After a few weeks stuck in hotels, he succeeded in buying a house. Clearly he had to stay in Canterlot, ironically.

The dwelling he settled on eventually was a house that bordered on a mansion in terms of size. It had plenty of grounds around it, so he'd have privacy, and was big enough to conduct magical experiments in.

Once purchased, he made some modifications. Setting up magic wards on it, in case of intruders. He used the money he had left to purchase state of the art computers, using them as stand ins for magic. With the majority of his funds used up, he would require a way to keep it going. He needed...ugh...a JOB.

This was the downside of this world, without free use of magic things relied on money to an excessive amount. Even using his powers to fool people would eventually arouse suspicion.

Then fate dropped the answer on his lap. A newspaper was pushed through his letterbox. Flipping through it he seen an advert for that same high school. They needed a science teacher.

"I could teach that easy..." Discord scoffed. Science was this worlds magic it seemed, so he'd taken to it like a duck to water, devouring whatever books on the subject he could! He'd been extremely interested by this "Higgs Boson" matter, as well as the large Hadron Collider. He'd misread that one, mistaking it for a large hard- never mind.

Dressing in his best clothes, Black trousers, white shirt and tan vest, he tied his hair back with an elastic band and headed for the school. The paper had specified to bring a record of academia with you, as proof you were a legitimate teacher. A combination of black market and magic had furnished Discord with one that would withstand some serious scrutiny. He'd worked in different places around the world according to his resume, that’d make tracking down his sources that much more difficult.

Since he hadn’t been able to master the art of driving, he was still reliant on public transport or taxi cabs. He took the former to the school, and stared up at the massive building. The statue of a rearing horse out in the courtyard caught his attention, but he ignored it for now, heading inside.

"Gangway!" he shot aside as a blur of Rainbow colours ran by kicking a ball. He spun on his heel, seeing the flash of her hair as she vanished out of sight. Just for a second there he'd been reminded of one of the harmony ponies, the loud-mouthed tomboy pegasus.

Shaking his head he studied the map, and felt a further shiver up his spine when he seen:

"Principal CELESTIA and vice-Principal LUNA" on the map.

--No doubt about it, this is some sort of alternate world, guess I’ll never escape her fully. Still, there doesn’t seem to be a ME here, so chances are very low she'll know who I am.--

All the same, he kept his magic to hand, just in case he needed an escape on the fly.

But Celestia, her human version, looked right at him without even a blink. She read his resume, and Discord fed her the stories he had prepared. He found out his magic affected her as much as anyone, and for a moment felt bad about it. He reasoned he wasn’t here to wreck her little academic kingdom, he just needed to find the owner of that car.

He got the job of course. She rang a week later to confirm he'd checked out, she would see him the next week for orientation and signing the papers.

Discord sighed in relief as he shut the cell phone off. That was a load off at least. He'd have access to money once he worked, and he be able to find the prophecised owner of this sword.

He arrived on time to begin his first day on the job. Most of it was spent in Celestia's office, as he signed paperwork. Then he was shown his private office, where he could put his things. He was glad to see it came with a computer, those things were proving instrumental.

"Oh dear, I’m running late for a meeting.." Principal Celestia frowned, looking at her watch as they headed back to her office "I had hoped to show you around-ah!" she spotted someone exiting Luna's office and called out;

"Have you a minute, professor Somber?"

Did she just say-? Discord had a brainfart as the name reminded him of another facet of his old history...

The figured stopped in his tracks, a bunch of folders stuffed under one arm.

"Something the matter Principal Celestia?" he asked. Discord stared. This was the same guy from the car, the voice was a dead give-away. Up close, he looked around the same age as Discord, with black hair tied neatly into a ponytail that fell partway down his back. His eyes were a striking red, his manner of dressing very upper class, in black trousers, red shirt and black embroidered waistcoat.

"This is our new Physics teacher, Dr. Discord. I’m running late, could you show him the school?"

Somber glanced at Discord, and the former Draconequus spotted a look of irritation and recognition before the professor nodded.

