Chapters "Shiny you wouldn't believe how many proposals I got during court today, the citizens seem to have a lot more problems than usual." Cadence proclaimed this as she hefted a large stack of papers onto the desk that Shining Armor was currently working at.
"Wow, that... is definitely a lot of proposals." As Shining scanned through the large pile of papers he realized that going through all of them would mean he wouldn't be able to get any sleep that night.
"Well I'm off to get ready for bed." As Cadence began to saunter off she was stopped by Shining. "Honey I know that you need to go through your nightly routine so that you are, 'prepared to sleep,' but this paperwork will literally take me all night to do. I could really use your help so tomorrow won't be a day from Tartarus."
"Oh but Shiny, you know how bad I am with paperwork. It's just so boring that I would much rather be gathering the complaints and proposals from all of my lovely subjects". Which is exactly why you always decide to throw it me instead, thought Shining while hiding behind the patented guard mask. "Alright I'll see what I can do then." With that Shining proceeded to drop the mask as quickly as he got it and instead opted to sulk.
"Great see you tomorrow morning Shiny." With a quick kiss on the cheek Cadence left him alone with the new mountain of paper to conquer, seemingly ignorant of his plight. Fantastic, Shining thought, another sleepless night all thanks to my wife, she does truly drive me to drink. With that he pulled a bottle out from his desk. "Ah whiskey you always help me muddle through shit like this."
After about an hour Shining Armor found his usual rhythm and was beginning to pound out the paperwork with his recently found efficiency. This he was not happy about, it just meant that this sort of thing happened frequently enough that he was actually getting good at it. "Why does she feel the need to take every single complaint and proposal every single day? Its not like the Empire will fall apart if somepony doesn't get to ask if their trash can get picked up one more time per week." Shining had formed the habit of talking out his frustrations with himself at times like these. "I mean really, if she even stopped writing down every single thing that every pony had to say then at least half of these wouldn't be here. Like this one, 'The price of crystal berry cake is too high, it needs to be cheaper,' a foal could have had a more comprehensive proposal than that! Actually that one might have come from a foal, I really have no idea why Cadence even lets foals come to her 'court' if it could even be called that."
He took that moment to take a short break since all of this malarkey was getting to him. Wait, did he really just use the word malarkey? "Maybe I need to back off the whiskey, even just a bit." As Shining relaxed back in his chair the same thought that had been dancing around in his head came back again. Why didn't he just hire help? Oh that's right he tried it once and ended up getting his eardrums blown out by his wife. He really did not understand her line of logic that lead her to the conclusion that if any of the subjects helped with this paperwork they would be, ' usurping the authority of the princess and the prince.' He was almost certain that she was purposely running him into the ground, but what did she have against him getting any proper sleep? The answer was beyond him, so he just let out a groan and buried his head in his hooves.
"Sometimes I regret defeating Sombra, just so I wouldn't have to go through moments like this on a regular basis." Wait, where did that come from? That's fucking stupid and makes no sense in any way... why did I have the thought then? "But I do wonder if he really is gone, I mean there was the blast but i swear a saw something fly off into the distance after the explosion." Maybe there is still a part of him left, maybe he still a threat to the kingdom. Wait no that wasn't right, he scolded himself. Even if there still was a part of him left he would be so weak that he wouldn't be able to do anything significant, if anything at all.
"Yet I have this nagging feeling that he's still out there somewhere." He entertained the thought for a moment and then glanced back at the still impressive amount of work he had left on his desk. "Beats the alternative," Shining said as he got up and left his office. Locking the door behind him Shining proceeded down one the oppressively shiny halls in the the palace. Even at night the lit torches on the walls reflecting off of everything were enough to blind a pony who wasn't used to the sight.
"I'm going to need my scarf, my goggles, a hat, and a cloak if I'm going to leave without raising any attention." Looks like Twiley's rubbed off on me a bit with her checklist nonsense, the thought brought a smirk to his face. "Wait." At that moment he remembered that the only staff on duty at night were the guards by all of the personal rooms in the palace and the guards by the royal bedchamber. He facehoofed at this revelation since he happened to be on an entirely different floor at the moment. "Yeah I'm definitely going to lay off of the whiskey."
With that settled he casually trotted towards the royal tailors. For once he was happy that Cadence had insisted on having a personal tailor in the castle. She had called it a dire necessity essential to the security of the kingdom. Shining wasn't sure why she thought she needed a cover up, she's the princess of love after all. Although he decided to let her be on the issue, having learned at an earlier point in their relationship that telling her such things leads to her being upset and that wasn't good for anypony unfortunate enough to be involved. He shuddered at the thought, her last threat coming back to him, 'Shining if you are smart you will sleep on the couch tonight or you might wake up with some important equipment missing.' The scary part wasn't even the threat itself, it was the eerie calm and dead look in her eyes as she said it that got to him.
Shaking the thought from his head he realized that the royal tailors was just up ahead so he got out his master key. A satisfied smile came across Shining's face as he levitated the key into the lock and turned it until he heard a click. Even with the shit hours being prince does have its privileges. He stepped through the door and closed it behind him before tuning on the lights. He admired the velvet and dark oak theme that the whole place pulled off rather well, everything from the seats to the mirrors had a certain luster to them that even he could appreciate. Shining turned to the wardrobe that housed all of his blizzard gear. His horn lit up with its lavender hue which opened the wardrobe and levitated over all of his apparel. Which he proceeded to get into as quickly as possible since he wanted to get back before Cadence or anypony else might wake up and discover his absence.
With the cloak on Shining trotted out the door making sure to close and lock it behind him. Shining made sure to check around every corner he came across before proceeding to the palace's exit, even if enopony was supposed to be awake he still wanted to air on the side of caution to avoid detection. Yes because you know how much everypony loves to leave their cozy beds in the palace for a midnight snack outside, especially when there is a perfectly good kitchen fully stocked with food in the palace. Shining snorted at this thought but checking still doesn't hurt. Once again he realized that he was talking to himself. "Am I really lonely enough to start doing this on a regular basis?"
Actually when was the last time I had an actual conversation with somepony?" He stopped then lifted a hoof to his chin in thought. "Well last time I had a little free time I did talk to that stallion who owns the comic book shop. First Edition did end up recommending that one vampire comic that wasn't half bad." But that conversation was for what, twenty minutes max? A deep sigh left Shining then, I sometimes wish that I could have good friends like Twiley does. But nope I have Cadence instead. Not that it's a bad thing it's just... I don't really know where I was going with that. Having possibly just awoken his wife with his internal dialogue Shining simply walked along in silence, facing the ground in an attempt to hide his face. He only looked up when he noticed that he was walking on grass.
"Really hoping that nopony saw me while I wasn't paying attention." The fact that he had been sulking over his apparent lack of friends to converse with left Shining feeling irritated to say the least. With a scowl and a stomp of his hoof he said, "Why is this even getting to me, something as simple as not talking to ponies enough." But here I am doing something most would find stupid, pointless, or even insane. But if I'm already talking to myself so it seems like I already have the last one down. That brought a smirk to his face as he turned to face his own shield spell covering the Empire. The step through greeted him with the usual bitter cold of the arctic. Well at least there isn't a blizzard this time, he thought. Looking up at the full moon casting its pale light over the frozen desolate landscape he chuckled. "At least seeing anything out here shouldn't be much of an issue, its almost as bright as the hallways."
"Alright first things first I need to see if there's any residual magic around, that might point me in the right direction." Shining prepared to cast a variant of his shield spell. The light built up around his horn and released in a wave. Shining stood there and waited for the magic echo to return to him with all of the information he needed. As the wave returned and relayed its information Shining hoof pumped in victory. There was a faint sign of magic in the direction of an icy mountain range about a mile or two off in the distance. "Ha, Twiley isn't the only one in the family who can make new spells."
Shining said this with a smirk that quickly vanished and was replaced with a frown. Seriously what is up with me today? I just keep talking to myself like I'm expecting a response. Maybe I should visit a therapist or something that could help but it could make things worst too. On second thought nope, just gonna keep ignoring and complaining about it until there's a real problem. Shining turned away from his internal dilemma and started to walk toward the mountain range.
So to summarize my plan here is, go find the remains a once tyrannical leader of the Empire, revive him, and ask him to help me run said Empire. All of this over a ton of paperwork? Couldn't I just you know buck up and do it? Couldn't I just throw some paperwork at my wife and tell her that's her half? So I apparently don't have the spine to do either of those but I'll revive a villain on a whim. The fuck is wrong with me.
What is it that makes this seem like a good idea? Yes he may have experience with running the Empire but he was a tyrant that enslaved his subjects. Then to top it off he cursed the place before he was sealed to make it disappear for a thousand years. How in the name of Celestia could I have thought this was a good idea on a whim. I was the captain of the guard for crying out loud and this is where my head is. So far up my ass that I can see my stomach. I would probably be much better off turning back.
But the Crystal Heart is a great source of love and was able to purge Sombra from the Empire, and during his rule he locked away the Crystal Heart so it couldn't be used against him. So he is obviously afraid of the Heart, but why? I don't think a weapon of mass love has the capability to kill somepony. Then what did it do to Sombra? Now that I think of it when I got the magic signal back I didn't sense any of the malevolence that he had before. So the possibility exists that he may not hold the dark magic that he once did.
