As Cadance had predicted, Cinch was in a LOT of trouble. The previous Principal, Line Rule, took a break from her tenure at the university to oversee matters until a new principal was found.

In the end she appointed the former vice-principal to the principals position, but that still left the vice principal.

When she heard about Somber leaving due to Cinch's pressure, read the full statement he'd given Dean Cadance. She asked where he'd gotten to, and Cadance explained he'd worked at CHS since his departure.

Line Rule had an idea, and asked Principal Celestia if she could set up a meeting…

Once the hubbub over the madness that'd been the Friendship Games had died down, the school returned to normal. Somber taught his class as he always did, but the kids noticed he seemed a little less stern, and even let them get away with goofing about a few times.

On the day Line Rule visited, Twilight started her first day. She felt relieved to be wearing her own skirt and blouse instead of the CPA uniform. She'd gotten new glasses, her old ones had gotten broken during the bit of that fateful day where she'd turned into a demon girl. Rarity had kindly helped her select new frames that suited her eyes, and complimented her face shape.

Soon as she tentatively stuck her head around the music room door, Spike sticking his head up out of her backpack, she was swept up in a group hug by the other girls. She shared a “thanks for helping me” smile with Sunset, and felt like the burden she'd bourne at CPA had finally been lifted.

She was pleased when she seen she'd been assigned to the history class taught by that professor who'd been sympathetic about Cinch, Somber.

When he gave her a reading list to catch up on, her eyes were full of glee, so many books she didn’t have! The other girls had to practically carry her out of the library.

Somber packed up his briefcase and walked out of the classroom, locking the door behind him.

“Hello Somber.” a familiar voice made him jump, then spin round.

“Line Rule? What brings you here?” he asked, holding a hand out to her. It'd been a long time since they'd seen one another...

“I came to talk to YOU, Somber. Celestia has her office waiting along with some tea. Mind if I hijack you for a while?”

“Of course not.” Somber was puzzled. Seeing his confused expression she elaborated.

“Dean Cadance told me everything about what Abacus Cinch did. She's been dismissed from her job.”

“Cant say that school will suffer her loss,” Somber mused “by the time I left I could see the spirit leaching out of the students, replaced by Cinch's competitive obsession. I'm sorry I couldn’t do more-”

“Nonsense Somber,” Line Rule patted his shoulder “what could you have done? She was breaking all the rules of common decency and many that I held that school to. It's a sorry state of affairs...”

They arrived at Celestia's office, and Somber wondered what Line Rule wanted? Was it to talk about Cinch’s actions before and after he'd left. Made sense.

Sure enough, Line Rule did go over the statement he'd given, asking about the whole business during the Games. Once he'd finished telling the whole story, his throat was sore. Celestia handed him a cup of coffee, which made it feel better.

“I have a proposal for you Somber. I've discussed it with Principal Celestia, and while she'll be sad to potentially lose you, I came here to offer you the Vice-Principal position.”

“Pfft!” Somber made a comedic sputtering noise and hastily set the coffee mug down.

He opened his mouth to question her decision, when he seen Line Rule was chuckling, and Celestia suppressing an amused smile.

“Didn’t I tell you he'd have the funniest reaction?” Line Rule beamed at Somber.

“I’m not pulling your leg Somber. You were more than ready to take over when I foolishly appointed Cinch. You have a great track record here too, Celestia has told me all about it.”

Somber didn’t have a response to that, he was still getting over the initial offer.

“I understand its sudden, and I hate to make you feel rushed, but itd be ideal if you could start as soon as possible, if you should accept it.”

“I..” Somber felt a little lost. He'd dreamed of this job during his time at CPA, but he'd abandoned the idea after starting at CHS, his bitterness had gotten to it.

Line rule gave Somber her new contact number, asking if he could let her know by the weeks end.

The three of them sat talking about lighter topics awhile longer, then Lien Rule left. Somber was happy to see her again, he'd seen her in the papers sometimes, various articles detailing the Ponyton University.

“I honestly think this job will be good for you,” Celestia said as Somber made to return to his classroom “that school needs a little help right now.”

Somber nodded, and resolved to think it over that evening.

Discord met him at the doors, and they headed towards home. Noticing Somber had an accute case of the fidgets, Discord shepherded him into the kitchen and sat him up on the counter as he bustled around making something for them to eat. He'd really taken to cooking, there was something fun about making a dish out of just about anything!

“So, what's gotten into you? Its clearly not ME, therefore I’m very concerned.” Discord joked. Somber smiled, then heaved a sigh.

“I've been offered the vice-principal job at Crystal Prep.” Somber blurted it out, watching Discord's expression.

“Really?!” Discord nearly dropped the spatula, just catching it in time. He was grinning wildly as he set the heat to simmer and darted over to plant a kiss on Somber's lips.

