Author's Note
This story was originally a one shot, but I divided it into two chapters, after it got a little long when I added few more things into it.
Chapter 1. Silver Gloom.
Chapter 1
The dinging and whirring sounds of slot-machines echoed around the gambling room as ponies pulled the levers or pushed the buttons to activate them, some had put their very lasts bits into them while others had just started wagering away. Occasionally there was a loud celebratory noise as one or two machines granted a patron a winning who led out a loud shout in victory, at other times a pony sighed dejectedly as they had no more money to spare and walked with a hanging head and ears bent low.
A similar atmosphere was around the card tables, the craps, and the roulettes. Some ponies cheered loudly as they won, while others grumbled and left unable to deal themselves back in. Some tried to desperately plead with the dealers but were simply shoved away by security.
Crowds of ponies and occasionally other creatures, who were not playing were gathered around some tables, watching with interest, quite invested in the tense wagering sometimes going on. Some even cheered with the winners, others gave the losers a sympathetic smile or a pat on the back. Better luck next time.
An especially large gathering was around one of the craps tables. A big spender was being very lucky tonight at the Mareage Resort and Casino in Las Pegasus. The dice kept coming up on the numbers he bet on, if anyone suspected magic trickery, it would be difficult to believe as the pony was a pegasus. Dark gray, his mane was black and neatly trimmed. He wore a black tuxedo jacket over a white shirt with a wingtip collar and rounded Prance cuffs, a black bow-tie went around his neck under the collar. His emerald looking eyes, stared intently as the dices rolled again.
“And another winner,” the stick pony announced as the dices landed on the numbers the pegasus had bet on. The pegasus smirked, grabbed for his wine glass and drank from it. He glanced at the bluish-green unicorn stallion playing as well, wearing a flashier purple and blue suit, that one was glaring resentfully at him.
“Another round, Mr. Silver?” the base dealer asked with a business-like smile.
“No, I believe I will be calling it quits, it is getting late,” Silver said and finished from his glass and put it on the edge of the table. “Cash me out.”
“Aw, don’t you want to play one more round, Mr. Silver?” a cream-colored earth mare asked, wearing a glittery silver dress placed a leg around the pegasus, fluttering her eyes at him. Silver glanced at her with a small smile.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind trying to win some of my money back,” the purple wearing unicorn snorted, shooting Silver another withering glare.
“As much as it would please me to continue to entertain you, I fear I must depart for now,” Silver told the mare while accepting his winnings from the dealer. He ignored the unicorn who grumbled and drank from his martini glass.
The mare pouted but it did not affect the pegasus. Carrying a specially made purse to carry his newly won bits under his wing, Silver pushed out of the crowd as another player moved in to take his place.
As Silver left the gambling area, he subtly glanced back. The unicorn in the purple suit was following him at a distance. The pegasus smiled then looked around, spotting the restrooms he headed to them. He swiftly entered the ones marked for stallions, followed soon after by the unicorn.
A minute passed and Silver came rushing out of the restroom looking rather alarmed. He immediately went to a nearby staff member.
“Excuse me, there has been an incident in the stallion restroom, a guest has keeled over rather unexpectedly,” the pegasus addressed the pony.
Silver watched with concern as the earth stallion, wearing hotel staff uniform, rushed over to the restrooms. It took the earth pony only a second before he was running back out, calling for a fellow employee to come and help him.
“We have to get this guy to a hospital; he looks like he suffered a stroke or something!” Silver heard him say as the two ponies hurried into the restroom.
This commotion had gathered a crowd of spectators watching what was going on. Silver blended into it, watching intently as the others, listening to the other ponies whisper amongst themselves, wondering what was going on.
Soon the two hotel employees came out carrying the unicorn in the purple suit. The pony lay limp on their backs, staring vacantly into the distance with bloodshot eyes, his tongue hanging out from the corner of his mouth, soft moans escaped his lips. The ponies watching grimaced, more questions on what had happened whispered around.
For a moment the unicorn’s eyes met with Silver’s, for a slight second there was a shark-like grin on the muzzle of the pegasus as he licked his lips. The unicorn’s eyes widened, terror came over them, but it was as if he had no energy to scream just a gave a soft whimper.
“Mr. Silver, you were present, do you know what happened?” another employee had approached the pegasus who still by all appearances looked concerned, this time a mare, her badge indicated she was a manager.
“I am not sure, just a few minutes before we were having a rather spirited competition at the craps table. I went to the restroom and he followed soon after. He seemed to wish to speak with me, but before he had a chance to, he just fell over as if something had struck him,” Silver explained to her. The heavy concern in both his voice and face “I did notice he was consuming a rather alarming amount of drinks during our game.”
The mare nodded and seemed satisfied with that explanation and walked away, already the crowd was dispersing as the unicorn had by now been taken out to the lobby and away from the resort.
Silver smirked to himself then headed to the lobby and in confident strides approached the counter. He was almost immediately greeted by a blue unicorn.
