"Lets go home.." Discord suggested, and Somber nodded wordlessly. They scrambled out of the abandoned shed, making their way across the field to Somber's car.

Somber didn’t say anything most of the way home, he had a lot running through his mind. He'd tried to fight that thing alone, nearly gone bananas, then discovered Discord was-

"I have to ask, how did you-" he cut off, red faced.

"Get so good?" Discord grinned knowingly "that’s a secret my dear Somber. But I’m glad you enjoyed it~"

Somber shot him a mock-glare, but the way his eyes seemed to shine gave away how much he'd enjoyed it.

At last they pulled into the driveway of Discord's house. Somber followed him inside, curling up on the couch as Discord said he'd make coffee. When he returned with the drinks, he noticed Somber had fallen silent once again. Staring pensively into space.

"What’s wrong?" Discord asked, handing him the coffee mug.

"I..." Somber sighed "what happened to me, Discord? What did I DO?"

He looked worried, biting his lip anxiously. Discord took a swig of the coffee, then began explaining in simplified terms. He paced back and forth behind the couch as he rambled;

"Elpis contains a special type of power evidently, but it required one compatible to it, to unleash it. It seems you have a natural talent for using magic as you demonstrated from the start. What happened today, well, you awoke your potential earlier then intended, which was a bit of a head rush. You lost control and all that trauma hidden away in that head of yours acted as fuel for your anger. But you scared the thing off, and were able to get free of your fury. So don’t be too hard on yourself. You were pretty hard on ME." he couldn’t help putting a not-so-subtle emphasis on that last bit.

Somber nodded once, then the double entendre sunk in and he almost choked on his coffee.

"Will you STOP with the sexual innuendo?!" he spluttered "you’re so crude!"

Discord was giggling his head off. Somber threw a cushion at his head, hitting him in the face. It hit with a surprising level of force.

"Oopf- OK, OK!" Discord pried the cushion off his face and held his hands up in surrender as Somber picked up another cushion, eyebrow raised "no more!"

Somber glowered at him a moment, then set the cushion down.

"Seriously," Discord coughed "don’t beat yourself off- I mean up." the cushion hit a second later.

"Worff eet" Discord mumbled.

"ASS." Somber snapped.

"No guilt though, okay?" Discord looked serious this time "what happened was out of your control, you couldn’t be expected to cope with that, let alone control it. I'm just glad you weren’t hurt."

Somber's fury seemed to dissipate, the tension easing from his posture. he sighed heavily before he spoke next, and Discord was concerned by the tone of his voice.

"If it wasn’t for you, Discord, I..." he stared at the surface of the coffee in the cup "I fear I may have become the monster the equestrian Sombra was."

"Hey.." Discord set his mug down, and did the same with Somber's. He sat down on the couch and wrapped his arms around Somber and pulled him into an embrace, childishly ruffling Somber's hair "enough now.."

"But-!"

Discord let him go, seeing Somber looking perplexed at how relaxed he was being, he explained further.

"Yes, you have a similar type of magic but the difference between you two is that you stopped yourself. You could’ve probably, VERY probably beaten me and escaped, Somber. But the point is you didn't."

Somber peered up at him, looking hopeful. As well as very tired out.

"Dark magic is banned in Equestria because its notoriously hard to control, also it tends to drain the user. You’ve used it in small amounts so far, and in a bigger amount when you destroyed that thing in the gym. I don’t think you need to feel scared of your power."

Somber nodded, a small sigh of tentative relief escaping him.

"And if you’re worried, then we can spend the weekend teaching you. Alright? You’re not alone Somber, I can help you."

"Yes," Somber accepted "that would be a good idea."

"See?" Discord grinned cheerily at him, bestowing a brief kiss on his forehead before scooting off to the kitchen "time for food! I don’t know about you, but I’m starving!"

"Yeah, I guess I am pretty hungry..." Somber thought about it, and decided, yes, food was needed. he felt utterly strung out, barely able to focus...

He went to go help Discord, but was unceremoniously shooed back out, Discord grumbling at him to relax. For once, Somber didn't argue.

With food added to exhaustion, he couldn’t help himself from falling asleep....

"Pfft, ridiculous, no?" Discord gestured at the show on the big TV. There was no answer from his partner. Discord leaned round, peering closely at Somber.

"Ah, guess you were utterly wiped out, hm?" he pondered, seeing Somber fast asleep slouched against the arm of the couch. He looked adorable all tuckered out like that.

--Well, I’d better get him to bed. He's had a weird day. No matter how much he says he's getting used to all this, I know its still hard on him.--

A little concerned by how much strain Somber was under, Discord carefully scooped him up and carried him upstairs.

