"You know..." Discord whispered seductively to Somber as he looped an arm around his waist "I think it says volumes that I cant even get inside without giving in to temptation."

“'I can resist everything except temptation', sound familiar?" Sombra quoted. Discord cast him a puzzled look, so he explained it was from a famous figure in history...

"Sums it up, just replace "temptation" with "hot, sexy, nerdy history teacher?"

"Nerdy!?" Somber spluttered indignantly, yet at the same time feeling oddly amused.

"A hot, SEXY nerdy." Discord emphasised. Somber shook his head.

"What am I going to do with you?!" he grumbled good naturedly.

Discord opened his mouth.

"I need to be be to walk in the morning, so not what you’ve got planned."

"Damn" Discord grumbled. "Smart ass."

Somber smirked. Then jumped as a hand casually groped his behind.

"Nice ass." Discord said airily, zooming ahead before Somber got the chance to smack him round the head.

Somber headed for the shower, and sighed as he realised he'd have to throw these clothes out too.

he wrapped a towel around his waist, gathering up the clothes as he stepped out into the bedroom.

"There's some clean cloth-"

"AHH!" Somber yelled, not having noticed Discord walk in a moment before. "Geez, you scared me, you idiot. What were you saying?"

Discord trailed off, staring blatantly.

"Hay!" Somber snapped, waving a hand in his face, looking moderately annoyed yet resigned "you’ve already seen me naked, what more is there to distract you?!"

"The fact that a towel is the only obstacle?" Discord pointed out. Somber sighed in exasperation.

"Alright alright," Discord settled for just kissing Somber quickly and snagging the clothes off him "I'll go dispose of these. Help yourself to some clean clothes."

"I'm going to have to replace them for you at some point," Somber sighed, keeping a self-conscious hand on the towel as he made his way to the drawers "I must’ve wrecked half your closets contents. I'll have to go shopping soon.."

"Well don’t worry about space, there's plenty of it in the closet.” Discord told him as he resisted temptation and scooted out the door to let Somber dress.

Redressed in clean clothes, Somber drifted downstairs. He borrowed one of Discord's laptops and settled down to finally sort out a few financial matters. By the time Discord finished showering and redressing, Somber was partway through filling out the forms for his insurance.

"Wow, looks boring.." Discord settled next to him on the couch, peering at the papers.

"It is!" Somber yawned, setting the final form aside "done, finally!"

"Good! Now you’re mine!" Discord grinned, wrapping his arms around Somber's waist and kissing him cheekily.

Somber didn’t argue with that, and they soon became entangled in one another again. They could relax for the night with that thing gone, but they both knew their little quest wasn’t over.

Somber had forgotten the Friendship Games started that week, and he didn’t think about it until he pulled into the parking lot and seen the banners.

"Oh-" he cursed colorfully.

"Ah yes, the students have been driven to distraction by this whole shebang..." Discord mused "honestly I couldn’t get much sense out of them!"

"Tell me about it, Rainbow Dash was lobbing a ball around my classroom!" Somber rolled his eyes. Then something occurred to him and he groaned, bumping his head onto the steering wheel.

"This means she's going to be here, that’s ALL I need!" Somber groaned.

"Ah, that Cinch woman," Discord patted his back sympathetically "c'mon Somber, lets get it over with."

With a reluctant nod, Somber got out of the car, and they headed towards the building. Despite Discord's support, Somber still felt his stomach sink as he walked into the staff room. Luna handed out schedules, showing which teachers were needed to help supervise which events.

"What are you saddled with?" Discord queried of Somber.

"Archery." Somber mused "at least its somewhat interesting. I gave it a try back in Crystal Prep."

"I gotta hang around the motocross. That’s the one with those sports bikes right?" Discord asked. Somber nodded.

"Sounds fun!" Discord shrugged.

Out of habit, Somber had tied his hair up that morning, he'd been doing it for so long he still did it, despite Discord's attempts to coax him out of it.

Recalling he'd likely see Cinch, he couldn’t help pulling the elastic free. It was a subtle, albeit pointless way of annoying her.