"This is professor Somber, he's our history teacher here at Canterlot, with a specialism in ancient history and superstition."

--Like..magic?-- Discord wondered, before grinning at the still annoyed Somber and sticking out a hand. Sombra grip was firm, and as he let go, Discord got the impression he was going to get a right telling off about the car business.

Sure enough, once Celestia was gone...

"I recognise you, you walked out in front of my car." Somber gave an annoyed glare "wouldn’t have pegged you for a teacher..."

"I wanted a change in career, so when I seen the advert," Discord shrugged "I figured, why not? I’ve been wandering since leaving my former occupation, and this school seems like the ideal place."

"I see.." Somber didn’t look convinced, or maybe he was just annoyed he'd been hijacked from whatever he'd planned by Discord's arrival. "This way.."

As the history teacher showed him around the huge school, Discord took a moment to study him. He didn’t know how he hadn’t copped on before.

This guy was an incarnation of none other then King Sombra. The name was subtly different, but his appearance...

The skin colour matched the former tyrants coat, and the mane was the same jet black. Even the deep red eyes.

--So Sombra exists in this world too? Yet he doesn't appear a bad guy. A history teacher? Seems tame for HIM, in comparison. He looks just like him..well, except the whole human thing, obviously.--

He had an unusual aura about him, which Discord couldn’t pin down. But he'd figure that out later. The more pressing problem was how he was going to go about figuring out if that sword REALLY belonged to Somber? He could hardly ask him to come over to the house, to see if a sword he owned was friendly with him. For pity's sake, it sounded like some form of innuendo at best, and creepy serial stalker at worst.

--Blast, this is going to be tricky. Whatever that thing is, it WOULD have to attach to the most stubborn person in several histories?-- he sighed.

"This is the gymnasium-whoa!"

For as Somber was gesturing to the massive hall, a ball came flying over in his direction. Discord grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back and to the side, and the ball bounced past without injury.

Somber blinked, silenced by surprise. He'd gone incredibly tense, which Discord assumed was from shock. He let him go, and looked over at the balls owner.

No two ways about it, it WAS Rainbow Dash. Blue skin, rainbow hair. She was looking distinctly guilty, and the girl next to her, clearly Applejack, was trying to look innocent.

Somber looked annoyed, and looked on the verge of delivering a rant. Discord fetched the ball, and booted it back to Rainbow Dash.

"Sorry prof!" Rainbow Dash said weakly, looking like she just wanted to leg it out of there.

Somber sighed, told her to watch out, but mercifully dropped the issue.

"I seen her earlier as I was coming in..." Discord mused as they left to go to the final stop, the canteen.

"Yes, she's in my classes, bit of a rowdy one." Somber muttered.

"How long have you been here, Professor?" Discord asked curiously.

Somber shrugged, his tone evasive "just a few years. I taught in another school, but I left that one."

Discord was amazed by the similarities. It was odd to find Sombra in this world, he was absent from the one Discord had occupied, having been defeated after the second takeover. Discord had wondered if there was a world where Sombra lived. Now he'd found it..

Maybe Somber possessed a latent magical ability in this world? Could that be why the sword went for him?

During lunch, he quizzed Somber about the school, asking a few detailed questions. Sombra answered them cordially enough, but Discord got the impression Somber was very much a solitary being, not one accustomed to friends or close scrutiny. His personality struck Discord as odd. He didn’t seem a megalomaniac as his equestrian counterpart was. But then, the differences in this universe were as many as stars...

"Well, I have a class full of unruly kids to teach.." Somber got up as lunch finished, and offered a fleeting smirk of a smile "welcome to Canterlot."

Discord chuckled as he observed the teacher walk away.

"Interesting.." he murmured.

When he got home after another fun day keeping kids amused, he again looked at the sword. It hadn't responded since the first encounter. But then, Somber wasn't anywhere near, so it made sense it was being silent.

"I don’t know how you expect me to get him to believe me..." he complained to the sword as he shut the case and retired to bed late that evening.