Though this is all speculation and not based off of any actual facts, except for that lack of dark magic thing, but there could be many reasons for that. "Well with that all laid out on the table I'll still try it, if he does turn out to be good then a right hoof wouldn't hurt." Shining stopped short of the mountain range and used his magic detection spell again. This time it returned much more quickly since the intended target was much closer. "Alright it doesn't seem to be too high up and if I could find a safe place to start the climb I'll be in business." He started to circle around the mountain range looking for a path that would lead him in the general direction of his target.
This didn't go on for more than fifteen minutes as a feasibly climbable portion of the mountain revealed itself. As Shining started to climb he noticed the snow here was easily over a foot deep. The walk to the mountain left his hooves feeling a little numb, this sealed the deal and left him unable to feel his hooves as he climbed.
All of this for some paperwork, damn, going back looked pretty good from the bottom but now that I'm here I just need to keep going. When he was about to send out another wave of magic to readjust his bearings a red glimmer in the snow caught his eye. Shining slowly approached it and recognized that it was Sombra's horn. He actually found it, Shining was almost giddy that his trek had paid off. He picked it up with his magic and confirmed that there was no dark magic coming from the horn. Shining took this as a good sign and placed it in his saddlebags.
The trip down the mountain took considerably less time since Shining had the chance to scope out his path on the way up. This just left the walk back to the Empire, then the sneaking back into the castle. I think I could put this in one of the secret chambers in the castle for safe keeping, since Cadence and I are the only two who know of their whereabouts. But I didn't really give any thought as to how I'm going to revive Sombra. Shining had to stop mid stride to face hoof at this discovery. There could be some books in the library about this sort of thing though, and I am adept at spell casting so there is still a shot.
Shining then heard an almost silent laugh inside of his head. "Great, lovely even, now I hear a voice... I may have fucked up." The voice came back this time but with something to say. "No no, my voice is not your own in a different form, it is entirely mine." This gave Shining a good idea as to who it was. "So if your not a voice in my head then I'm guessing you're Sombra."
"You would be correct in that assumption Prince Shining Armor."
"How do you know my name?"
"I'm in your head remember, there is some very base information here."
"Well get out! That's my base information!"
"I cannot help it and besides you are the one who decided to take me for a ride." There was a brief pause before Shining heard a light chuckling coming from Sombra.
"What the tartarus is so funny?" Sombra took a moment to compose himself before answering. "Oh my apologies I was just taking mirth in my previous statement."
Shining thought back to what the former king had said, he couldn't help it and I'm the one who decided to take him for a ride? What did he, oh, OH. Apparently Sombra had heard Shining's internal dialogue, found it funny, and started to laugh again but harder. "Great so not only are you a dark magic wielding tyrant but you're also a pervert." That stopped the laughter quickly which unsettled Shining.
A heavy sight then left Sombra, "that infernal magic no longer has control over me, the blast from the Crystal Heart had purged it along with most of my body." Shining just stayed silent, intent on soaking all of the details from him. "I was not always the King of Shadows that you were previously acquainted with, that was a transformation that took place after I had cast a spell from a world forgotten. It turned out to be more power than I had the ability to control so it controlled me instead."
Shining took a moment to gather his thoughts before voicing a concern. "Why did you need power then? What was it that caused you to do something so short sighted, even knowing full well the likely outcome?"
"The reason, Prince Shining Armor, was that my home was falling apart at the hooves of its former Queen. She saw it fit to simply correct only the largest mistakes present in her Empire. She ignored many small things that eventually built up into problems too plentiful to solve. She locked the castle so the government could 'sort out the mess,' not that anypony believed that absurdity. The Queen was afraid of her subjects and their increasing level of hostility so she hid from them.
I was only a young stallion at the time, usually spending most of my time at the library studying to eventually take a role in fixing the mistakes of the Queen. This had been my goal before these problems had risen. When they did come I was worried for my home yet had no power to do anything about it. My magic was mediocre at best and my public speaking skills were also lacking. If I could not use my power or the power of others there was only one more option, to gain power. There were books I had read that told of ways to command such a thing, spells that were said to grant magic beyond belief.
So I rushed to find the book that had told of this and proceeded to set up the ritual as quickly as possible. But, I did not expect what this ritual would do to me. Once completed it was as if I was looking from my eyes as a spectator, not the one in control. Then the voice started to talk, it sounded like me but it was not. It had said, 'so you wish to stop the chaos infecting your treasured Empire? Then I will ensure that true order is restored, King Sombra.'
He went on to break into the castle and banish the Queen with some sort of ether that I'm still not sure what lied beyond its veil. Then the rest is history, apparently his version of 'true order' was mass enslavement." While Shining had been listening he had drawn a conclusion that made him don a small smile. Sombra seemed to sense this, "so you find amusement in the fall of your empire?"
"No not at all, your story is similar to Princess Luna's is all." This gave Sombra pause, comparing him to one of the Sisters? The thought seemed ludicrous, yet this is the very same stallion that had came for him in the first place. "So I must ask Prince Shining Armor why is it that you retrieved me?"
"Oh, I need some help with running the empire and you were the only one with previous experience. Plus, Cadence won't let me hire any help and she herself doesn't do all that much."
"So your logical conclusion was to retrieve and revive a past tyrant of your Empire?"
"Yeah, well sort of, I figured that I should screen you for any dark magic or hostilities. And you seem to be clear of both so I'm going to march on with my plan." The dopey smile that Shining wore was almost emanating pride in a job well done. Sombra was silent with shock because of the prince. If he had a head his jaw would be on the ground. Is this really the only pony doing anything productive in the Empire? That thought would have sent chills down his spine, if he had one.
"Prince Shining Armor, if you would be willing to forgive my past transgressions I would be more than happy to help you with the Empire. Provided that your wife will not try to kill me on sight."
"Don't worry once you're revived we can take care of that and drop the title, just Shining is fine."
"So this is where you'll be hiding me until my revival?" Sombra said in a befuddled manner.
"Yeah Cadence and I are the only ones who know about these secret rooms, so we agreed that if we ever needed to hide anything we would put it in one of them." Shining had picked a hiding spot close to his personal office for the sake of convenience.
"But if you agreed to hide things in them wouldn't that make them a prime place for her to look if she thinks that your acting strange?"
"That's the idea, if I don't act strange there is no chance of you being found. This way Cadence is the only pony that I need to worry about until you and I can cast the spell to revive you."
"I'm not fully confident that this is going to work." Sombra was starting to ponder the credibility of the prince, then something occurred to him. What was there to lose? He was a disembodied horn with barely any semblance of magic left, so why not just roll with it until he's back on his hooves.
"Actually Shining, this will due just fine. But secret room or not you will still need to cast a magic concealing spell on the room itself if you don't want any curious passerby to come and investigate while we are performing the resurrection spell itself. But I'm sure you could use a variant of your shield spell for it."
A smug grin could not begin to describe the look of pure elation on Shining Armor's face. Somepony recognized that his shield spell wasn't just for making shields, that it could be combined with other spells to create different effects. Not even Twilight complemented his spell like that before. Cadence hadn't ever noticed either... ouch that kind of stung. The look was starting to shift into a frown but Shining mentally slapped himself. No, don't mope just be happy that somepony thought that the spell was cool enough to take a closer look at and pay attention to.
"Shining are you alright? Hello?" Sombra had been trying to catch Shining Armor's attention for the past few minutes, to no avail. It is much harder to do when you are only a weak voice. It was much easier when he had hooves to wave in front of a pony's face or to slap them with if the need arose. Sombra was getting to the point that he wished he could do the latter when he decided to try and yell.
"PRINCE SHINING ARMOR I AM IN NEED OF YOUR ATTENTION."
To Shining's credit he did little more than flinch out of his daze when Sombra yelled. "Oh sorry Sombra I didn't mean to space out, what did you need?"
"I was going to ask when you were planning to perform the revival spell, but then I noticed that you were not with me mentally and I became mildly concerned. So what is on your mind?"
Shining became slightly embarrassed of his dilemma and his face started to shift from white to red. "Oh... I was ah, just thinking about that actually! Yeah, tomorrow I'm supposed to be training the guards in the morning so I could leave the lieutenant in charge as a 'test.' That would free me up until the evening when Cadence usually swamps me with papers. So in that time frame I would be able to get a book containing the spell we'll need and come back here to put it in place and perform the spell to revive you. Then we could just wait here until Cadence comes in and then you could introduce yourself."
Damn that was a nice save if I do say so myself and it seems like a well thought out plan too, it's perfect. The look of satisfaction Shining wore was genuine but was not there for the reason that Sombra thought it was. Nonetheless, he didn't see any major flaws in the plan so it was good enough for him.
"That sounds like a solid plan Shining." Sombra said, completely ignoring Shining Armors now fading blush. "It seems that we have nothing left to discuss about the matter so I bid you farewell until tomorrow."
"Yes, farewell to you too Sombra." Shining levitated Sombra's horn out and onto the floor, turned around and walked out the door. He made sure to hit the button to close the secret chamber that seamlessly blended in with the crystal tile floor. Shining looked around his office and noticed that the papers he had left on his desk were still right were he had left them. A heavy sigh left him as he trotted up to his desk to address the problem.
The sad look on his face soon turned curious as a thought came to mind. All of the papers up until this point did not have a single important thing on them, so if he were to reject the rest quickly nothing in the Empire would change for the better of the worse. Things were fine as they were and he was sure if the proposals got rejected they would be brought up again anyway. With that thought he quickly began stamping all of the papers with rejected. This surprisingly only took about ten minutes.
"Finally, I'll be able to get some fucking sleep. Awesome, so how long will I..." He stopped when he looked at his wall clock and saw that it was four o'clock. "Two hours... well better than nothing I suppose."