He walked down the hall towards his classroom, in time to see Cinch herself. She didn't notice him right away. She was escorting one of her students away from the music room. A baffled looking Celestia was stood in the doorway, sending a perplexed look at the other occupants of the music room. He recognised one of the voices being that of the fashion-obsessed one, Rarity.

But his attention was instead drawn to the student Cinch was keeping a firm grip on the shoulder of. It was that shy, glasses-wearing girl. What was her name? Ah, Twilight..

Twilight glanced back over her shoulder, throwing a wistful look at the music room, and apologetic look to the confused Celestia, and a look of recognition when she spotted Somber. She remembered the books she'd spoken with him about.

Cinch followed her gaze, and spotted Somber as he came to a halt beside Celestia.

She scowled, and picked up her pace, ushering her student away.

"What was that about?" Somber said softly to Celestia. She shook her head, looking baffled.

"Its nothing," she said at last "bit of a mistaken identity it seems."

Somber frowned, wondering if this would make any sense to Discord? He made a note to ask him...

A lot of the event members were in Somber's class that morning, and he was starting to get annoyed. Today was the registration and meet-and-greet, no events!

Rainbow Dash was either sticking her nose in a book about sports techniques, or she was pulling a soccer ball out of her bag and practising keeping it bouncing from foot to foot everytime he turned his back.

"Whatcha doing dashie-?" Pinkie Pie leaned over to see, and this startled Rainbow Dash. She gave a reflexive jump, her leg jerking, which sent the ball on a trajectory straight for-

"OW-!" Somber got as shock as something smacked into the back of his head as he was writing on the board.

"Uh-oh.." Pinkie squeaked, sliding out of sight under her desk. Although her mass of pink curls could still be easily spotted. Rainbow Dash just looked...blank. She figured looking innocent wouldn’t fool even a very intelligent pot plant.

"Miss Dash.." Somber rubbed the back of his head, struggling to keep from getting incredibly annoyed. He hated this nonsensical event... "can I ask you to keep that ball under control?!"

He looked pretty cheesed off, Rainbow Dash decided. She grinned innocently. The ball rolled into the corner of the room, where it was nudged and kicked back to Rainbow Dash.

There were no more incidents for the rest of that lesson, to Somber's relief. Pinkie emerged form under her desk, chewing on a candy bar, and resumed her work.

During the morning break, Somber went outside, badly needing some fresh air...

Rainbow Dash locked the storage shed behind her, having replaced the tennis rackets used in the previous lesson. As sports captain, she was in charge of making sure things got put away!

"Hey." A voice startled her and she yelped, spinning round. A strange, unfamiliar boy was standing by the fence, hands in his pockets.

"Hey," she said cautiously "are you from Crystal Prep? I don't think I’ve seen you around here."

"Nah, but I got a brother who goes," the kid grinned "I just snuck in to see what the fuss was about."

"Trespassing? That's ballsy.." Rainbow Dash snickered. This kid seemed harmless enough.

"You like sports?" he asked.

"Course I do, I’m in ALL the clubs!" Rainbow Dash boasted.

"Wow, are you good?"

"Good? I’m awesome." Rainbow Dash stuck a hand out "I'm Rainbow Dash."

"That's quite a name, I’m Black Star." the boy shook her hand with a charming grin.

"Cool name. Very dramatic.." Rainbow Dash nodded.

"So what’s all this "friendship games" stuff about. My brother wont talk about it."

"Its like, super competitive.." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes "every year Crystal Prep wins, its almost pointless!"

"Almost?" Black Star asked.

"Well, we got a special talent on our side. This years gonna be..."magical"?" Rainbow Dash snickered to herself at the pun. She missed the almost imperceptible flicker in her new friends eye.

Black Star kicked a ball he'd been hiding behind his feet, eyebrow raised. "Fancy a quick game?"

They were right by the foot ball field, and Rainbow Dash never could resist a challenge.

"You're on!" She grinned.

As she ran up and down the field grinning ear to ear, she didn’t notice how black star was studying her.

He made a subtle motion with his hand-

Rainbow Dash suddenly found the ground coming up to meet her and fell hard.

