close once, but she couldn’t lock down the specific memory. The biped seated on the throne did not look threatening, at least compared to a dragon, but his face did appear to be displaying a smile, yet it seemed kind and sympathetic to Bright Jewel’s current state. Still sniffling a little, she continued to stare at the biped, a sense of calm filling her, the longer she stared and was slowly cheering up as a result. She picked herself up and slowly moved over towards the body of Sombra, before bowing before the Emperor and asking “are you sure he’s dead, he’s never going to hurt us again?

“I’m quite sure he’s dead,” the Emperor answered, the smile never leaving his face.

“After all, anything that is foolish enough to face me in a fight wouldn’t be alive for very long...”