While Somber slept, Discord went back to his lab, to work on trying to create another magical weapon besides the grenades. Although using his magic was becoming more streamlined now. It seemed magic was taking root in this world with more and more ease. It tallied with what Somber had been saying about those three girls and the singing contest...

He reflected on Somber's statement that he was afraid of becoming the same monster the equestrian Sombra was. there was no denying it now, the look of fervour he'd seen in Somber's eyes as he'd prepared to hunt that thing down had unnerved Discord.

He'd never seen the so-far placid Somber show that much fury. And dark magic could thrive on paranoia and hate. He'd do what he could to coax Somber into keeping calm. But in reality Somber himself was the only one capable of keeping it in check. He just needed to be confidant enough...

He curled up on the couch, stretching his back and wincing as he heard it click. He'd go up and check on Somber in a minute-

Within three seconds he was fast asleep, dead to the world.

Which was how Somber found him. He'd woken up in the middle of the night, disorientated and confused. the last thing he recalled was passing out on the couch, now he was in bed.

Obvious answer was; Discord had put him there.

"Surprised I still have my clothes on.." Somber grumbled. He knew Discord wouldn’t be THAT silly, although little surprised him with that guy any more.

He flashed back to the incident in the old storage shed. The fire, the creature, that sword...and other incidents. He felt his face redden as he reflected on how good that had felt. But it was slightly embarrassing at the same time, always falling to Discord's strange advances. But the part of him that insisted getting close was a bad idea, was barley bothering to speak up any more.

Nothing had made sense since that first night at the school, where he'd run into that first shadow and ended up with a broken collarbone.

But the smile that'd been settling on his face, as he opened the fridge to get a drink, soon faded as he recalled the downside to that whole thing.

He'd lost his marbles and nearly put both of them at risk. All because he'd let his anger get out of control and somehow showed off a magical ability far beyond what he'd expected.

He spotted a light shining from under the door in Discord's lab. Sleepily he pushed the door open, and squinted in the harsh strip lighting. Discord had passed out on the couch, and his computers were all on, running data Somber couldn’t comprehend.

He stared closer at the data, and seen an image hidden behind the boxes of data. he clicked on it, and blinked. It was a detailed drawing of a pony. But this was beyond the cutesy stuff Discord had described of Equestria. this pony was a powerhouse by all appearances. It was a coloured sketch, and Somber realised the similarities, and he knew who this was. This was confirmed by a single name written in the corner, barely legible.

"SOMBRA".

So this was the famous King that’d reportedly gone crazy and had been disposed of by those "Princesses" Discord had spoken of, counterparts the Principal and vice Principal of THIS world.

The pony wore armor and a fur lined cape. In his eyes Somber thought he seen an arrogance, but also a strength that couldn’t be easily matched. The colour of his coat...

Somber looked from the image to his own hand, shivering at the similarities between them. Even the eyes matched, the same deep red, and the same went for the pony’s jet black mane swirling like smoke.

Seeing his reflection in the monitor, Somber nudged his hair out from being tucked behind his ears so it fell closer around his face, noting the way it curled in a similar manner to the ebb and flow of the drawings.

--We're one and the same aren’t we?-- he wondered. He folded his arms and let his head rest upon them, fear making him feel sick.

He fell asleep in this position, too tired to move.

Discord woke with a groan, stretching as he sat up. And did a double take when he seen someone sleeping at the computers.

"Somber?" he asked. the man didn’t stir. Discord shook his shoulder, which in turned nudged the mouse. The monitors all flicked back on, and Discord noted the open file on the screen. He sighed, he needed to make something VERY clear with Somber regarding the whole "dark magic" thing.

"Uhh, whaa?" Somber groaned. He sat up, and nearly fell backwards off the stool. But bumped against a warm body. He titled his head back, catching the eye of an amused yet concerned Discord.

"Morning, you." Discord smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

"I uh...morning?" Somber realised he'd been rumbled and trailed off.

"Was this worrying you?" Discord tapped on the screen, indicating the image of Sombra.

Somber nodded "I seen it behind the other boxes, and I knew soon as I seen it, who he was."

"Yes, this was the version of him I knew of, recreated from a few references. Little is truly known about who he was, or where he came from. He was a mystery."

"He was a monster…" Somber sighed.

"As far as history says, I’m afraid so. But yet, I often thought there had to be more than just insanity to him. Sadly we may never know, he's gone now."

Somber stayed silent, Discord leaned down so he could meet his eyes and simply said "come with me."