"Ow.." she groaned.

"Whoa, you OK?" Black Star was kneeling beside her in a flash, taking her arm and helping her up "your nose is bleeding!"

"I'm fine..." Rainbow Dash groggily answered. She didn't feel the subtle tug of energy being siphoned from her, she was too busy trying to slow the bleeding and breathe through the pain.

Sombra flicked through the messages from Discord on his phone as he walked, facepalming at the sheer randomness and lewdness of some of the older ones. The one he'd sent him that day seemed a bit distant, asking about where certain electronic stuff could be bought in Canterlot?

He was on the way to answering the message, when he heard a yelp and the sound of someone in pain. He looked up from his phone, realising he'd taken a wrong turn and ended up on the wrong side of the school.

But that could wait. Shoving the phone in his pocket, he rounded the corner of the sports shed and seen two kids out on the field. One was Rainbow Dash, no surprise there, but the other was in plain clothes, and Somber didn’t recognise him. Crystal Prep all wore uniforms, and something just seemed OFF about him-

He felt a heat against his chest. Elpis.

--Now I KNOW something wrong here...--

"Hey!" he called sharply, a she vaulted the railings and ran over "what’s going on?"

"I feww ober.." Rainbow Dash sniffled. Somber rummaged in his bag and found a clean handkerchief she could use. While Rainbow Dash dealt with that, Somber turned his eye on the boy with her.

"You’re not a student." he said with an air of certainty.

Black Star scowled inside as one of the school teachers spotted them. He was forced to let go of the Rainbow haired girl as the adult moved in to assist her.

Then the man suddenly looked right at him decisively stated "you’re not a student."

How had he known? A school this size, surely he couldn’t know everybody.

"Can you hear me?" Somber noticed the boy spacing out, and waved a hand in his face. Hidden from Rainbow's sight, Black Stars hand snapped out and gripped Somber's wrist tightly. What he felt made him stare, as realisation sunk in. This human had MAGIC too. But it wasn't the same delectable, almost sugary sensation of that girls power, this one was dark, sharp like a sword.

He was on the verge of crushing Somber's wrist, when Somber finally willed his magic to help him.

Black star seen a flash of green light race across the teachers eyes, and then he felt a sharp jolt run through his arm. Reflexively eh let go.

While all this was going on, Somber felt the phone buzz softly in his pocket. the particular pulse of the device only served to cement his fears. This was one of the boxes occupants.

Black star smirked at him, knowing this human had seen him for what he was. And on close examination he sensed something familiar from his jail days. Hope.

--So, this is where you fled to. This pathetic weakling somehow took down my fellow prisoners...--
He'd sensed the deaths of their individual magic, and had followed the trails, which had led him to this place.

"If you’re not part of this school I must ask you to leave," the black haired man continued "before I call security."

It was too early to take him down now, so Black Star decided to back off.

"Hey, I was just being friendly, my brother goes to Crystal Prep. Catch you around, Rainbow Dash." he added.

"Yeah, shee ya." Rainbow Dash waved as the kid jogged away, scaling the fence and dropping down on the other side. Somber watched him go, a sinking feeling in his chest.

"He wasn’t doing any harm, we were just chilling.." Rainbow objected to Somber as he escorted her to the nurses office. trust a teacher to spoil the fun.

"It could have been dangerous, if he was willing to sneak onto school grounds, who knows what he was after." Somber countered. Rainbow Dash had to admit he had a point, but didn't say so.

As Somber held the door open for her, she spotted a livid bruise mark on his wrist, poking out from under his shirt cuff. A hand print shaped bruise.

--Did...did Black do that?-- she wondered. It reminded her of Fluttershy's injury from that incident with the classroom door...

Luckily the nosebleed was soon cleaned up, and Rainbow Dash ran off to her class. Somber sent a quick message to Discord, unease warring in his gut.

All the students in his next lesson would speak about was the next event.

Somber half-assedly tried to teach them, then had the idea to change the lesson to centre around sporting event sin history. the rude fact that the early Olympic games required the competitors to be butt naked made the kids laugh.