Naturally, the sword couldn’t talk.

A week passed, and Discord was no closer to bringing up the matter of the sword with Somber. He would happily join him in the staff dining area, even if most of the time Somber just ignored him.

After a few days of this, he reluctantly began to answer Discord's questions, and defrosted a little...

"Lived here long?" Discord asked one day. Sombra looked up from his book, nodded.

"Canterlot? All my life. I used to drive to cr- my previous job."

Discord's ears were pricked, metaphorically speaking, had that been a slip-up from the taciturn teacher?

Somber clammed up after that, making non-committal noises the rest of the break.

However Discord did learn something interesting over the days, via his chats with Somber.

His theory had been wrong, magic HAD been sighted in this world, in this school.

He'd asked Somber about any unusual happenings for that particular days natter.

"You mean like the incident at the battle of the bands?" Somber asked.

"Ooh, do tell.." Discord was curious.

Somber sighed, setting his fork down he folded his hands on the table in front of him, frowning as he recollected the incident.

"It all began last Fall Formal, when a large portion of the schools front lobby was destroyed. I mean clean ripped apart. I was off that night, as I had no desire to oversee a party. But from what Miss Cherilee told me, things got way out of hand, and everybody that was there swears straight they seen a blast of rainbow light. I asked could it not have just been fireworks, but Cherilee said she was sure she felt something.." he trailed off, shrugging "I paid it no further heed until that blasted competition."

"The battle of the bands?" Discord prompted. Somber nodded, carrying on.

"These new girls joined, and right from their arrival things got weird. I'd black out in class, come back to myself feeling tired, always with those three hanging around. The students would be spacing out too. Once, I woke up and it was long after class, just the trio there. The one with the orange hair was standing in front of me, smirking, toying with a red gem necklace that I could’ve sworn had an odd glow to it. The other two were blocking the doorway, looking just as smug.

The puffy haired one, she said something about "your an anomaly, not the same as the others, but just as easy to drain...". I managed to speak then, asked what the hell she was on about. She looked startled, as if she hadn’t expected me to be able to hear her, then she put on this fake, simpering voice saying shed come to ask a question about her classes, and I’d passed out. Was I feeling alright? I was still struggling to think, so I just made an "I’m fine" sound. Then she left with her friends."

Discord stared, eyebrows raised. This sounded weird, yet interesting.

"Anyway," Somber shook his head to dispel the memory "I figured I was just imagining things. I mean...magic? Come on!" He gave a snort.

Discord kept his mouth shut, not saying a word.

Somber carried on unawares "I had to supervise the final performance, where Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna chose the winners. Even at the back of the hall, with earplugs in-" catching Discord's amused look "I am NOT a fan of that type of music, I was only reigned in because Celestia had drawn up a schedule for us all to help with that nonsense! Anyway, despite the protection, I still heard that music as if it was playing right next to me. Felt uneasy just listening to it, like I was close to blacking out again. I seen two students getting in each others faces, and made to break it up. One yelled at me to- well I wont repeat it, but suffice to say it startled me enough to snap me out of my daze. I told him that was no way to speak to a teacher, and he looked shocked for a second. Then the crowd kicked off as the song finished, yelling and booing and the look came back on his face. He shoved me out of his way and stormed off. It was strange."

"Very," Discord murmured "then what?"

Somber looked up at him "Then came the final performance. Yet again I was suckered into acting as a supervisor along with Spitfire, Professor Cranky and others. I recall suffering through Miss Lulamoon's self-indulgent dirge, then those three came on, and everything a blank until suddenly another song broke in. By that point my head was aching so badly I was nearly sick, so I don’t recollect what happened that well. What I CAN recall is a light-show, someone must’ve gotten into the lighting or set off fireworks, as the sky was full of blinding light. Then, suddenly as that, its over. Those three started singing again, only this time they were tone deaf. They ran off stage and I tried to pursue them, but whatever had gone on had messed my head up, and I collapsed in the parking lot. Woke up being tended to by paramedics.." he shrugged "that's about the weirdest thing, if that fulfils your curiosity any."