After a little walking Shining was so happy when he saw that his bed was within reach. So happy in fact, that upon collapsing on it he immediately fell into a deep sleep.
Sadly for him it did not last long as Cadence was trying to wake him up at six o'clock since they were supposed to get up at the same time.
"Shiny... Shiiiiiiny... Shining... Shining Armor... SHINING ARMOR... WAKE UP FOR CELESTIA'S SAKE." None of her attempts had woken up the log laying in her bed.
"Fine I guess this has to happen the hard way." Cadence got up from the bed and used her magic to get a bucket she kept under it for moments exactly like this. Which she had to use more frequently recently, odd, she thought. That didn't stop her from going into their private bathroom and filling the bucket with ice cold water. She leisurely walked over to Shining's side of the bed and took a moment to admire how he was sleeping.
He laid on his stomach, on top of the covers with all of his hooves splayed out, and had his face buried in his pillow. Aw he looks so cute when he's sleeping. Cadence took another moment to look over Shining's sleeping form before she emptied the contents of the bucket all over him and their bed.
The extremely high pitched squeal of the Prince was heard throughout the Castle and left many servant's trying to guess what had made such a noise.
"Glad to see you're awake Shiny, hurry up and get dry, we don't want to miss breakfast now." Cadence said with her easygoing smile, enough to lull anyone into a sense of serenity.
This was not the case for Shining Armor as he had lived with Cadence long enough to know that serenity was something that only existed in fairy tales, at least for him.
"I'll be right there dear go on ahead and wait for me in the dinning hall."
"Alright Shiny, try to hurry okay." Cadence trotted out of the bedroom with a winning smile on her face for being able to wake her husband up. Not something she hasn't done before but it doesn't get any easier the more it happens.
When the door closed Shining let out a sigh, rolled off of his bed, and trudged towards his bathroom to dry off. Why does she always do the bucket thing? Couldn't she just push me out of bed or even just let me sleep in a bit for once. Maybe she enjoys the squeal from her guard captain husband. Nope. Stopping right there, turning around, and never going near that train of thought ever again.
So how to introduce Sombra to Cadence. Just bringing him along and saying, 'hey Cadence look I made a friend,' would not work. So the direct approach is out. And having him help me with the workload without giving him credit isn't right. So the sneaky approach is out. What about a cinematic type reveal or something? Cadence is into plays and stuff, maybe that would ease the whole tried to destroy us at one point thing. That sounds good, just have him hide in the room for a bit after the spell and then bring Cadence in after her duties are done.
"Looks like I have a plan, now I just need to go to the library after breakfast to get it started." Shining finished drying off his coat and mane then headed out the door towards the dinning hall.
When Shining got to the dinning hall he sat across from Cadence at the small table that occupied the room at the moment. No need for an immense table if only two ponies are going to be eating. After Shining started to dig into his breakfast Cadence decided to try and keep the conversation calm since he had rude awakening."So Shiny did you manage to finish all of that paperwork I dropped off last night?"
Between mouthfuls of food Shining managed to get out an answer. "Yes I did and most of the stuff that you heard yesterday was redundant. There were a marginal few things that passed." He went back to his food after the interruption.
"Oh, how sad to have ponies waste their time telling me things that won't get through you."
"Cadence, I know that you know,not all ideas are good ideas. You don't need to hear everypony all the way through if their original proposal was ridiculous in the first place."
"But it helps with the image of a princess, the kind and noble being in charge of the Empire."
"Princess Celestia doesn't hear all of her subjects the whole way through. Does that mean shes not a good ruler?"
"No not at all, she has a much larger kingdom that I do and it would not be possible to hear everything. My, our, Empire on the other hoof is much smaller so such a thing is a reasonable request to the princess."
"As long as you can keep it up then I guess it is reasonable. I was just suggesting you act as a filter instead of a funnel. I'm the one who does all of that paperwork you know."
"I know Shiny but you can handle it, I'm sure most ponies would have collapsed under the pressure by now. Yet here you are doing just fine and still eating breakfast with your wife"
I'll be doing much better after today is over and I have some help. "Thank you dear, that means something coming from you." A bell rang out and Shining looked up at the clock, confirming that it was time to start their duties. "Alright dear we need to be going."
"Yes I heard, see you after court Shiny." With a quick kiss on the cheek Cadence was on her way to start her day.
Shining trotted towards the guard barracks with a slight giddiness that would have been odd to see if he didn't know how to contain himself. Alright if I give the lieutenant control and set them out on border drills that should keep the majority of the guards occupied for the day, so there won't be too many around the castle itself letting me roam at my leisure. Then its to the library then to the room for Sombra's revival.
As Shining approached the barracks his troops were already lined up, courtesy of his lieutenant Lucid Lance. "Alright ponies here's whats going to happen today you are all going to run border patrol drills and border defense drills. Lieutenant Lucid."
"Yes sir?"
"You are in charge for today, show me that even if I'm gone our Empire will still be safe."
"Yes sir!"
"Good, as you were gentlecolts."
Shining turned and started to walk away from the barracks towards the library and the next part of his plan. That went over better than anticipated, no questions or concerns. Maybe it was the whole defend the Empire bit, that seemed to tug at the heartstrings more than almost anything else I've said to them.
Upon entering the library Shining immediately headed for the restricted section. The magical barrier that protected it was of his design so it was no issue at all to get through. After casually stepping through the barrier he took a look around. Dusty books on shelves and more dusty books on shelves, there was a lot of variety here. Shining chuckled as he started to browse the shelves. Finding a magic book specializing in revival spells did not take as long as he had anticipated.
It was a brown book, worn, and with paper that was more yellow than white. It also had some ancient arcane looking symbols on the cover but that was typical for most magic books.
That was item number two on the list and next up is reviving Sombra. It would probably be best to take a secret passage up to the study. It would reduce the chances of anypony following me. Shining carried the book using his levitation and left the restricted section to slip unseen into a narrow passage.
The trip took little to no time at all with the use of the shortcut and Shining stepped out of the corridor and into his office. He did a quick scan of the room and after confirming he was alone, Shining slipped into the hidden chamber behind his desk.
"Ah Shining, I was wondering when you would be back. Did you sleep well after the long night you had?"
"No Sombra, my wife woke me up with a bucket of ice cold water."
While retaining a neutral tone Sombra asked, "I see and what did you say to her about that?"
"Yes dear I'm awake, go on to breakfast while I dry off."
In the silence that followed a pin dropping could have been loud enough to wake an Ursa. Then all of a sudden Sombra burst out into a guffaw that set Shining on edge.
"What in the name of Celestia is funny about that?"
After Some time Sombra regained enough of his composure to answer while still trying to contain his laughter. "You, my white knight, are so whipped it could strike fear into any bachelor."
"I am not whipped to that extreme, sure I do what she says a lot but that's part of a marriage. You have to work with one another."
"Aren't you reviving me because you AREN'T working together? That also does not mean you have to lose your spine Shining."
"If you think so then help me with that when we're done. On the way here I was reading up on the procedure for casting the most basic form of revival spell, but I'm not sure if that's going to cut it."
"Do not fret Shining I have enough magic to convert your spell into the one that we need, if I start to weaken all you have to to is funnel more magic into me."
"Got it I'll cast the barrier spell so we can get started." With a flick of his horn Shining put a magic barrier around the room. The walls held onto the glow of his magic for a brief moment before losing the light and returning to normal.
"It's up, are you ready Sombra?"
"Yes Shining, whenever you want to get started."
Shining Armor levitated the book in front of him and started to read the spell aloud while focusing his magic in the way that the spell commanded. After the third line of text Shining started to feel Sombra's magic overtaking the spell. It changed into something else entirely, while Shining was holding the spell together he noticed new words replacing the old ones for the spell. He started to chant the incantations again while fueling Sombra with this magic to keep the spell going.
It was not long before a lavender glow started to envelop Sombra's disembodied horn. It grew to the size of a pony and slowly started to dissipate. Like dust in the wind the magic was gone and a large dark grey stallion with flowing obsidian hair was left. His sclera was white this time not green yet he still had the red iris and the snake like pupil.
When Sombra smiled Shining almost jumped back, forgetting that the previous king had fangs. The former ruler slowly walked toward Shining Armor while maintaining that smile of his. He stopped in front of Shining and wrapped both of his forehooves around the princes neck and pulled him into a hug.
"Thank you, Prince Shining Armor."
He was warm and his fur was soft to the touch. Shining could even feel the muscle beneath Sombra's skin, so much power yet he could still be so gentle. Shining shook these thoughts from his head as best he could and returned the hug given to him by the former King of Shadows. Their embrace ended soon after it started, secretly to Shining's dismay.
"I am so grateful for what you have done for me Prince Shining Armor I am forever indebted to you." Sombra was still smiling but it wasn't the elated and fanged smile he had earlier. It was the most sincere smile Shining had ever seen.
His heartbeat began to quicken and he didn't know what to make of this. Why do I feel so nervous? It was just a hug from a very grateful friend. Shining then realized that he had been silent for quite some time.
"Oh no need to feel that way Sombra and didn't I ask you to not use prince when addressing me?"
"Yes you did my friend but please understand how much this means to me I couldn't help myself. I promise to address you as Shining from here on out."
Something seemed off to Shining Armor about the way Sombra was talking. "Did your voice get deeper?"