"Why..?" A student with Light Blonde hair and slightly out-of-focus eyes asked.

"Back then, women weren’t allow to compete, so in order to stop them from trying, the rule was put into effect.."

Immature giggling abounded, and Somber shook his head in despair. Kids were so easy to distract...

"Damn, way to take all the fun out of streaking! They would've had to put clothes ON to get arrested!" One student, a boy with dark blue hair added, which set off more laughs.

"Yes, thank you for that enlightening scenario Flash Sentry." Somber quietened the class down "now, lets move on.."

The kids grumbled, but the brief interlude in serious studying seemed to have made them more willing to listen.

Once he'd shooed the last kid out of the class, Somber headed to the canteen to get some lunch. The events were spread out over a series of days, to give the kids representing the school time to rest between events and perform their best.

With the first hurdle of introducing the rival competitors over, the Crystal Prep students were allowed to attend classes, wander the school or stick with their headteacher.

Somber didn’t see Cinch, which he was silently thankful for. He wasn't in the mood for her nonsense.

He was returning to his classroom to sit the rest of his lunch break out in there, and finish off some paperwork. mid way there, he heard a frantic cry and the sound of something clattering to the floor.

He headed towards the sound, seeing that flustered girl again. he looked around, hoping to find somebody to send over to her. He wasn’t good with upset students, he could barely understand what would scare or upset that shy girl with the pink hair. She'd start crying if he asked her for the homework and she'd misplaced it!

But there was nobody else within earshot, the hallway was empty. Most teachers were in the lunch hall, or supervising the students. There was to be a party after school later that day, and a lot of students were occupied decorating.

"Are you alright?" he asked. She looked up, looking on the brink of tears. He spotted the reason behind her upset.

The chunky locket she'd been wearing when he'd seen her that morning was on the floor, the thin string it'd been hanging from had snapped.

"I-it's nothing!" She babbled, scrambling to pick it up and finally managing to scoop the rounded object up.

Somber studied the loop at the top of the device. He kept odd supplies in his drawer, including string that was often used to tie folders closed.

"I can replace that for you," He offered at last. She nodded, and hovered outside the classroom door as he started opening drawers on his desk and muttering to himself whilest rummaging around. She glanced at the name on the door. professor Somber...

She stared around the classroom, noting it looked a lot more cosy than the ones at Crystal Prep. She retreated into a cocoon until she spotted some of the books at the side of his desk.

"Oh!” She darted forward, eyes lighting up "is this the complete works edition?"

Somber blinked, bemused, as he finally found the string. "Yes, its a first edition. You seem to read a lot of very heavy study books."

"I LOVE reading," Twilight plopped down in a chair and peered at the rest of the stack "the library at Crystal Prep is amazing! they have a whole section dedicated to-"

"Mechanical engineering? Literature classics?" Somber flashed back to his memories. Twilight blinked at him from behind her specs.

"How did you know that?" she asked "did you used to work there?"

Somber sighed softly "it was some time ago," he said quietly "I left not long after Cinch took over."

"Why?" Twilight asked, noting his expression of distaste, then realised this was a tad personal "I’m sorry-!"

"Its fine. My class went into nosy-overload when they found out. It was a former job, nothing more. I didn’t agree, with her methods."

Twilight bit her lip, wishing she could say something.

"Cinch is.." she looked at the floor, wishing she could speak freely. Life at Crystal Prep was a case of constantly being on her toes.

"Is something happening at that school?" Somber asked.

"Its nothing! I'm fine, really!" but she didn’t sound convincing.

Somber took the necklace from her, and began threading a new strap made of the threaded string through the loop.

"It doesn’t sound like you’re fine, I understand what Cinch is like."

She nodded, sighing sadly. It made Somber furious that this was what was happening at the school he'd once loved so much. Those that didn’t fall under Cinch's approval got browbeaten into the shadow of a student before him.

He finished the task and held it back out to her "here."

"Oh!" She brightened "Thank you!"

He nodded, and returned the string to the desk drawer. Twilight gathered her courage, and blurted out "Cinch is AWFUL! All she cares about is winning! I didn’t even want to come to the games!"