Somber wondered what he had planned as Discord led him down to the basement. Discord flicked a switch, revealing he'd built an underground training area.

"So I can test out my inventions without blowing up the furniture." he explained.

"What are we doing down here?" Somber hovered at the edge of of the room. Discord paused, and held out a hand to the reluctant man.

"Putting your mind at ease, to the best I can. C'mere...."

Somber blinked, surprised by how calm Discord was. But he nonetheless stepped forward and took the proffered hand.

What followed was a gruelling session, with Discord pushing him to summon the power, no matter how much Somber panicked. At last the barrier was breached, and the same flood of power that’d overwhelmed him before, surged through him. The sword appeared in his hand, its blade glowing a faint reddish purple. It was slowly shifting to a version of dark magic, Discord explained, as Somber's unique abilities grew.

"The key thing with any magic, but most importantly dark magic, is CONTROL. You need something to remind you, keep you anchored. That’s what we have to create. A stronger emotion than fear or fury."

Somber was staring at the sword in his hand, fear rising as he seen the blade glow even brighter.

Then he was suddenly embraced by his teacher. the shock and warmth of the contact helped his racing heart slow down. Warmth pierced the cold of fear, the familiarity reassuring.

"Just focus, think of something." Discord insisted. He could sense how tense Somber was, but also a degree of control the man probably wasn't aware he was exerting. When he guessed Somber's breathing had calmed to a good enough level, he pulled away just enough to kiss him.

Somber happily gave in and let him, returning it with a relief that Discord could almost feel.

"Look now.." Discord let him go, stepping back. Somber blinked, seeing the sword was holding steady at a faint glow.

"See? Once you’re calm, it levels out. This is just the starter stage, there is much more to do."

"Whoa." Somber stared at the blade, shaking his head. Part of him was relieved, the other half still scared.

"Don’t get too complacent-" he looked up at Discord, who was grinning ear to ear "we're not done yet!"

By the time lunch rolled around, Somber was exhausted, and Discord was impressed. Once he'd issued the challenge to Somber to impress him, show him he was better than the fear he allowed to control him, Somber had started finally fighting back.

He goaded him, pushed him, even yelled at him at one point. Even conjured up targets with his own magic to give Somber a real challenge. The new power combined with Somber's fencing knowledge meant he soon fell into a pattern, swiping the missiles aside.

"Excellent!" Discord peered down at Somber, who'd collapsed onto the mats Discord had pulled out onto the floor.

"Oww..." Somber groaned "I don’t know which bit of me hurts the most."

“Ah yes, that WILL happen. But if its any consolation, you’re a very fast learner."

"Uugghh...." was the only response.

"Okayy.." Discord drawled, rolling his eyes "lets go get you a nice hot bath, so you don’t walk like a zombie later."

Sure enough, the bath did help, and Somber was feeling a bit less ragged when he staggered downstairs to find the other.

Discord was studying a new type of grenade, this one designed to unleash magic bolts that could stun.

"Still a prototype," he remarked as Somber peered at the green crystal "don’t poke it."

"Very funny." Somber grouched, recalling that first crystal grenade that'd zapped him.

"Well, not much I can do until the scans are done. Why don’t we keep working?"

"I wont be able to MOVE if this keeps up." Somber groused, but did agree he'd rather have this crazy power under control, than let it run rampant.

Some time later, Somber was lying on the couch on his stomach, grumbling curse words in a variety of languages.

"Still achy?" Discord asked. Somber's response was an incoherent grumbling noise.

"I studied human musculature and massage, I think I can make this better.." Discord toyed with Somber's hair "want me to try??"

"I don’t think it could ache any worse....knock yourself out.." Somber muttered, watching the images flickering on the TV screen.

The TV was soon forgotten, as warm hands gradually eased the knots of tension in his back.

"Better?" Discord asked after a minute.

"mm-hmm.." Somber said, too comfortable to even speak. The same hands that'd caused the muscles to ache with that crazy training now made it ease...

He started to doze off it felt so oddly relaxing...

"Hey, stay awake there silly Somber." Discord poked his cheek, waking him up.

"Hmm? Ah, right." Somber sat himself up, amazed at how much better it felt.

"Good, mm?" Discord grinned, waggling his fingers at him "amazing what I can do with these!"

An image flashed through Somber's mind and he blushed "I’m aware of that.." He said, then reddened even more and face-palmed at the slip up.

"Was that an innuendo, my dear Somber?" Discord teased.

"Yes- no! Shut up!" Somber huffed. Discord cracked up laughing, which only wound Somber up more...

Eventually, the argument devolved into Discord pinning Somber to the couch and kissing him until they decided to call off the fight to get their breath back.

