King and I - 23

Spyglass and Lily remain shocked into silence forcing you to take the initiative. “Fury has agreed to help our cause by lending us his, and the rest of the guild’s support.”

“We’re just as tired of Sombra as you are, the fastest way to end this conflict is to up-root him,” Fury smiles. “We need to end this decisively so nobody else gets hurt. So I’m pledging my support, and the support of my colleagues in the crystal empire mage’s guild to ensure that your effort to remove him is successful.”

He sounds earnest, but you know he’s lying. Even Lily looks skeptical of his sudden switch to their side. “Why? You’ve done nothing for us so far, why should we trust you so easily? Are you just trying to scamper of this sinking ship before you drown?”

“Yeah,” Spyglass pitches in, “why the sudden change of heart?”

“I understand that from where you’re standing this doesn’t make much sense. Have I done anything to earn your ire? I’ve ensured that the guild has stayed its wrath under Sombra’s orders. If we wanted to we could have easily swept away your forces, even now we could have an assassin waiting in the shadows for you, yet you still draw breath.” He reasons.

“I suppose so,” Lily admits. “As much as I don’t like to reveal our secrets, we’re in real trouble. Our benefactors are considering withdrawing their support completely and our supplies are dwindling, we need to make a move soon or we won’t have a chance.”

“And you’d just admit that to both of us?” You ask.

She sighs. “We don’t have much left to lose, it’s all or nothing. Whether or not you run to Sombra with that will change nothing. We need a push from somepony influential to do this, and you are that somepony.”

“I have to admit, this is more than I ever imagined,” Spyglass grins, “we’ll be knocking on the throne room door in no time at all!”

“Chill out Spy, we’re not there yet,” she talks him down. He still has a stupid grin on his face though. Lily looks exasperated but takes a deep breath and composes herself. You hazard a guess that she has some kind of anger problem.

“We’re already setting a plan into motion,” Fury informs them while hiding away the context, “you’ll have a large window of opportunity to take the palace soon, which should force the remaining guards to surrender.”

“Starting without us?” Lily pouts.

“Well, with your help or not we’re moving to dispose of Sombra. If you want to take advantage of that fact is up to you, we won’t get in your way.”

Spyglass and Lily look to each other, turn around and begin whispering to one another. Fury’s expression remains as it was, but you can tell he’s kind of nervous about all of this. You feel the same, what if they are the ones with the hidden assassins?

They turn back around. “When are you planning your move?”

“Three days from now. I hope that is a good time for you.”

“It is, actually. We’ll be there,” Lily nods.

“Boss are you sur-“

“No, no, it’s perfect Spyglass,” she hisses under her breath.

Fury smiles disarmingly and reaches a hoof over the table; Lily complies and shakes on it. “I’m so happy we could come to an agreement. I expect to see you all there on the day, casual attire, don’t be late,” he jokes. “But really, there will be violence, try not to get killed.” Leaving them with that stupid warning he pushes back from the table and trots out of the door. You sigh and cover your head with your fore hooves.

“Is he always like that?” Spyglass sneers, “I bet he’s fun at parties.”

“You get used to him,” you moan.

“I guess we’re done here,” Lily concludes, “We’ll see you in three days Rose.” They both rise from their seats.

You nod and give them a wave as they both descend back under the ground, via the basement shaft built behind the bar. It reminds you of your old teacher who’d used to do that to lighten the mood in the classroom. You snort and leave the dusty bar, heading back onto the street. Fury is nowhere to be found, the excitable moron must have wandered off or rushed back to the castle to get ready.

As you begin the long walk back to the castle you think back to Warm’s description of her old family owned tavern, she didn’t describe it in much detail but you have a feeling that the bar you just had the meeting in was hers. Then again, it’s the only tavern you’ve seen during your time here so it’s perfectly possible that you’re drawing connections where none remain.

The littered streets feel as somber as always, with down trodden looking ponies trying to make the best of it talking to friends and spending time with family. You have to ask yourself again, whose fault is this, Sombra’s or the rebel’s? Your first thought was Sombra, but now you’re not so sure. Warm’s personal account of the events leading up to the state of this place has stuck with you and lingers in your mind like a bad smell.

These rebels, who are they actually fighting for, themselves or some outside force? You haven’t seen a single pony express open support of them since you arrived except for the ponies that are a part of it. You know they’re getting weapons from somewhere, so they must be getting soldiers too. Thinking back to the assault on the palace, you now notice the prevalence of normal, equestrian ponies.

Sombra’s guard is made up of almost entirely crystal ponies, and when it isn’t, it’s topped off with a legion of unicorns for their magical abilities. You spotted a few pegasi with them. They must have flown into the palace through the garden and let their friends inside.

Maybe Sombra isn’t the compulsive liar you think he is. You need to ask a few questions…

If only you could find the bastard. Your brow twitches irritably as yet another maid stammers out that she doesn’t know where he is. Ignoring her pleas for mercy you stomp past and try to find somepony who does know. There is nobody there.