"She forced you to?" Somber asked.

Twilight opened her mouth to tell him. Not that it'd help her any. What could he do? But he knew what Cinch was like, and didn’t seem afraid of her.

"I-"

"TWILIGHT!" A pompous voice busted into the meeting. Twilight let out a shriek, fumbling with the necklace and getting it back over her head.

The same pony tailed girl stood ion the doorway, expression one of total disdain as she regarded the petrified Twilight. Her glance briefly settled on Somber, frowning as if he reminded her of someone, then her glare was back on Twilight.

"Cinch says you’re to move your butt, were going to this party!"

"B-but isn’t there a party later..?"

“Yeah, we'll be coming back for that, but she doesn’t want to hang around."

"Oh.." Twilight nodded, getting up from the chair, expression and posture as downcast as before. She dragged her feet over to the girl in the doorway, glancing back at Somber.

"Thanks for the help, professor." she said, then she was forcibly towed away by the other girl, who shot a warning look at Somber before she was out of sight.

"Why were you talking to one of THIER teachers?" Sugarcoat accused "don’t forget whose side your on!"

"I-I was just- he helped me fix my necklace!" Twilight objected, indicating the strap.

"Well don’t be careless!" The other girl snapped.

Cinch stared over her glasses at the sheepish Twilight as she finally reached them.

"And where were you, hm?" She asked.

"She was talking to some teacher," Sugarcoat said glibly "I heard her mention Crystal Prep-"

"H-he used to work there!" Twilight blurted, then winced. Somehow this seemed like a bad idea.

She was right. Cinch’s expression narrowed.

"By any chance, was he-?"

"Tall, black hair, dressed old fashioned?" Sugarcoat drawled, raising an eyebrow.

"Somber." Cinch’s blood boiled, did that hack really think he could turn her prize pupil against her? How typical...

"Who is that guy?" Sugarcoat asked.

"He used to work at Crystal Prep. He was fired for stirring up trouble in the faculty." Cinch lied "he's a disgraced former teacher with a grudge."

She frowned, she wouldn’t let this lie "Girls, get on the coach, I’ll be right along."

The Prep students duly filed onto the coach. Sugarcoat fidgeted, then grunted in annoyance a minute later.

"I gotta go to the bathroom." She declared, sliding out of her seat and jogging back towards the entrance to the school.

Cinch stormed the halls as she headed for where a very helpful student had told her Somber's classroom was. As she rounded the corner, he was just stepping out the door, a stack of books in his arms, fumbling with his keys.

"Somber." She said, her tone positively arctic. Somber turned in time for a hand to grab his collar and push him back against the door. The books spilled from his grasp, clattering to the floor. He stared, genuinely surprised at who his assailant was.

"You’re a bad influence, Somber." Cinch spoke his name like it was a bad word all on its own "one I wont have corrupting my students."

To her surprise, Somber didn’t look surprised or even remotely scared. He said nothing, just staring her down.

"Don’t interfere with my prize student, you second-rate hack!" she snapped, his silence unnerving her "There’s something wrong about this school, and I will not let my legacy fall to Canterlot High! I won't have you or Celestia luring my students to this dump! Twilight is merely confused, she knows where her loyalties lie, she's happy."

"Have you ever heard the phrase "familiarity breeds contempt"?" Somber snapped "you assume you deserve the victory merely because you’ve won it previously. You have no respect for your opponent, you shouldn’t underestimate this school OR its students."

Cinch twitched, anger rising "You’re as deluded as Celestia is, no wonder she hired you! Tell me Somber," she glared coldly, her tone mocking as she asked "How does it feel to stay here and watch your career go down the drain, hm?"

This felt like a jab to Somber's heart. he still missed his old school, how happy the academy had been before Cinch's takeover...

Cinch smirked as she realised she hit a sore spot. She let him go, only for him to suddenly speak, voice cold;

"Tell me this: If she's so happy, then why does that girl look like she wants to run and never look back?" Somber's observation made Cinch twitch. She knew Twilight wasn’t happy, but she'd been holding the girls application to a private study school over her head to ensure her loyalty.