They settled into watching the TV instead as the afternoon drew to a close. Discord pottered between the lounge and the lab, to keep an eye on his latest experiment.

When he returned from his third check, he flopped down onto the couch. In a mimicry of before, he flopped over so his head was on Somber's lap.

OK, NOW what is it?" Somber asked.

"Nothing, you’re just comfy..." Discord shifted so he could watch the TV and Somber just rolled his eyes. But he let him remain there.

Discord's stomach grumbled and he peered up at Somber.

"Hey, fancy going out for dinner? I cant be bothered to cook!"

"Lazy!" Somber laughed, but ti did sound nice.

"C'mon!" Discord wheedled.

"Okay fine.." Somber said after a pause, in which Discord didn’t move "you do realise you’ll have to get your face out of my crotch, right?"

"Aww..." Discord complained with a grin "its comfy!"

"Knowing you, you'll find an excuse to- I’m not going to finish that sentence." Somber said flatly, ignoring Discord's cackling.

At last, Discord did allow himself to be nudged off Somber warm lap, and they headed out.

Somber did admit it was fun eating out, it wasn’t something he'd had time for in recent months. Discord's constant commentary of everyone and everything he seen out the window made Somber laugh more than he expected.

Discord grinned to himself, it suited Somber, that cute smile.

Discord couldn’t resist using his magic to "accidentally" send a little jolt up Somber's back that made him jump slightly. the annoyed glare he gave Discord was pretty funny...

Once the hydra recovered, finished licking its wounds from the second encounter with the swordsman and his mate, it kept low.

It was still furious over the lost eye, and vowed revenge on the raven haired swordsman. It'd searched for the man, but the trail ended after the field, they’d escaped in one of those metal boxes on wheels.

Then, after days of searching, it'd finally caught a break when it’d chosen to hide back at the school, to catch and drain the beings within it. It seen the same white-haired man that'd visited the swordsman, his mate.

It kept its distance, not allowing itself to be detected, just watching. It followed the man, but the white haired ones home bore the smell of strong, chaotic magic. It'd be at a disadvantage there, it had to catch them elsewhere. So it had kept its distance, shrinking itself down to look like a wild creature the humans called a fox, to slink around unnoticed.

Then, finally, it'd seen them leave together. It followed after them, watching as they entered a building teeming with other humans.

It waited, wanting the exclusive pleasure of tormenting these two, these other targets would only get in the way

As they were getting ready to go, the bill all sorted (Discord insisted he'd take care of it), Discord seen something flash by the window.

He tensed, and the phone in his pocket buzzed softly.

"Somber?" He said, his voice very low.

"What’s the matter?" Somber asked, but a shiver ran up his spine nonetheless. One look at Discord's face told him everything.

"Its found us. Get to the car, fast."

Somber nodded. They darted outside, piling into the vehicle and pulling away from the kerb as fast as possible.

"Where are those fields you mentioned?" Discord looked out the rear window.

"The ones for practising driving in?" Discord hadn’t brought it up since, and Somber had almost forgotten. He racked his brain, pinpointing where they were;

"Not far outside of town, are you suggesting we fight it there?"

"Its chasing us, I think it wants a fight. What choice have we? We cant have it blowing up the house. Although I have only a couple of those grenade crystals..."

"We'll manage. I’m not letting that thing destroy anything more!" Somber felt the adrenaline surge as he hit the gas and shot ahead at the maximum speed he could get away with.

Soon the lights dimmed, and Somber recognised the field sin question...

"Where is it?" he asked.

"Still trailing us, I think it knows were trying to get away from it..."

Somber reached a hand to his neck, where the familiar necklace rested. They had Elpis, and if his theory worked, there may be a way to destroy it yet.

They pulled into the field and Somber cut the engine, flinging the door open and tearing out. As expected, the creature dove right for them soon as they were out in the open. Its individual heads snapped at both men, separating them so they were stood on either side of it.

"So..." it hissed, licking its chops and glaring at Somber "we finally find you again..."

Somber didn’t speak, just glared. His blood pounded loudly in his ears. This thing had destroyed his home, nearly killed him. he was furious. And now he was NOT letting it get away a second time.

"We searched...but you hid.." it hissed.

"And you.." it turned another head at Discord "the bastards mate-?"

A loud bang and a flash, and the things head that was facing Discord recoiled screaming.

"Shut your mouth!" Discord snarled.

The head missing one eye glared at Somber, fangs glistening.

"An eye for an eye, but as interest I’ll rip your head off!" all three heads swung round to bite at Somber, who was saved by his stepping back and slipping on the damp grass, courtesy of a light smattering of rain during dinner. The heads shot over him, teeth snapping shut like steel traps.