Somber told him the whole story about the meeting, and Cinch losing her job. Discord made a sound along the lines of “duh”.

“You’re going to take it right?” Discord asked once he was done with celebratory making out. Somber raised an eyebrow, but looked unsure.

“Don’t tell me you don’t feel ready,” Discord scolded, “you’ve faced nightmare creatures, and nearly died. NO way is a teaching job scarier than that!”

“It’ll mean I’ll be at a different school to you..” Somber aired the one thing that DID make him falter a little.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’ll miss ogling you over lunch, but you are NOT passing up this chance because of me. Take the job, I can still send inventive text messages, or pho-”

“I swear to sanity, if you send me any pictures of yourself that aren’t fully clothed I will kill you. Don’t forget, I possess a sword.”

“Party pooper.” Discord sulked for a moment, then grinned again.

“But, you’re right...” Somber thought about CPA “that school needs help after Cinch’s reign of terror.”

“Good man!” Discord kissed him swiftly before returning to cooking “I’ll make dessert, this is worth celebrating!”

Somber smiled from his perch atop the counter, feeling actually excited about seeing the Academy again…

He called Line Rule the next day, and she was delighted to hear him accept the post. He'd start soon as the next term began, which wasn’t far off. She invited him round on his next day off to come to the Academy and sign the papers.

Celestia was sad to hear he was leaving, but she knew he'd be better off at CPA, given his history there.

Somber parked outside CPA for the first time since he'd left. The school was beautiful, all angles and shades of blue and purple. He walked up familiar steps, nudging the door open. He paused in front of a display cabinet, seeing familiar trophies and pictures.

He uttered a soft sigh, and turned, almost bumping straight into Sugarcoat and a girl with green and yellow hair. She had headphones around her neck, nodding her head to the tinny sounds drifting from them.

“Cinch is gone.” Sugarcoat pointed out “you must be here to see the stand in principal.”

“That's correct!” Everybody turned at Line Rule's voice as she strode over to greet Somber.

“Good to see you, Somber! Come with me.” They bid the two students farewell.

“Who's HE?” the zesty haired girl asked loudly.

“He used to teach here, remember? Cinch was super ticked off that he stood up to her.”

“Oh yeah!” Lemon Zest grinned, recalling the stand off “cool! Maybe he's gonna come back?”

Somber signed the paperwork, and Line Rule brought him to the staff room, where he was met with a mix familiar faces and some new ones. The whole room applauded when Line Rule made her announcement. Many of them had heard about Cinch's callous treatment that'd caused him to quit, and were glad to see the back of the woman. Not to mention how she'd reportedly bullied that shy Twilight girl.

By the time he left, Somber was feeling hopeful about returning to CPA. It felt undeniably good to see his old school again. He passed by groups of students, they seemed a little subdued, and Somber wondered if it was down to cinch leaving. Hopefully they'd brighten again, to how they were before…

“Well, how'd it go?” Discord asked later that day.

“Pretty good,” Somber remarked, as he shifted to lean against Discords side on the couch “I now have to get used to the fact I’m going to be a vice-principal starting next term!”

“I think it's outstanding~” Discord kissed him, grinning. Somber smiled, feeling that sense of excitement he hadn't felt in his job in a long time. He'd miss CHS but CPA had always been home.

The next week, Celestia made the announcement at the assembly, where all students were gathered to hear any new events.

“So..” as the applause died down, Pinkie Pie frowned “does that mean we wont be seeing him again?”

“Yeah, that’s what changing schools means Pinkie.” Rainbow said patiently.

“Aww, bummer.” Pinkie Pie huffed.

“I'm glad..” Twilight said softly “Crystal prep needs someone nice. And he seems to know a lot about CPA.”

“I'm sure he'll help 'em out Sugarcube.” Applejack assured her. Twilight nodded. She didn't miss CPA at all now, Canterlot was such a warm, inviting place she'd felt at home. That was thanks to her new friends as well.

It worked out for her as much as it had for the professor.

Twilight considered it a good ending.

Author's Notes:

Im sorry if some of the terminology has been a bit off, im British and ive used some of the terms from my country~ ^^

Here's a playlist i had on whilest correcting this:

Krewella - Alive (pegboard nerds remix)
Skillet - Circus for a Psycho (played this during Somber's crazy outburst in chapter 9)
Samantha Jade - What You've Done To Me
Alex S - Ultimate Sweetie Belle VIP
Black Veil Brides - Goodye Agony
Dragonforce - The Game
Helena Paprizou - It's gone tomorrow (Iparhi Logos)
Hadouken - Levitate!
Skillet - Monster
Ellie goulding - Love Me Like You Do (Every sexy bit, ever)
Selena Gomez - My Dilemna
Cosine pitchshifterz - Beg For Me
Accoustimandobrony - Kindness
The Ponies At Dawn: Awakening album.