"A student like Twilight belongs at Crystal Prep!" she said defiantly "not at a dump like this, with its shoddy rules and low-grade curriculum! Look at the students. Rowdy, hyperactive-"

"Happy, free?" Somber countered. "Take a good look Cinch."

"That’s PRINCIPAL Cinch to you!" She snapped "now more than ever I’m convinced I did the academy a favour by making you leave. Had the previous Principals plan succeeded, and you'd taken the vice-Principals spot, I dread to think what a mess the place would be. Floundering under the advisement of a stubborn, bleeding heart HIPPY!" She jabbed a finger at his unruly hair, still loose. She knew it annoyed him, it had done since the start.

she turned and walked away, pausing only to snap "stay out of this Somber, for your own good!" then she was gone.

Somber sighed.

--She’s truly losing it if she’s this obsessed. Makes me wonder just how well that school is holding together under her control?--

He retrieved the books, locking the classroom door and heading for the front entrance where he was due to meet Discord.

Mid way he was stalled by Lightshield, the security guard.

"You alright Professor?" He gave the teacher a polite smile "mind if I borrow you a moment?"

Somber's mind flashed through all the reasons Lightshield suddenly wanted to speak with him. And drew a blank?

"I couldn't help notice a slight altercation on the security cameras. Everything alright?" the guard asked.

Somber sighed in relief, glad that was ALL he was asking.

"That woman has had a grudge against me since I left my former job. She's always been paranoid, and I think this "friendship games" nonsense is getting to her. She's not a problem..."

"Are you sure sir? I could call the police-"

Somber shook his head, smiling reassuringly "Trust me, that’ll only fuel her ego. She’s more highly strung then the entire violin section of an orchestra. There's no need for concern. She's the type that eventually gives up if she doesn’t get the attention."

Lightshield looked a bit dubious, but he couldn’t force the teacher to file a complaint.

"A few more days and this will all be over!" Somber shrugged "then I wont see her again until the next games. That gives me a couple of years of breathing space, by which point she'll have become obsessed with something else.""

Lightshield let it go, just advising the professor to contact him if anything further happened. He'd tried to stall Cinch, but she'd refused to even answer, so he'd had to let her go.

Somber thanked him for his concern, then left to meet Discord.

"What kept you?" Discord asked as Somber joined him in the entryway.

"Sorry, Lightshield needed to talk to me a moment." Somber said absently.

"Serious?" Discord asked as they got into the car. Somber shook his head, saying he'd tell him when they got home.

That wasn't all Somber had to tell him, after all.

He told the story of meeting black star first, how he'd felt something unnatural about the kid.

Discord nodded, theorizing this thing likely knew what Somber was, maybe sensed his magic.

"We could be in serious trouble..." Somber shook his head, Rubbing at the hand print bruise around his wrist "that thing KNEW, Discord. That I’m..."

"The bearer of hope?"

"Exactly," Somber felt his chest constrict "It no doubt knows we took out the other two."

Discord knew right there and then he HAD to get some research done. Find a way to make a more powerful spell.

"So what did Lightshield want?" he asked after a pause.

With a sigh, Somber explained the whole encounter.

"She did WHAT? You could just get her arrested you know." Discord said in disbelief.

Somber shook his head "you don’t know what Cinch is like. It wont be enough. She'll shrug it off, call in a few favours. I could lose the job at Canterlot High..."

"Your just going to let her get away with, whatcha call it here, "assault"?" This made Somber twitch irritably. Looking at Discord's expression he seen the sceptical look on his face.

"I could lose everything I’ve worked for again. I'm not willing to risk that twice!" Somber said sharply, setting the coffee mug down and walking out. It made him angry that Discord seemed tot think this was so easy. It was alright for him, what did he have to lose? Did Equestria not have backstabbing liars or politicians?

--Land of harmony indeed...-- he snorted incredulously.