He rolled back onto his feet, changing the necklace to its sword form and falling into the familiar fencing moves, keeping an eye on his opponents movements. In this manner he was able to leave several cuts in its trio of faces. this worked until one dove at his ankle, its teeth snagging on the heavy leather shoes and pulling him off his feet. Soaked grass tangled in his hair as he stared dizzily upwards...

One head angled down, aiming for a second pass. Somber clutched the sword, thoughts of FIRE running through his mind-

FWWOMF. HE stared as it was now sporting a purple-green flame along its sharp edge. He swiftly jabbed it upwards, gritting his teeth...

The head aiming for him tried to back up, recognising that fire, but its momentum was its undoing...

Somber had expected this thing to be made of solid mass despite its ethereal appearance, but it still made him feel a bit sick as he FELT the sword plunge upwards into it. Thick, smoky black ooze spilled down over the blade, sizzling in the heat. The smell was almost enough to make Somber throw up.

Only the reminder he was in too much danger to spare a moment to be sick kept it in check. With a twist of the blade and a sharp yank to the side- he succeeded in separating it from the body. Once decapitated, the head vanished before it hit the grass, dissolving into oily smoke. Flipping the blade onto its side, he pressed the flat edge to the stump spewing black smog into the late night air as it tried to reconstitute itself.

With a flash of green flame, and a hellish yell of agony, the hydra reeled back. Its headless stump was waving about blindly, the other two heads clearly felt its pain. Discord doge in, grasping Somber's hand and pulling him to his feet. They raced back, Somber running an idea through his head-

"Aim for the eyes! I need it blind..." Somber panted, gripping Elpis' hilt, the flickering green-purple glow throwing a shimmering light around him.

--Amazing...-- Discord spared a millisecond to study the sword, then snapped back to reality.

Somber later asked was it really necessary to moon the creature?

To whit Discord had responded, hadn’t he said to blind it?

All this did was enrage the thing, it seemed butts were a universal language, and it raced for them. They split, and lucky for their plan, Discord was the one it chose this time. As he ran, Somber deliberately stumbled, telling the flames to gutter out, making it seems as if he'd lost the swords power. The hydra swung a paw at him and he braced for impact, although the grass provided a less painful landing then expected. Thinking him stunned, the creature focused on Discord instead. It'd been interrupted last time after all, by Somber's sudden case of the crazy powers. But it seemed the swordsman still couldn’t control it...

Discord tossed a grenade, doing an impression of a baseball player and flinging the crystal at its head. It detonated, arcs of magical electricity stabbing into the eyeballs of the middle head. It screeched in rage, stamping about like a drugged elephant, its heavy steps shaking the ground.

The remaining eyes that could still see focused on Discord, who was ducking and scooting back just out of range of its jaws, tossing a second grenade couple with magic-based wires that looped around its forelegs, making it stumble. It roared, bursts of flame lighting the night sky as it sought to crush this scampering little roach! But Discord was far more agile it was, and headed for the trees...

As Discord lured it by, Somber did what he'd never imagined he'd do, and took a flying leap onto its back. The two remaining heads swivelled to face him, and eh re-ignited the sword. slicing into its neck and letting the flames do the rest. His stomach churned in a mix of desperation and shock at what he was doing. But this thing would happily rip them apart, no room for second guessing now...

Its screams divided by half as the second head burnt to ashes, and the remaining one head butted Somber, knocking the air from his lungs. He hit the grass at quite a speed, struggling to get to his feet. A paw slammed down, pinning him by his chest. The thing had expanded as far as it could go, towering over him...

Discord closed his eyes, casting about him he spotted a rusty metal shovel and grabbed it. pouring as much magic as he could in a second into the shovel, he levelled it like a javelin, and threw it.

The hydra turned from where it was about to rip Somber's throat out, and got a shovel to the face, the searing hot blade cleaving its face in half. too preoccupied with the pain it was in it released Somber, who wasted no time in aiming the blade for the final head..

Another explosion, and both of them were sent flying to the grass, their ears ringing.

“I have never been exploded at this many times before.” Discord mumbled into the ground.

“That’s a weird thing to say.” Somber responded nonchalantly, with a hint of sarcasm.

Discord rolled onto his back, rubbed his shoulder, and winced.

"You OK?" Somber, sounding a little winded, stood over him now, hand outstretched. The sword's blade was dull once more, and Somber looked a little sleepy.

"Lets go home." Discord groaned.

They got back into the car, feeling relieved beyond measure….