“Evening, Mr. Silver, heard you had some luck at the craps table.” The young stallion smiled, the pegasus chuckled politely.
“Heard the noise of the crowd, I take it,” Silver said and smirked when the pony nodded.
“Yes, too bad about Mr. Jackpot, saw them carrying him out, he looked in terrible shape.” The counter clerk shook his head sadly.
“Yes, I fear I was witness to that. Keeled right over in the restroom.” Silver shuddered a little. The clerk cringed slightly then smiled in sympathy.
“I would like the key to my room please,” the pegasus then requested with a pained expression, as if the event he witnessed bothered him greatly.
“Of course, sir.” The unicorn turned to the shelves holding the guest keys. He took one from there using his magic and floated it over to the pegasus. “I do hope you are enjoying the suite.”
“It is satisfactory for my needs.” Silver nodded and put the bit purse on the counter table. “Please see to it that this is put in my safety deposit box.”
“Right away, sir.” The unicorn nodded, before he could grab the purse, the pegasus fished out few bits from it and pushed them towards the stallion.
“Something for your trouble,” Silver flashed a weak smile, the recent event still heavy on his mind. The unicorn accepted the bits with a polite thanks, before taking the purse to the back where the safety deposit boxes were.
Silver carefully put the key in a pocket before heading off towards the elevator. The lift operator saluted him and quickly opened the elevator door.
“Top floor please,” the pegasus requested quietly, his expression sad. It was granted quickly and the young pony manning the elevator pressed the button and pulled the lever to operate it.
It took a moment, but they were soon on the top floor of the hotel. Before leaving the elevator, Silver fished up some extra bits he had on hoof and gave them to the pony, who smiled and thanked him kindly.
Silver then turned away and headed to the door of his room. As he was now alone, his expression was turning grimmer. The pegasus fished up his key and opened the door and entered the suite. All the windows were covered by thick velvet curtains, the living room had two luxurious couches and silver framed table standing on a fine woven rug. There was a private bar in one corner of the west wall, on the east one were two doors.
The pegasus closed the door and made sure they were locked. He turned towards the doors on the east wall. Suddenly, a smoke-like shadow enveloped him and the pony grew taller, his wings disappeared and from his forehead produced a red curved horn. His mane and tail grew also and became wilder and flew with power, his eyes turned red and his pupils became slit. Even the expensive clothing had grown with this transformation.
Thank you for the wonderful hate-filled meal, Mr. Jackpot. The pony chuckled darkly.
King Sombra used his magic to undo the bow-tie and let it hang loose as he walked towards the nearest door on the east wall. Opening it, he entered a bedroom; the windows were also covered with velvet curtains and the bed was large. The Dark Pony arched his brow, on the king-sized bed lay the cream-colored earth mare, still wearing that silver dress. She regarded him seductively.
“Now Mr. Silver. Is that any way to treat a mare, leaving so swiftly,” she said and winked as she caressed the silky blanket underneath her with a hoof.
“I had a feeling that was you,” Sombra simply said, not looking too impressed.
The mare grinned, green flame engulfed her entire body and she too enlarged in size. She became black with a green and blue carapace, her mane and tail became longer and translucent bluish-green, a jagged horn produced out of her forehead and the legs were riddled with holes. From her back now produced transparent bluish wings. Her dress had not been part of the disguise, it ripped to shreds when suddenly covering a much larger body.
“Nothing gets by you, King Sombra,” Queen Chrysalis chuckled and used her magic to vaporize the shredded dress still clinging to her body. “How is life as Silver Gloom?”
“A reprieve from spying on my enemies. Tomorrow, Silver Gloom will mysteriously disappear, never to be heard from again,” the king said, still not moving from the doorway. “How did you locate me?”
“Oh please, I have my plans for Equestria and even now my changelings are everywhere, keeping tabs and gathering information,” the changeling queen chortled and put one hoof under her cheek. “It wasn’t hard to guess who Silver Gloom was, especially when hearing he was a dark gray pegasus.”
“Well, unlike you changelings, illusion spells are quite limited and have a shorter duration,” King Sombra snorted as he began taking off the jacket. “I do not feel like squandering power right now; it’s not been that long since I returned to life. So, I make do with the appearance of a smaller pegasus.”
“Risky, when your enemies are looking for you,” Chrysalis pointed out, waving at Sombra with the other hoof.
“Ah but that’s the thing, they are looking for me in the wilds. They think I’m in some corner or a cave, gnawing at my hatred for them, cooking up wild plans and schemes to finally end them all,” Sombra chuckled, he opened a closet and rescued a coat hanger from there and put the jacket on it. “They are certainly not looking for somepony hiding so openly and living in relative luxury, even if it’s temporary.”
“Yes, I see your taste for luxury hasn’t changed,” the queen remarked and glanced around the luxurious-looking bedroom. “So where do you hang out when not Silver Gloom or whatever other names you use.”