Did Discord think Somber hadn't lost enough in his life? He'd lost his job at CPA because of Cinch, and his own weakness, then he'd lost his home because of Discord-

--No!-- he stopped himself there, shaking his head. That had been out of Discord's control. Yes, that idiot had kicked all this off by ripping a hole in the world he'd originated from, but he couldn’t have foreseen just what would happen!

One of the many rooms in the house Discord had been using to store random crap had, during one of Discord's days off, been turned into a makeshift office for Somber. He slumped into his chair with a sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. His eyes stung, and with a grumble, he rummaged in the desk drawer and pulled a pair of glasses out. He rarely had to wear them, but when headaches hit, they alleviated the strain on his eyes.

He threw himself into grading the tests piled up to one side. Eventually his anger did begin to fade, at Discord at least...

But his anger still raged at Cinch. not just for threatening him, but for the state Crystal Prep seemed to be in. he had a vague memory of the previous couple of friendship games. Before Cinch’s involvement, yes Crystal Prep had won it, and OK there'd been a case of some students pranking CHS by putting a clown wig and spray paint on the Wondercolt's statue.

But the Principal had put that down to over-active high spirits, it hadn’t been a vitriolic campaign of smug one-upmanship. After Cinch’s arrival, the students had become fixated on winning the games, and their plans for victory had become less about fun, and more about preserving Cinch’s "Legacy" of being the best in the region.

He rested his head one his hands, staring morosely at the photo on his desk. One of the few things salvaged from the fire-damaged house. In the photograph beside him was the former Principal. They’d been old friends from earlier days, and he'd been thrilled to be working at CPA with her. In the photo he was smiling, looking so different...

His junior class were gathered around him, including one of his best students, a boy with blue-streaked hair. What had his name been? Something...shining?

Shining Armor, that was it. He was posing with some friends of his, looking incredibly goofy.

--He was the one that used to ask to hold those board game clubs in my classroom, wasn't he?-- he vaguely recalled rainy lunch breaks sat in his classroom supervising them. Mostly with his nose in a book. On one occasion Shining had left his book behind, a manual for a game known as Oubliettes and Ogres. Sombra read through the entire thing, slightly impressed by the amount of detail in it. It harked back to the fantasy books he used to read when he was Shining Armor's age. He'd given the book back to the kid on their next class, remarking on the complexity of it.

Shining had seemed both startled and impressed his teacher had read the entire book.

Somber sighed, shaking his head to dispel the lingering memories of CPA. he'd had so much passion for his job back then, but after having to abruptly leave CPA like that, he'd become hesitant. At the time Cinch's pressurising techniques had herded him into a corner, he hadn’t known what to do. He'd tried his hardest, foolishly thinking he could beat someone as manipulative as Cinch with honest tactics. After losing his position to her blackmailing, he'd vowed never to let himself be a target again. He'd shut himself off from forming any friendships with the CHS teachers, resolving to focus on just getting his job done. He still loved to teach, and some of his former passion for the art had come back.

Eventually he'd become used to his mundane, empty life. Work, home, books. He'd kept up the fencing as it'd always been an enjoyable hobby, one of the few clubs he'd run at CPA.

Thinking about it, he supposed he'd become bitter, angry. It seeped into his life like an insidious flood after leaving CPA. And it’d remained ever since...

...The incident of the near loss of control out at the abandoned farm crept back into his memory. had that power FED off the fury deep inside. Hadn’t Discord said darkness and hate fuelled dark magic, made it powerful, but viciously unstable. he shivered, thinking about it-

A hand came to rest on his shoulder. He yelled in shock, torn from his musings, bolting from his chair and stumbling back.

"Whoa..!" Discord stepped back, hands raised in apology "you alright?"

Somber blinked, taking in who was talking to him. He nodded, the panic dissipating at the sight of his parter.

"What’s wrong?" Discord seen how shifty Somber was being.

"Nothing, its-" Somber didn’t want to voice the terrible thoughts rampaging in his brain, so he just shook his head, remaining tight lipped.

Discord titled his head, but Somber wouldn’t catch his eye "are you mad?"

"..." Somber made a non committal shrug, that wasn’t the reason he was so jumpy.

"You are, aren’t you?"