The low chuckle that followed his question confirmed that Sombra's voice was indeed deeper. "Yes it may seem that way but it is only because I am no longer speaking through weak magic, this is my true voice. Does it unsettle you Shining?" Sombra's smile shifted to a frown that bordered on a pout.
To his credit Sombra was extremely adorable at the moment more so than anypony that masculine had a right to be. But Shining WAS NOT going to let him know that. "No, no it was caught me off guard is all don't worry about it Sombra."
"Are you sure Shining, since I now have a body you seem to be slightly uncomfortable around me. I didn't want to unnerve you."
"Ha! I am the prince of this empire and captain of its guard, it would take take much more to unnerve me. Now lets get out of this room and into my office, it will be more comfortable to wait for Cadence there."
Shining lead the way out of the hidden chamber and took a seat on his chair. Sombra moved another chair over to the opposite side of the desk and took a seat as well.
"So Shining if I recall your plan correctly you said that we will wait here for Cadence and when she arrives you will lead her the secret chamber where I will be waiting to greet her so we can sort this all out."
"Yes that is exactly it." Shining was feeling quite good about his plan since nothing had gone wrong yet.
"So what are we going to do for the few hours we have to wait out?"
This was not a problem but Sombra did have a point. Just sitting around for a few hours was not productive at all. But Shining had something in mind to kill some time.
"Hold on a second Sombra." Shining then trotted over to one of the shelves holding a variety of political literature, but this was not what Shining had in mind as he levitated a small box out from the bottom shelf. He carried it back over to his desk where a puzzled looking Sombra was still seated. Shining then plopped the box down onto the table so the title was facing Sombra.
"Stratego? What is it?"
"I am so glad you asked my obsidian haired friend. It is without a doubt the greatest game ever created in the history of forever. If I teach you how to play we can easily waste a few hours with this in the most fun way possible."
Sombra couldn't help but smile at Shining's enthusiasm. "Alright I'll play but I hope you won't be too angry when you start to lose at your favorite game."
Shining then adopted a cocky smile. "Oh you do not know how deep into the ground you have just dug yourself, I will enjoy mopping the floor with you."
Cadence was slowly trotting down the hall with her usual stack of paperwork for Shining. "Court didn't seem to be as busy as it usually is. Most ponies must have given their suggestions yesterday, Shiny must have been up all night finishing that paperwork. But I know that I don't need to worry about him he's tough and can handle anything that's thrown at him."
As Cadence began to close in on the door to Shining Armor's office she heard what sounded like muffled screaming. What could he be yelling about this time? I hope he isn't still mad about the bucket incident this morning.
When Cadence opened the door she immediately walked in and shut it. The sight before her was shocking to say the least.
"You cheated, that piece was a bomb and you moved it!" Shining yelled as he slammed his hooves on the desk.
"No, that piece was always a two! You're just mad because I won the last game and I just started playing." Sombra crossed his hooves and leaned back in the chair as if to declare how right he was.
"That has nothing to do with it Sombra! I'm just calling you out for cheating!"
"I did not cheat!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
As the two stallions were going on about their game Cadence was still standing at the doorway trying to think of what to do. Alright lets look at the facts. Shiny is playing a board game with King Sombra and they're arguing about the rules. That's pretty normal for any board game. Sombra isn't on an evil rampage, that's good. Something had to happen for both of them to be here so the best thing to do would be to remain calm and simply ask after they've sorted this cheating thing out.
Sombra had enough of the arguing and decided to offer a solution. "Fine how about we just scrap this game and start a new one, that way it's a fresh start."
Shining had to think over his options carefully, either keep yelling or just start a new game. He decided on the latter. " Yeah a fresh start sounds like a good idea."
The two then went about reclaiming and reorganizing their pieces. Cadence decided it was a good time to make her presence known. "I'm glad the two of you were able to sort that out it seemed like you could have went on for hours like that."
At Cadence's remark Shining nearly jumped out of his skin while Sombra only look surprised. He then turned his attention back to Shining Armor. "Shining I thought you were watching the time while we were playing."
Shining looked back at Sombra slightly ashamed. "I was for a little bit but I guess I got a little too into our game and forgot." Shining turned to Cadence to try and defuse the situation. "Cadence I was going to tell you about this, in a much better way actually, but then this happened and sorry."
Shining put his head down in shame as Sombra got up and walked over to pat him on the back. "Hey it's alright Shining she hasn't tried to blast me yet so that's a bonus."
Cadence was pleasantly surprised at the care in Sombra's voice. He didn't seem to have any malevolence left after the crystal heart blasted him. But She still needed to find out why and how he got here. "So Sombra how is it that you're not dead?"
Sombra looked up at Cadence to address her. "Princess did you really think that a weapon powered by love had the ability to kill somepony?" He made sure to raise an eyebrow to emphasize his point.
"I suppose you're right but I didn't think there was any part of you left."
"My horn and a minutiae part of my magic remained so I couldn't do anything on my own. But Shining Armor here came and rescued me. He really does live up to his name."
Cadence couldn't help but chuckle at Sombra. "So are you, the former King of Shadows, comparing yourself to a fair maiden in need of rescue?"
Sombra couldn't help but turn slightly red at that statement, which made both Cadence and Shining break out into roaring laughter. All he could do was wait for both of them to stop. "Are you both done being foals?"
Shining was the first to reply. "I'm sorry Sombra but as soon as Cadence said that I couldn't help but picture you in a really frilly dress while looking totally pissed about it." After describing it out loud Shining couldn't help but break into another fit of laughter.
"That is quite the image but back to the topic at hoof. So Sombra after Shining rescued you he brought you back here right?"
"Yes and after leaving my horn in his secret chamber he went off to bed and returned with a spell book in the late morning. Which we then used to revive me. Which as you saw lead to may hours of stratego. Shining had a cinematic reveal planned but we lost track of time which bring us up to date."
Cadence nodded in understanding. "Alright so I get the how and now Shining just needs to tell me the why." She turned to Shining who had calmed down from his mental picture of Sombra in a dress.
"Well dear you know how you swamp me with paperwork everyday? Well with that much work I never get much if any sleep at all, which has been really draining me these past few weeks. Then you never let me hire any help so I had the brilliant idea to go find someone with prior experience running the empire. So I went out to look for Sombra and I actually found him."
"So let me see if I understand this, you needed help so badly that you went and revived a past tyrant ruler of the Empire? Not even knowing if he would turn out to be good or not."
"Yes..."
"Shining, how ignorant can you be? Do you know the possible danger that you put everypony in by doing something like this on a whim!?"
Sombra didn't want to see a full scale argument break out so he tried to stop it before it started. "If I may interject Princess Cadence I have extensive knowledge of government and politics from before my change took place. So I am fully able to help Shining in his duties so he can get his rest and be better prepared for anything the Empire needs him for. As you can see the malevolent force that was in control of me before has no control now. So you run no risk in allowing me to help. Please I am asking for only a second chance."
Cadence took Sombra's points to heart as she tried to think this through. After a few minutes of silence she decided. "Fine you can have a second chance but do not waste it. Since it is the only one you will get."
Sombra and Shining were both smiling like idiots after Cadence's approval. "To start off you can both get to work on this stack that I brought along with me." Cadence said as she deposited the mountain of papers on Shining's desk. "Have a good night you two." With that Cadence trotted out of the door and started to make her way back to her room for some relaxation. But she couldn't get her mind off of the two stallions. I can't shake the feeling that something is wrong here. It isn't Shining he seems fine and Sombra seems fine as well. But leaving the two of them together doesn't feel like a good idea. Cadence tried to shake the feeling and continue on to her room.
Back in the office Shining and Sombra were plowing through papers like there was no tomorrow. "Shining since it doesn't seem reasonable to ask for my own office could you get another desk for in here since it is rather hard to manage this mess with limited space."
"Yeah I definitely agree with you I'll see if I can get some of the servants to get one by tomorrow."
"Good, thank you. Also we still need to think about how to introduce me to the public so there isn't widespread fear and panic. I did after all enslave them and banish them for a thousand years, even if that wasn't really me it was still my fault."
"I think the best thing to do is to treat it like it's no big deal, if you stick by me all of the time the servants will see that you're no longer a threat. Then we can make trips out to the public together too so the ponies who don't work in the castle can see you as well."
"I suppose that will work since making an announcement will most likely just cause shock that we don't need."
"See, if we go about this in a relaxed manner it should all work out eventually. Also Sombra do you know how to fight hoof to hoof?"
"Yes, I read some books on it back before the incident. I was able to implement them rather well too. Why do you ask?"
"Tomorrow I was going to do drills with the troops but none of them would be able to keep up with me in a sparing match."
"I see, you want to brush up on your skills as well. I would be happy to help Shining anything for you."
When Shining heard those words he looked up to see Sombra smiling again. It was that sincere smile that screamed out the truth in his words and his eyes were looking directly into Shining's. The red serpent like eyes seemed to be looking into his soul but held no sign of ill intent only genuine happiness.
Sombra went back to work as Shining found himself wearing his own sincere smile, then he went back to his work as well. It was quickly dwindling since he had help this time. As he did so he whispered to himself, "I'm so glad I met you Sombra."
"Did you say something Shining?"
"Nope, nothing at all."
Sombra took only a brief moment to ponder the truth of that statement. "If you say so."
After another half hour all of the paper work was done for the night.
"Finally after so many weeks I can get some real sleep!" Shining exclaimed as he spun his chair in circles.
Sombra was amused by the sight of a large stallion spinning on an office chair. "So Shining where will I be taking up residence for the time being?"