“Now why should I tell you?” Sombra snorted and after hanging up the jacket, began unbuttoning the shirt, after removing the bowtie. The Dark Pony barely raised an eyebrow when Chrysalis was engulfed in green flame again and took on the form of Princess Celestia.
“Would you tell the mare of your dreams?” she asked in Celestia’s voice, giving him bedroom eyes and her smile was seductive.
“That depends,” the king said and stopped unbuttoning his shirt, a sly smirk came over his muzzle. “Is this show eyes only or will I be embracing that form.”
“Why don’t you finish undressing, close that door…” Chrysalis said softly, her smile turning a little wicked. “And find out.”
Sombra started to grin almost devilishly, he took off the shirt and put it in the closet. Then he fully walked into the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him.
“I have taken residence in an abandoned fort up in the Tall Mountains, within mountain goat territory,” Sombra explained as he filled two wine glasses with red wine, floating one over in his red magic to the changeling who accepted.
It was very late in night and the two had moved out to the living room. Chrysalis lay lazily on one couch and Sombra was walking away from the corner bar, having gone there to retrieve drinks. He lay down on the other couch, taking a sip from his wine as he did.
“I periodically lay low there, to throw off any scent. Equestrians have no access to the mountain goat lands and it’s loaded with supplies if I ever need them,” he continued. “It is a useful refuge when I’m not actively spying on our enemies.”
Chrysalis nodded and drank her wine, she didn’t require food and drink, but changelings could still consume it. Came in handy when needing to blend in.
“So why seek me out? Aside from your rather generous offer in exchange for knowing where I reside?” the king asked curiously.
“What? Are you telling me you didn’t want to give that new body of yours a test run?” Chrysalis gave him a coy smirk.
“Already have. That is how I realized it was you. That mare you posed as was a professional mare I enjoyed the service of a few weeks ago. Then I sucked her nearly dry of her fears. Last I heard she is still recovering in a mental institution.” The Dark Pony grinned maliciously and drank from his glass. “Her name was Whipped Cream; her fears were delicious. Among other things I took from her.”
“I’m sure,” Chrysalis remarked, matching the king’s malice in her grin.
“Very well. I sought you out because, as I said, I have my plans for Equestria. I was making sure you weren’t up to something that might ruin it,” the changeling queen then said, narrowing her eyes. “I would hate for us to suddenly become… enemies.”
“Oh, have no fear, my dear little love bug,” King Sombra chortled and finished from his glass, putting it on the table. “My plans have very little to do with Equestria, for now. I am not ready, so do what you must, I’ll continue to watch. All I ask is that certain ponies are left be. No worries, they are not ponies you are interested in.”
“Oh really?” the changeling queen raised a brow. “Who might they be?”
Chrysalis wasn’t sure what to make of the strange look that came on Sombra, his smile was almost nostalgic now. The king used his magic to teleport the bottle of wine he had left at the bar to the table, then lifted it and refilled his glass.
“Descendants of my race, Dark Ponies who escaped the destruction of the empire, migrated to Equestria,” he whispered and drank from his glass.
“Perhaps to further ensure that I do not interfere with your plans, we could make a deal. I do need service of those who can more easily infiltrate Equestrian society.” King Sombra returned his gaze towards the changeling.
“I can provide you with few drones for your use.” Chrysalis nodded, seeing no problem with that. She and Sombra were old allies, she had provided him with spies before back when he ruled the Crystal Empire, in exchange he provided her hive with slaves to feed on what little love remained in them.
“So, did you hear about Tirek?” the changeling inquired and nodded when the king offered to refill her glass.
“Yes, interesting choice to just start blasting everything in sight when he had finally sucked out all the magic from the ponies,” King Sombra snorted and shook his head. “He almost made my life easier.”
“I know, all those helpless ponies. I could have swooped in with my changelings to feast on their love,” Chrysalis shook her head ruefully.
“Oh, and Twilight and her happy little friends found a village near the borders of the Frozen North, the leader was… interesting to say the least. I’ve spotted her around Equestria, spying on that little princess.” King Sombra rolled his eyes and took a large gulp from his wine.
“Anyone we need to worry about?” the changeling wondered.
“No, a simple delusional fanatic, Starlight Glimmer I think she was called. Doubt she’ll cause much damage on her own,” the king responded with a shrug of his shoulders. “I almost considered approaching her, but I didn’t want her to bore me to tears with her spiel.”
Chrysalis nodded and finished drinking from her second glass. Then the changeling rose from the couch, stretching a little as she did.
“Well, I must depart. I shall send drones to your little mountain hideout once I return to the hive,” she told him, engulfing herself with green flame she turned into a yellow unicorn with a red mane.
King Sombra just nodded and continued to drink from his glass. He kept staring downwards as the changeling trotted past him and towards the exit. The Dark Pony was deep in thought, barely paying attention to it when the door opened and closed. He was now alone in the suite, slowly a smirk crossed his lips.
I do wonder how Private is doing. It’s been a while since I last checked on him, he thought, his smirk slowly morphing into an eager grin.
End chapter 1