"Discord-"

"All right, maybe I WAS being a bit of an ass. a lot of an ass. I am comprised entirely of ASS!" Discord tried at last.

Somber blinked cluelessly at him, taking a moment to realise this was an apology...maybe?

"OH alright, you got me!" Discord declared theatrically "I’m an ass, and I’m SORRY. Any better?"

"What..? Oh, right.." Somber shook his head to clear it "it doesn’t matter, really."

"You a crap liar, Somber." Discord smiled faintly, peering at his face.

"and you can stop rambling, I'm not angry...not at you." Somber admitted at last, perhaps he'd been a bit harsh earlier...

Discord nodded, realising This was still a painful subject for Somber. Then he noticed something else.

"Hey, when did you start wearing glasses?" the silver frames highlighted Somber's skin-tone, standing out yet suiting his face perfectly.

"Huh?" Somber blinked, then cleared his throat "well, I don’t have to wear them very often. Mostly it's just to help keep the headaches at bay. Its been happening since before I left CPA."

"By any chance, when Cinch began her campaign of terror?" Discord asked. Somber nodded.

"Well, if it's any consolation, they make you look even cuter then normal." Discord teased. Somber glowered at him.

"Don’t be idiotic!" he huffed "you say such things so easily-!"

"Its true," Discord didn’t seem put off by Somber's snarky comment "VERY hot-sexy-nerdy look you got going there!"

"You’re an ass." Somber sighed, but there was no force behind the words.

Discord made an elegant bow "Yes, am, that was part of my apology, admitting my ass-ness, my dear Somber."

Somber snorted, a faint smile playing at his lips. Discord grinned cheerily at him, closing the rest of the distance between them and snagging Somber by the waist, pulling him against his chest. Somber stumbled, hands bracing against Discord’s chest to catch his balance. He could feel Discord's heart beating underneath his fingertips, and was reminded of their first night together. Discord had pressed Somber's hand over his heart, telling him "look what you do to me". It'd been beating so fast..

He felt the heat rising in his face as he caught Discord's eye, seeing the knowing smile on the man’s lips. he could sense what Somber was remembering, couldn’t he?

"Not sure I can resist a man who can pull off the height of sexy and nerdy appeal." Discord murmured softly, tracing a finger along the side of the glasses.

"Are you capable of resisting anything?" Somber asked dubiously as Discord's arms wrapped back around his middle, hands interlocking at the base of Somber's spine.

"Not anything you offer," Discord admitted shamelessly "I always have been poor at resisting what I want."

"You're a total horndog aren't you?" Somber grumbled, resisting the urge to laugh.

"A what?" Discord laughed "what’s this word "horndog"?"

Somber raised an eyebrow, but decided to indulge him "its a term for someone who is a little. Sex. Obsessed." he raised an eyebrow pointedly, punctuating each word with a jab to Discord's chest. Comprehension dawned on Discord's face, and he grinned wickedly.

"I see. Well, then consider me horny~" he chuckled, studying the mildly annoyed/confused professor.

Somber made an exasperated noise, which shifted into soft, pleased sigh as Discord kissed him gently. It made the headache ease off a little, although the blasted thing was still there.

Discord seen him wince slightly as he let him go and frowned, asking was he OK?

"It's just a headache, as I said, I usually have to wear the glasses to get any work done."

Discord took this in, and nodded. Then he nuzzled at Somber's neck, up to a spot behind Somber's ear, that he knew from experience decimated Somber's defences.

"You know.." he muttered in his lovers ear, tracing one hand up Somber's back, following the outline of his spine up to his shoulder blades "studies have been done in this world showing acts of a sexual nature can help alleviate stress?"

"T-trust you to know that!" Somber bit back a pleasurable moan, Discord's wandering hands did feel nice.

"I admit, the social and private views on sex in this world fascinate me, as well as the biological studies your kind has done. You don’t get stuff like that in Equestria, at least, not so publicly aired..."

He ceased his nuzzle onslaught to snare Somber in a kiss once more. Somber looked flushed, expression caught between telling Discord to shoo and let him work, or…