Shining put his hoof to his chin in thought as he continued to spin and Sombra was starting to wonder how he didn't get dizzy.
"Ah, I got it!" Shining said as he continued to spin.
"If you would please share what you 'got' with the rest of the class, I'm sure they would be delighted to hear it."
"Ha ha funny Mr. Sarcasm, but there's a room slightly smaller than the one Cadence and I use right down the hall from us. So we could take a passage there and then in the morning I could wake you up and we would walk to breakfast together."
"I'm slightly worried about the reaction of the servants but as long as I'm with you Shining, I feel safe." Sombra was in fact, extremely worried about the reaction of the servants, yet he didn't want to let fear rule him or his actions ever again.
Shining's face was once again starting to turn red as he thought for the second time that day nothing that masculine had any right to be that adorable. Shining started towards the door to another passage to try to hide his face. "Come on Sombra I need some rest and you should probably get some too."
"Correct you are my friend, I'm right behind you."
When the two made it to Sombra's new room Shining immediately went for the main door so he could return to his own bed. Sombra was looking around and seemed somewhat disappointed. Shining took notice and decided to ask him about it.
"Sombra is there something wrong with the room?"
"What? No, not at all, it just needs a personal touch I think I'll do some decorating tonight."
"You're not going to sleep at all?"
"I've been asleep for a long time Shining and with this new body I'll be awake for quite some time. You go ahead and sleep."
"Alright if you're sure, goodnight Sombra."
"Goodnight Shining."
Shining was up slightly before his usual six AM waking time, he attributed this to all of the extra sleep he got last night. That was thanks to Sombra's help with his usual load of paperwork. He sat up in bed to stretch out, after doing so he turned to the form of his still sleeping wife. Shining decided to have some early morning fun since his wife did so yesterday morning.
Shining looked under the bed and found the bucket that Cadence used to wake him up. Shining levitated the bucket out from under the bed and tried to decide what to do with it. Since he was not as cruel as his wife he wouldn't douse her with ice cold water, plus she would throw a major hissy fit if he did. Instead Shining decided to make some noise. He used his levitation to raise the bucket up to the ceiling and made sure that when he let go it would land right beside Cadence on the floor. As the bucket fell Shining eagerly waited for the moment of truth.
When the bucket made contact with the floor there was a loud CLANK, then Cadence proceeded to scream and jump out of the bed onto the floor. Shining couldn't help but lose it at the sight of his distraught wife who was looking around frantically for the cause of the noise. Cadence then found the bucket and picked it up to hurl it at Shining's head. Since he was too busy laughing the bucket scored a direct hit and sent him to the floor.
"What the hell was that for?" Shining said as he sat up rubbing the spot the bucket had hit.
"For scaring me awake of course, what did you think would happen?"
"I don't know but I didn't expect you to start throwing stuff at me."
Cadence tuned away and started to walk out of the door."Well it serves you right."
"At least I never threw stuff at you when you woke me up like this."
"Yes because you never throw things at a mare. Now I'm going to breakfast I'll see you when you get there." With that Cadence left and slammed the door shut behind her.
"Stupid double standards, such bullshit." Shining picked himself up off of the floor went out of the room and started to walk down the hall to Sombra's room. I wonder what kind of stuff he managed to get done during the night. It couldn't have been too much since I didn't notice any noise and there wasn't much in the room to use.
Shining paused outside of Sombra's room before walking in. "Hey Sombra how did the decorating... go?"
The sight before Shining had left him speechless. Right above the bed was an exact depiction of Sombra's red crystal cutie mark, but that wasn't even the cool part. It was the stuff that made it up that was cool. There were tons of red crystals growing out of the wall that made up the shape of the mark. As Shining tore his attention away from that spectacle he noticed there were more drawings on the walls that were made up of the same material. There were classical instruments, musical notes,and a variety of beasts on the right wall. Sombra was standing at the base of the wall on the left finishing a depiction of a mountain range close to the Empire. His horn was glowing a crimson hue as he made more crystals grow out from the wall.
Sombra took a step back to admire his work seemingly oblivious to Shining's presence. "That looks nice but I might have to add something else to make the image draw the eye more." As he was pondering what else to add to the mountain range Shining decided to speak up.
"Sombra this is amazing, how could you do all of this in a single night?"
Shining's voice drew Sombra away from his work of art, he was glad that the stallion seemed to be impressed by his work. "Oh Shining I didn't hear you come in sorry for that. And to answer your question, you see that my cutie mark is a crystal correct? It means that crystal related magic is my specialty, also in my childhood I was quite fascinated with art and became somewhat adept at it."
"I would say that something like this requires a higher skill level than adept Sombra, this is beautiful." Shining was still entranced by the unique style of the work, so entranced that he missed the sight of Sombra blushing. Something that the former King of Shadows was grateful for. After he managed to shake himself back to normal he decided to get to the task at hoof.
"So Shining shall we make our way to breakfast or would you like to continue ogling my work?"
"Oh yeah, sorry about that Sombra. You're right we should get going now."
The two started to trot side by side down the hall towards the dinning hall. As they did so Sombra noticed a mark on Shining Armors forehead.
"Shining did you hit your head last night?"
"No it wasn't that, I made the mistake of angering my wife first thing this morning."
"What did she hit you with?"
"The bucket I used to scare her awake."
There was a moment of silence before Sombra decided how to respond.
"You should probably learn how to duck before you try that out again Shining or better yet just do a barrel roll, that usually works."
"Thanks Sombra I'll be sure to take that to heart."
As the two continued the walk to the dinning hall a pair of guards were approaching. They were chatting but stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the Prince and his companion.
Shining decided to make a move before they could. "Hello you two I would like you to meet my new FRIEND and our newest resident of the castle. This is Sombra and starting today he will be my assistant." Shining nudged Sombra with a hoof signaling him to speak.
"Ugh hello, I am happy to be at the castle and I look forward to working with the both of you." Sombra tried to smile after his shaky greeting but the guards jumped back when they saw his fangs. Quickly realizing his mistake he lost the smile and tried to smirk instead. This did little to ease the guards so Shining had to step in again.
"He is no longer the tyrant he once was so you two can relax. Plus how is he supposed to help out with training if you're scared of him. Remember soldiers we do not give in to our fear we face them. Am I clear?"
The two guards hastily nodded their heads and hurried past the two stallions. After they were out of earshot Shining and Sombra continued towards the dinning hall.
"That could have gone worse, at least they didn't have a violent reaction. What do you think Sombra?"
When Shining looked over to Sombra he was walking with his head to the floor and had a sullen look on his face. Shining didn't know why but it felt like seeing Sombra this way made him hurt, almost to the point of tears. He had to stop himself from hating the two guards that made his friend feel this way. He knew the best thing to do would be to try and cheer Sombra up.
"Hey I'm really surprised that you didn't have any snarky remarks about the title of assistant. I was almost sure that you would have a comeback primed and ready for something like that."
A smirk came across Sombra's face. "I was going to say something but I decided to be on my best behavior."
"Aw come on Sombra I already have one killjoy in my life I don't need another one. Maybe some food will cheer you up."
Sombra looked up and saw that they had reached the dinning hall. Shining lead him over to a small table where Cadence was sitting drinking some tea. As they sat down Cadence was the one to break the ice.
"So Sombra did you sleep well?"
"I didn't sleep last night I decided to decorate my room since it seemed rather bare."
The use of the word decorate seemed to trigger something in Cadence as she immediately perked up.
"I have been asking the servants to decorate all of the guest rooms for some time now but they always seem to come up with something else to do so they 'don't have time to do it.' They really are bland, how did you decorate yours?
Shining was able to respond faster than Sombra. "It was really cool he made a whole bunch of awesome crystal artwork for on the walls and..."
"I did not ask you I asked Sombra. I'm still mad for how you woke me up this morning so shush." With that interruption Shining was silenced and Cadence turned her attention back to Sombra. He was put off by the way Cadence talked to Shining but thought it best to let it slide since it wouldn't help matters if he told her off.
"Its as Shining said I made some crystal murals for the walls since they seemed like a blank canvas to me."
Before Cadence could respond the waiter came out to ask for their requests. "So monsieur, mademoiselle, what would you and your guest... like"
The waiter froze whenever he actually looked at Sombra,never having thought he could be the former Shadow King. Not wanting this to turn out like the last time Sombra smirked and tried to address the waiter in the most polite way possible.
"Hello sir, how are you doing today?"
"Ve... very well, I um, thank you for asking." The waiter kept working to retain his professional image while still being extremely nervous. "So, if I may take your orders to the chef now."
Cadence was the first to make an order, "I'll take some waffles and please bring my usual syrup with them."
Shining was next to order, "I'll just have a bowl of sugar rainbooms."
After the waiter wrote down the second order he looked to Sombra who seemed to be confused by the foods just named.
Shining was quick to pick up on this and offered him a way out. "Sombra the cereal I ordered is really good maybe you would like it too."
"Alright I will take the same order as Shining then, please."
The waiter quickly wrote that down and power walked back into the kitchen where Sombra presumed he was trying very hard not to have a panic attack.
"Shining why would you tell Sombra to order that garbage. Do you want him to have diabetes too?"
"They're not that bad Cadence relax."
Cadence hated when Shining told her to relax. "Yes they are that bad, they have a whole days worth of sugar in one bowl!"
Sombra didn't want to admit this out loud but that did sound like an excessive amount of sugar. Yet he also didn't want the couple to argue so he tried to settle it.
"Don't worry Cadence I'm willing to try anything once."