Of all people why does Sombra have to be so difficult to find, he’s the King for fucks sake! There should be a contingent of guards and servants following him at all times.

“A-actually, he prefers to work alone,” the shaking mare whispers.

Did you just shout that out loud?

“Y-yes.”

You blush and restrain yourself from any more frustration. Embarrassment courses through you as you push past and go towards the mages quarters. The doors swing open under the pull of your magic and slam closed again, your emotional state affecting your magic. You stop before the inner door and take a deep breath, calm down Rose; you’re getting frantic over nothing.

The doors swing open gracefully (by your standards anyway) and catch the attention of the assembled mages, it looks like the entire guild of forty is crammed in here. Just your luck, Sombra is right there talking to Fury. You resist the urge to scream and walk over to them catching the tail end of their conversation.

“…and then we activate the spell, have one of the rebels check your pulse, and declare you to be killed,” Fury concludes.

“And they’re coming under the belief that you will join their forces in the battle?” Sombra asks skeptically.

“Yes, we talked with them this morning,” you jump in, “Fury, you were quite convincing. I didn’t take you for an actor.”

“You learn a lot of things in my post, smiling for the camera during negotiations is just one of them,” he boasts.  “Anyway, we then “dispose” of your body and put you somewhere they can’t find you. While they celebrate their easy victory over the tyrant, potentially revealing their true intentions, we will swoop in and seize control of the situation.”

“And if they don’t relent?” Sombra pokes.

“I don’t think they’ll last long, if that’s what you’re asking.” The other mages nod and give a little jeer in the background. “Rose will be on hoof to resuscitate you with the antidote, if all goes wrong you can bowl them over, but I doubt that will be the case.”

“So we kill their leaders outright? This seems like a large effort for such a simple goal.”

“You know just as well as I do that we can’t pin these ponies down, every time we cut off one head another emerges and they hide away again putting us back to square one. With this plan, they will all be here in the same place trying to take the palace; this is their final assault, one way or another.”

“I heard from them that they’re losing support from whoever is supplying them, this could mean they don’t have enough troops too,” you pitch in.

“So once we kill them off, we won’t have them popping up again. From there we can secure the borders and the underground network. Problem solved.”

“A conflict like this is a lot more complicated then you make it out to be Fury. I’m not so sure that this will be the end of it,” Sombra says. “I suppose it won’t hurt to try.”

“That’s the spirit!” Fury cheers. One of the mages taps his shoulder and whispers something to him. “Really? It’s ready?”

If you’ll excuse me I believe our potion is ready in the alchemy chamber, we need to run some tests and all.” With a bow he steps away from you both and pushes into the crowd. You can see a flash of the illuminated chamber before he slips in and the door closes.

You turn back to Sombra, who with glazed eyes is looking at the nearest brick wall. You wave a hoof in front of his eyes. “You okay? You look a bit out of it.”

“I’m fine,” he growls shaking away the daze. “Just thinking.”

“While we’re here, I’d like to ask you something. Do you know who the driving force behind the rebels is?”

He looks confused for a moment. “I already told you.”

“The Equestrians right?” He nods. “Well, I was hoping for a bit more detail,” you shrug.

He leans over to you to avoid eavesdroppers. “You’ve seen it yourself. The presence of pegasi and earth ponies among their ranks? Impossible here in the empire, they had the lowest population numbers out of any race in this city, they were the minority. How is it that they have such easy access to a group of ponies that are seldom seen here?”

“They have outside help?”

“Exactly, Equestrian trained soldiers and Equestrian made weapons are getting into our city somehow. The princesses aren’t above engaging in foul play if it serves them well. Under the belief that the citizens here fear my rule and want me to be removed they send their provocateurs to murder and maim them.”

“To be honest, I thought they would have been behind it,” you admit.

“Looks can be deceiving. The ponies living here don’t see me as a tyrant, but as a protector. They do not see the spilled blood of the tyrant’s soldiers; they see the lost life of a close family member or friend. They don’t see the princesses as savior here to free them, but as opportunists trying to expand their realm whether the ponies like it or not.”

You sigh and look away. “Part of me wants to believe you, you know.”

“During your time here have I ever lied to you Rose?”

“By omission,” you seethe pointing to your neck, “What other secrets are hidden in that head of yours I don’t know, but I’d rather find out before they come and kill me.” You bite your lip and look to the ground, chuckling bitterly.

Looking into his eyes you ask again, “Don’t lie to me Sombra, not any more. Don’t be blind to your own mistakes or your people will pay for them dearly. Are the princesses trying to undermine your rule?”

“Yes,” He answers, staring directly into your eyes. “I swear on this, on my life, that they are behind this conflict. A hidden war has stretched across decades against me by them, there is only one answer.”

With that, he takes his leave. With no time to respond you sit there and contemplate everything he has said. The Equestrians, the citizens, the rebels, all of it is a confusing mess. That’s not even touching the scale of the entire thing. These ponies have been doing this for decades; you can see why they’d be tired of it. What you really want to know is whether the citizens actually fly his flag, or want to burn it.