"Fine if you want diabetes be my guest."
Sombra realized that by not taking her side he lost any progress he made with bringing up his decorating. He couldn't help but sigh as Cadence went back to her tea.
Shining felt bad for Sombra seeing him try and fail to remain neutral. But that feeling was soon replaced by hunger when their food was brought out.
Shining dove in as soon as he got the bowl and Cadence didn't wait to dig into her waffles either. Sombra looked down at the bowl filled with rainbow colored flakes and tried a spoonful. Cadence was right they did have a lot of sugar, but they were also really REALLY good.
It wasn't long before there was no more food left and everypony was about to head their separate ways to start their days. Cadence turned to Shining and gave him a peck on the cheek. "See you tonight Shining."
"Yeah see you tonight."
As Cadence began to walk off Sombra couldn't help but feel seething anger towards her. His best explanation was that after how she acted towards Shining he didn't think she had a right to act lovey dovey with him. Shining was oblivious to Sombra's resentment as he was lost in his own thoughts.
We're losing touch, we argue so much now and I don't feel the way I once did when she kisses me.
Noticing Shining's disposition Sombra made a quick move to try and cheer him up. "Shining don't we have training to get to? Or are you just wasting time since you know that you'll be getting friendly with the ground?"
Shining slowly turned to face Sombra and took a step towards him, they were mere inches apart. "So you think your a better fighter than me?"
Sombra closed the remaining distance and butted heads with Shining. "I don't think I know."
"It's going to be so much fun to make you eat those words Sombra."
"Don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're my friend."
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
They broke the headbutt and started towards the guard barracks. Starting at a walk their speed began to pick up until they both broke into a full blown gallop. Each one trying to beat the other at the impromptu race.
At the pace they were going they reached the barracks at the same time. As they were both trying to catch their respective breaths they had drawn quite some attention. Shining's lieutenant was the first to question the presence of Sombra.
"Sir permission to speak."
As Shining regained his posture he was able to get out a reply. "Permission granted."
"Sir is that really Sombra, if so why is he here?"
"Why yes Lucid it is and he will be helping train you today so you and the rest of the troops will to show him the same respect you give me. Am I clear?"
Lucid Lance had to bite his tongue to hold back his protests. "Crystal clear sir." He went back to the rest of the troops to convey the message given to him by the Captain.
"So Shining what's the plan for the training?"
"Well, to get some practice for attack and defense I was going to have the attacker charge and the defender stay in place. Both will be trying to take the other down and will switch roles after each charge."
"Ah I see so both will have to constantly change their strategies to accommodate their opponent."
"Exactly so to start I will attack and you will defend." Shining wanted to smile at the prospect of putting Sombra in his place, but he needed to keep his game face on in front of the troops. "Alright troops watch this demonstration closely Sombra and I will be showing you what to do, we will switch roles after each attack and try to take one another down. Start 20 paces apart and charge whenever you're ready."
Shining walked the 20 paces and turned to face Sombra who was staring a hole through Shining. With an expression vacant of all emotion, Shining almost felt intimidated, almost. He charged at Sombra and tried a simple tackle. Sombra moved so fast that Shining barely caught what he did. First he dropped to the ground, then he quickly rose while grabbing Shining's right forehoof. Shining ended up on his back with Sombra in the perfect position to break one of his legs.
The crystal troops were ready to take action against Sombra before they heard Shining start to laugh. After he caught his breath he couldn't stop smiling.
"Sombra that was freakin awesome, you need to teach me how to do that."
Sombra just smiled and helped Shining to his hooves. "You need to be prepared for my attack now Shining, as I said I will not show mercy."
Shining nodded and Sombra began to walk out the 20 paces. At the 20th he immediately turned and sprinted full force at Shining. But Shining was already in a defensive stance and prepared to get payback. As Sombra approached he pivoted on his front hooves so Shining prepared to reverse a buck. Sombra however did not buck, instead he kicked his hindlegs at a slight angle with the ground and slid. He clipped Shinings hooves and threw him off balance allowing Sombra to get on top of him and use a choke hold. All of the troops and Shining were shocked at Sombra's skill in hoof to hoof combat.
Sombra released his hold and once again helped Shining to his hooves. When Shining looked at Sombra he wore the biggest shit eating grin that Shining had ever seen. This would have pissed Shining off in any other circumstance but he was actually really impressed. He turned his attention back to the troops who immediately snapped to attention.
"Alright troops you saw the basics of what to do so do the same with your own style of fighting." He then turned to Sombra who looked uncomfortable with all of the attention on him. "Sombra and I will be sparring in the ring, after 20 repetitions of each role you can watch and learn if you please." He turned and started towards the ring with Sombra following closely behind.
"Shining I'm sorry."
"Sorry about what?"
"Beating you twice in front of your troops, it must have been humiliating."
"Redemption shall I rise my friend, you won't beat me this time."
Sombra walked closer to Shining until he could whisper in his ear. "Shiny, in this ring you will be my bitch."
Shining stopped dead in his tracks as Sombra continued and jumped over the rope marking off the ring's boundaries.
Shining couldn't move as he felt paralyzed by Sombra's words. He looked at the ground as his face went from white to a deep shade of red. His heart kept beating faster and faster causing his entire body to feel like it was overheating. Shining kept hearing those words repeat inside of his head. They sounded more appealing each time they repeated, he found himself thinking of Sombra in a new light.
When he realized the thoughts were going in that direction he tried to mentally shout them out of his head. That was when Sombra called to him.
"Shining are you gonna get in the ring or not?"
When Shining slowly walked over, Sombra noticed how he wasn't making direct eye contact and lost his confidence from before.
"Hey Shining you alright, I didn't mean to upset you with what I said. It was just banter, you know that right?"
Shining shook the last of the thoughts from his head and looked at Sombra good as new. "Yeah I know just wasn't prepared to hear my pet name coming from you Sombra. It shocked me a bit is all."
"Sorry Shining, I won't use it again."
Shining felt his heart sink a little after hearing that. "No, its fine just not when other ponies are around." Shining hated that he just gave in so quickly to a little negativity from Sombra. He soon forgot that feeling when he saw Sombra's smile.
"I'm happy that you trust me with something like that but don't you have a score to settle?" Sombra asked with an arched eyebrow.
Completely forgetting his negative feelings Shining jumped into the ring. "I'll do more than settle it, I'll put you in your place."
"Sounds fun, how about we get started."
Both stallions got into a fighting stance and let out a battle cry as they charged towards one another. Both fully prepared to pound the other in the friendliest way possible.
It was late in the afternoon as Shining and Sombra continued on with their sparring match. Neither wanting to give an inch to the other. All of the crystal guards had finished their assigned training at this point and were excitedly watching the fight.
"How long have they been at this?"
"At least a few hours, looks like they're starting to run on empty though."
"I hope Prince Shining Armor wins, getting thrown to the ground twice in a row must have pissed him off. Plus I want to see Sombra get beaten to the ground."
"You know the Prince wouldn't do that, did you see how he was being all buddy buddy with Sombra earlier?"
"Yeah but how in the name of Tartarus did he get here?"
"I don't know but feel free to ask the Prince any time you please, I'm sure he would love to answer your question."
At that moment Shining took a strong buck to the stomach, only to grab both of Sombra's hind legs and throw the stallion across the ring. He landed with a thud but recovered quickly. Already being back on his hooves Sombra decided to start some smack talk.
"If you keep doing reckless things like that you'll lose again Shining. Wouldn't it just be so tragic if you couldn't even beat me once in combat." Sombra made sure to strike a pose during his last line.
"Quit being so melodramatic, you're just talking so you have time to rest. Lets get back to it Queen Sombra." Shining knew that last comment would throw him off, hopefully he would start to attack without thinking. That would give Shining the perfect chance to end this.
"You think I'm pretty enough to be a Queen? Oh Shining you shouldn't flatter a stallion like that."
Shining couldn't help but facehoof at that ridiculous statement. That totally backfired on me gotta think of something better. Shining noticed his troops snickering at the statement as well. Suddenly he couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed by his and Sombra's banter.
"PRINCE ARMOR LOOK OUT!"
Shining could only turn his head fast enough to see Sombra out of the corner of his eye, barreling at him like a freight train. He had no time to act as Sombra was almost upon him.
"Dammit."
Sombra crouched low before tackling Shining in an upward direction, causing him to get every ounce of air knocked out of his lungs. When the two slammed on the ground Shining couldn't help but start coughing, trying desperately to breathe. The former King stood and was about to cry out in victory but noticed the amount of pain Shining was in.
Instantly Sombra regretted his actions as he sat beside Shining. His horn glowed and crimson enveloped the prince.
Taking notice Shining was about to raise an objection but Sombra beat him to it. "I'm using a regeneration spell on you so stay still and shut it while I work my magic."
Shining had not seen Sombra this serious since he was revived. He must have been worried about the possible damage he caused with that tackle. Shining took a moment to appreciate that he had made such a caring friend.
Friend... why did that word feel so out of place? It's not like it was a negative word. So why did hurt to hear himself use it? He looked up at Sombra from his internal dialogue and couldn't help but smile as he saw the stallion working to make him feel better. Not wanting to exhaust his magic supply with a regeneration spell Shining rolled to his stomach and stood up. He was a little shaky but other than that it wasn't a problem.
"Shining what are you doing? Didn't I tell you to stay still during my spell?" Sombra looked a little more than irritated that Shining didn't let him finish. He knew it only meant that Sombra cared about his well being so Shining didn't worry.
"I'm fine now Sombra I was only beaten up a bit and I need to tell you something." Shining leaned in as if he wanted this to be private. The would be Doctor Sombra took the hint and leaned in as well. All the while wondering what he would be told.
"YOU FUCKING CHEATED YOU UMBRAL ASSCLOWN!"
Sombra had momentarily lost his sense of hearing so he had plenty of time to think of a witty comeback while he waited for it to return. Before a comeback he had a very important question to ask.
"Shining what's an assclown?"
Shining couldn't help but facehoof at the former King. Shining had then realized that Sombra wasn't from this era. He still decided not to tell so he had Something to hold over Sombra.
"Never mind that Sombra but good match." As Shining was about to address his troops he noticed something off about Sombra.
"What happened to all of YOUR wounds Sombra?"
Sombra waved a dismissive hoof at Shining's question. "As soon as the match was over I activated my self regeneration magic. Being highly skilled at magic yourself I'm sure you know that casting a regeneration spell on yourself is much easier that casting one on another pony."
"Whatever you still cheated."
"I cannot help you accept a truth if you are too deeply rooted in your own lie."
Yeah just shut it Mr. Profound. "Alright troops as you just witnessed battles can last for many hours so stamina and perseverance are the keys to victory. For the rest of the day just do patrols. Dismissed."
With that order the troops started to split up to cover their different designated areas. All talking amongst themselves about the incredible match that they just witnessed, and voicing their disdain for Sombra's method of victory.
"It seems your troops will not be taking a shine to me anytime soon."
"What do you expect for a cheater."
"I did not cheat! I took advantage of your distraction."
Shining decided the best retort was sticking his tongue out at Sombra.
"You can be such a child Sometimes."
"OH! That reminds me we still need to go into town to get the public used to seeing you. I have the perfect place in mind for that."
Sombra had seen that dopey grin before and was beginning to question the situations that followed it.
A comic shop... great.
"See I told you this place was cool just look at all of the comics and figures and cards and..."
Not wanting to overload on nerd Sombra tuned Shining out. While he was getting many less fearful glares here than outside this wasn't exactly his sort of place. Fictitious books and comics had never held much value to the stallion. Although, upon seeing the enthusiasm on Shining's face when he got here Sombra was unable to ask to leave. It warmed his heart to see his friend happy.
Sombra couldn't help but feel sad every time he thought of the stallion as only his friend. He had started to wish for something more substantial with Shining. But had been trying to get the idea out of his mind since the other stallion was already married. He sighed and looked at Shining who looked as if he was expecting something. Damn he asked me a question.
"I'm sorry Shining could you repeat that?"
Shining frowned and Sombra felt bad for not paying more attention. "I asked what kind of comics you like."
"Well, I'm not really a fan of comics." Sombra waited for a, 'What the tartarus is wrong with you!?' Shining didn't yell or even ask why.
With a head hung low Shining spoke, "oh, I'm sorry for dragging you here then. If you want to leave we can."
Sombra hated to see Shining this way, only wanting to make him feel better he tried to fix the situation. "Oh no no Shining don't worry about me I'm sure you have friends here that you want to see."
Those words made Shining want to cry and Sombra could see the pain on his face. "You're the only friend I have here."
He couldn't believe his hears. How could such a great stallion not have any friends? Shining was getting ready to run away when Sombra hugged him.
"That's their loss Shining, you are magnificent in so many ways. You have strength, honor, and you care deeply for those around you. If there is anypony who cannot see these qualities in you then they are unfit to be in your presence."
Shining was so glad the store had cleared out when they walked in, however much it must have hurt Sombra to see that. He was also glad they were behind a bookshelf so nopony could see him in this state. He returned the hug while a few tears escaped. There was not a single soul in equestria that had ever been able to make him feel this way. Not even his wife had ever said something that kind to him with such conviction.
A hoof came up to Shining's eyes to wipe his tears away. "Don't cry like that Shining there is no need for you to feel sad, I am here for you and always will be." The Prince looked up at Sombra to see tears coming down his face as well. Shining couldn't stand it, seeing him this way.
Shining leaned up to Sombra and before a question could be asked he locked lips with Sombra, surprising the dark stallion. Instead of pulling away he gave in to the soft warmth of his partner's lips. The kiss was not fueled by passion, it was fueled by the love that these two shared. It was simple kiss yet it spoke volumes of how deeply they cared for one another.
Soon after the kiss started it ended, leaving both stallions blushing, speechless, and wanting more.
Sombra was the first to speak. "Do you wanna go get something to eat Shining? I don't think we've eaten since breakfast."
Shining had to pull himself out of a haze to answer. "That sounds nice, where did you want to go?"
"I thought somepony familiar with the area should decide. Seeing as I don't even know my way around the castle yet."
Shining chuckled at the remark. "Well it isn't very romantic but do you want to get some pizza?" Shining took a moments pause before realizing what he had said. "Wait! Don't take that the wrong way! It's not like I'm trying to make this romantic or anything just two ponies getting pizza right? Haha ha..."
Sombra had been smiling throughout Shining's minor ordeal. "Of course, I would very much like some pizza." As Sombra trotted towards the door he stopped to whisper. "Aren't you coming Shiny?"
Shining begrudgingly walked alongside Sombra as he tried his hardest not to blush, to no avail.
After some walking and idle chit chat the two stallions had made it to the premier pizza shop in the crystal empire. Shining took the lead as they walked through the door. Sombra on the other hoof felt the hatred radiating from each of the ponies seated in the restaurant. He still kept pace with Shining, albeit with some effort. As they approached the counter to order the cashier looked like she was about to wet herself.
Shining saw her demeanor and thought it best to remain at a slight distance. "Hello can we get a large uhm..." He turned around to face the stallion trying to hide behind him.
"Hey Sombra what kind of pizza did you want?"
He tried to hold his composure as he felt all eyes in the room on him. "I'll ah, just have whatever you're having Shining." Sombra tried to find a better answer than the one he gave but couldn't make a request with the feeling of dread welling up inside of him.
Shining looked at the stallion and wanted to hold Sombra close to get rid of everything that was bothering him, but they were in public right now and he couldn't do that. So he decided to get out of there as quickly as he could.
"What pre made pizzas do you have?"
"We only have cheese at the moment is that alright?"
The mare's face was screaming 'please say yes,' fed up with the ponies around him Shining would settle for a plain pizza.
"Yeah and that's to go. Just send the bill to the castle. Sombra grab that box please and I'll be right behind you. There's something I need to say here."
Without a word Sombra grabbed the box with his crimson colored magic and headed for the door. When he was gone Shining was ready to unleash his fury. He jumped onto the counter to make sure he had the entire rooms attention.
"How could you all do that to a pony? He was here for simple reasons and meant no harm to any of you. He didn't even talk or look at anypony because he didn't want to cause a disturbance. He was trying to be considerate while all of you were being ignorant. There is no excuse for what happened here today and all of you need to learn to show some kindness."
Shining jumped off of the counter, proceeding to trot out of the door. Sombra was there, waiting for him. "You didn't have to do that Shining. If they want to hate me then they can."
Shining put a hoof on Sombra's shoulder. "But it's not you they should be hating, you were not the one that did those horrible things to them. You don't have to accept their hate as a fact of life, it does not need to bring you down. I know that you are strong, if anypony has the power to rise above that hate it is you Sombra."
"But that's what my downfall was from before, giving into the hate. If I couldn't do it then why would I be able to do it now?"
Shining couldn't help but smile. "I will be by your side the entire time that's why."
Sombra could not find the words to thank Shining with. He instead turned to the direction of a park he saw on the way to the pizzeria. "We need to eat this before it gets cold right? There was a park on the way here that seemed nice."
Shining trotted beside Sombra and started to walk with him, and it didn't take long for them to get to the park. It seemed empty so the two lied down on a nice patch of grass so they could enjoy their pizza.
As Sombra took his first bite he couldn't help but make a "Mmmph" sound. Shining found this quite funny as he couldn't stop laughing at him. He didn't notice Shining on the ground clutching his sides until the first slice was gone.
"What's so funny Shining?" Sombra said with a hint of irritation
After taking a moment or three to catch his breath he was able to speak. "The sounds you were making while eating the pizza. They were just too much I couldn't help it."
Sombra's face shifted from irritation to a pout, Shining found this more adorable than ever and had to hold back a Hnng.
"But Shiny it was just so warm and gooey I couldn't help but make sounds when I swallowed it."
Shining didn't know if it was just him being perverted or if Sombra did that on purpose but it sounded highly suggestive either way. Sombra couldn't hold it back for long, he burst out laughing at the befuddled look on Shining's face. The Prince couldn't help but chuckle at the dramatic shift from adorable pout to a deep manly laugh.
As time went on the pizza was gone and the two had realized it was nighttime. Not wanting to upset his wife Shining, with Sombra in tow, hurried back to the castle. When they arrived at Shining's office they found a note on the desk.
It read as follows, 'Dear Shining, I closed court early today and took care of the few requests I got. So you don't have any paperwork tonight. But since you were late and I had no clue where you were I locked you out of the room for a night so find another place to sleep.'
"What!? She can't just shut me out of my own room that's bullshit!"
"Calm down Shining its going to be fine, relax and take a few deep breaths."
He tried to do as instructed and managed to calm down a little bit. While Shining was distraught Sombra was the opposite, he saw this as a good way to get closer to Shining. After all he did show how felt earlier.
"I have a solution to this problem and I think your overlooking it."
Shining couldn't think of what he was missing and Sombra's coy grin wasn't helping his ability to think.
"Here I'll give you a hint." Sombra walked to Shining and gave him a brief kiss on the cheek. Shining immediately turned red and got what Sombra was, not so subtly, hinting at.
"If I can't sleep in my room then I guess your room would be alright." While keeping his head down he asked a question he already knew the answer to. "But... where will I sleep?"
With Shining looking up at him Sombra almost couldn't take it, the way his blue mane was barely out of his teal eyes. He looked so huggable, so adorable.
"The bed in there is big enough for the two of us, that is if you don't mind sharing one with me."
Shining started to feel his heartbeat quicken and his body heat up. He knew that his coat was more red now than white but he didn't care. It felt so nice to be like this with Sombra.
"I wouldn't mind."
"Then we should be going, it is getting late."
The two left the office and made their way down the hall towards Sombra's room. He opened the door so Shining could enter first.
"After you my Prince."
Shining couldn't help but feel giddy being with Sombra, such simple actions like that made him feel loved. As the door closed the two crawled into the bed and lied down face to face.
"Goodnight Shiny."
"Sweet dreams."
As the two stallions were lying in bed Cadence and Shining's room had a lone figure sitting on the bed contemplating the days events. "I knew we were losing touch but I never thought that he would be able to adjust so quickly. It hurts knowing that I can't compare to another pony... But that shouldn't matter I am the princess of love! From only today's events I can see that those two share something deeper than Shining and I ever had. It is my job to ensure that the ponies of this world find true love. Even if I have to lose somepony to do that."
Cadence couldn't help but sigh as she found her resolve to perform her special talent. She knew it would hurt but if he could find somepony then so could she. "Ugh, tomorrow is going to be a long day."
Sombra could not see anything nor could he hear anything. It felt as if his body didn't even exist. This was not the first time that he was trapped here. When the dark magic took hold and banished the entire kingdom for 1000 years this is what it was like. While the crystal ponies were able to 'sleep' through those years the Shadow King was not that lucky. He was in this state of being along with the manifestation of the dark magic. At first he was terrified and panicked, but the evil wouldn't let him live in such bliss while he was there. It sought to infect him, in order to seize absolute control over it's host. Sombra held out as best he could but he eventually started to lose himself. That is when he shut down, since he saw nothing and heard nothing, he decided to feel nothing as well. This way he could block out the evil.
Sombra started to slip back into that state of mind being in this environment. He started to lose himself until he saw a light. It was not a blinding light, rather it gave off a warm glow. Sombra felt his senses returning as the light came closer. It turned out to not to be a light, Sombra felt like his heart was about to burst when he saw Shining. He stood as a beacon in this miserable abyss.
Shining stood a short distance away just... smiling at Sombra. He didn't want to lose Shining so he made way over to him until they were face to face. That is when Shining spoke.
"I will never leave you Sombra you won't be alone ever again." He then said something but no sound came from his mouth.
"What was that?"
He tried to repeat the words but again no sound came out. Sombra had been watching Shining's mouth intently this time and it looked as if Shining tried to say something about love.
Sombra was about to ask again when things started to break apart. It started to feel like he was falling. As he fell he could only look up at Shining while trying desperately to get back to him.
With a scream Sombra woke up, from the darkness he could tell it was late at night. He let out a sigh and rubbed his head. It was only a dream, the first one in a long time. Not the best way to start sleeping again.
Shining had started to stir when Sombra shouted out. As he sat up in bed he looked over to see a pair of red eyes staring at him.
"You alright Sombra? I thought I heard you scream."
He was surprised when the other stallion pounced on top of him. Hugging him like he never planned on letting go. Although surprised Shining hugged back wanting to help with whatever ailed Sombra. The former King spoke as he let tears flow freely down his face.
"Please don't leave. Please promise me you won't leave."
As curious as Shining was to what brought out this sudden change in Sombra he felt now wasn't the time to ask. "I promise to never leave you for as long as I live."
When those words were spoken the tears stopped and Sombra moved up to Shining's mouth. He gave Shining a passionate kiss and continued to lay on top of him. When they broke apart the dark stallion noticed something.
"I didn't realize you found me attractive enough to get rock hard from a single kiss." From laying on top of Shining, Sombra was able to feel the rapidly increasing heart rate of the Prince. He seemed to get embarrassed easily, something the former King adored.
"W.. well I uhm think you're..." The last few words of Shining's sentence were spoken at an inaudible level.
"What was that, I couldn't quite hear you." Sombra couldn't hide his coy smile as he loved to watch the Prince struggle.
"I said that..." Shining took a deep breath to prepare for what he was about to say. "I think you're hot."
While surprised that the stallion actually admitted what he thought Sombra wasn't about to let this opportunity go to waste. He started to slowly kiss his way down to Shining's member.
"Wait! What are you doing?"
"Do you trust me?"
"Well yes I trust you."
"Then relax and let me take control."
Shining leaned back on the bed and let Sombra continue with his kisses. When he got to Shining's member he started to slowly stoke it, Eliciting a soft moan from the Prince. As a drop of precum came out of the tip Sombra started to lick from the base of the shaft up to the head. Causing Shining to gasp and more precum to drip from his member.
Hearing what such simple actions did to Shining only made Sombra want to go further. He was fully erect as well but he wanted to give Shining the best ride he could. He started to suck on the head of Shining's member, wanting to push him over the edge.
"Oh Sombra please don't stop."
He only went further and further down on Shining. Bobbing his head up and down as the stallion continued to moan in pleasure. He eventually started to message Shining's plothole with his hoof.
This was a new sensation but he couldn't help but love it as Sombra started to deep throat his member. All of the sensations he was feeling started to become too much as he felt his balls start to tighten.
"Fuck Sombra, I'm gonna cum."
Shining thought this would make the stallion slow down, instead he sped up. This pushed Shining over the edge as he started to cum string after string into Sombra's mouth.
As he lied on the bed with his head in the clouds Sombra was lubing his own member with the stallions load. He got on top of Shining and gave him a deep kiss. He started to grind up against his plothole as well. As Shining felt the huge member up against his tight hole he was worried that Sombra was going to break him.
"I don't think it's gonna fit." Shining said in a meek and worried voice.
Sombra couldn't help but smile and kiss the stallion on the cheek. "Don't worry, I'm as brilliant as a diamond and twice as hard. I'll make it fit."
While he was worried about the potential pain the thought was almost lost as Shining looked at Sombra's member, he wanted it so badly. He wanted to feel the stallion inside of him. Sombra stopped grinding as he felt that Shining's plot was sufficiently covered in his own cum. He pressed his member to the plothole slowly applying more and more pressure. Shining could feel his hole stretch as Sombra tried to get in. Then there was a pop and Shining felt like his insides were on fire. Sombra leaned down to Shining and kissed him on the cheek.
"Here bite down on my shoulder."
Shining didn't hesitate as he bit on Sombra's Shoulder. He drew some blood and caused the Shadow King to grunt at the sting. As he pushed farther and farther in the pain didn't get much better. It felt like his insides were being torn apart. When Sombra got to his ring he slowly started to thrust using the first half of his member. Shining stopped biting down and relaxed as the pain started to fade away.
With the pain gone Shining was able to feel Sombra inside of him. It was new and it felt a little odd but it felt good too. When he thrusted Shining could feel the nerve endings so well. His own member started to become erect again. It would throb each time Sombra got to his ring. It felt so good and Shining thought that he was relaxed enough now. He pulled the large stallion into a kiss as he wrapped his hind hooves around the former Kings back. Then he pulled Sombra towards himself and bottomed out.
Shining couldn't help but let out a loud moan as Sombra gasped at the sudden pleasure. "Come on fuck me, it feels so good I don't want it to stop!
Finally able to go all out Sombra started to pound Shining fast and hard. He kept a rhythm and Shining was loving it. He felt Sombra carve into him with each thrust. Every time he felt like he could have an orgasm any second. His own member was covering him in precum making his fur sticky. He didn't have much time to care as Sombra slowed down.
He leaned in close to whisper in Shining's ear. "Flip over Shiny."
Shining wanted to resume so he was immediately over and on his knees. Sombra took no time to get back inside Shining causing both stallions to moan. As Sombra was thrusting into Shining he reached around and started to stroke the other stallions member. He let out a loud 'Ah' and started to drool as the pleasure became too much for him.
With a few strokes Shining came again and collapsed on the bed. Sombra laid down on top of him and kept going. Each thrust bringing him closer and closer to finishing as well. In between muffled moans Shining tried to speak.
"Sombra I can't 'agh' stop cumming, you feel so good."
Hearing the praise set Sombra over the edge. He started to pump harder and faster than before, making Shining start to moan with uncontrolled lust as his partner unloaded inside of him. He felt so many strands of cum inside. After finishing Sombra pulled out and collapsed on top of Shining while breathing heavily.
"That was amazing Sombra. You made me feel incredible."
Sombra rolled off of Shining and pulled him in so they could cuddle. "You felt nice too, so tight and you made such cute sounds."
While Shining was basking in the afterglow he knew that he couldn't lie to Cadence about this. "Sombra you know we have to tell Cadence right?"
The Shadow King sighed at the name of his lovers wife. "Yes I know but for tonight can we stay like this?"
"Of course we can." Shining wouldn't say it out loud, not yet at least. He felt safer that ever in Sombra's hooves. He was so warm and caring. He was even able to make his first time with a stallion pleasurable.
Yet no matter how he looked at it... tomorrow was going to be a long day.