"That it certainly does.." Discord mused.

Somber shook his head, and got up to go.

"Glad I could assist.." he drawled sarcastically as he walked away.

--Real ice king isn't he?-- Discord chuckled.

Somber shook his head as he left the classroom. What was this new guys obsession with pestering him?

A small part of Somber almost didn’t mind the company. A doofus Discord may be, but he was at least capable of an intelligent conversation at times. It was better then most, Somber mused. But if that guy thought he'd found a best friend, he was in for a shock.

--I don’t do friends. What a waste of time..-- Somber snorted arrogantly as he reached his classroom.

Discord sighed as he stared out the window, sat in his office later on. This wasn’t quite what he planned. This world had its restrictions, most of which seemed to be the lack of magic...

Maybe it was his fault, he'd used that power source without fully comprehending it. He had never guessed this would happen...

He flashed back to Celestia's expression as he'd vanished, she'd looked stricken.

For the first time Discord thought about how...alone he was in a way?

Flashes of images, snapshots...wait..this was the school??

Discord tried to break the dreams hold, but he was forced to see something prowling the hallways.

Please...stop it...

A faint wisp of a voice spoke to him, and he seen a ghost light flickering as it stood between the darkness and the classroom door. Squinting at the sign, Discord seen it was his classroom. This thing was after him.

He woke with a yelp, feeling cold. he shivered as the nightmare pieced itself together in his waking memory. He scrambled out of bed and hurriedly wrote it all down on one of the computers. But it still made no sense...what did the thing want??

The next day was uneventful for the most part, well, up until lunchtime that was.

Walking down a hallway, Discord heard a slam, a shriek and then the sound of somebody crying. This was followed by a louder voice demanding to know who'd knocked her friend over!

Running round the corner Discord seen a human version of the one thing he missed in Equestria, Fluttershy, sitting on the ground cradling her wrist. Standing over her was an angry Pinkie Pie, who was scanning the halls for the brute that’d pushed past her poor friend so rudely.

"What happened?" before Discord could open his mouth, someone else came out of the room across the hall. It was Somber.

"Professor!" Pinkie looked at him "some total mean jerk just came running out of this classroom, pushing poor Fluttershy over and hurting her! Look!" She pointed at Fluttershy's wrist, which bore a mark of what looked like a hand.

"Let me see..." Somber knelt by Fluttershy, who sniffled before offering the hurt wrist out for him to see. Somber frowned.

"These are-"

"Friction burns." Discord finished. Somber looked up at him, and nodded. He gave Fluttershy a hand standing up, and Discord offered her a tissue from the pack in his lab coat pocket.

"T-thanks.." the shy girl hiccuped.

"It's OK.." Pinkie Pie assured her timid friend "that meanie wont bother you, I'll find him and kick his butt!"

"O-oh, don't get into trouble, I-if that's OK..." Fluttershy begged her friend. Pinkie Pie dug in her skirt pocket and produced some sweets, which she insisted her friend have to "help with the shock".

"Go to the nurse if you feel unwell,"Sombra sighed "I’ll look into it.."

"Thanks professor!" Pinkie Pie chirped, before linking arms with Fluttershy, who bobbed her head in thanks before being ushered away.

Discord felt bad for the girl, she was just like his flutters back home.

He realised Somber was still standing there, but he'd gone quiet.

"What is it?" he asked. Somber's dark red eyes flicked briefly to him, then, after a pause, he extended an arm to point at the door jamb.

"That door was locked, I seen Miss Cherilee lock it when she left. So how did someone get in there? Look at the door."

Where he was pointing, it showed something had forced the door, the lock broken.

"Good grief, that takes some force." Discord felt a stab of concern.

"It's the second one this morning.." Somber muttered. THIS got Discord's attention;

"Second?" he asked.

Somber nodded "the door to the library was busted too. I seen it when I got in early. Principal Celestia is liaising with the cops to see if there’s been any reported break-ins nearby. Nothing has been stolen however, which is odd."

This worried Discord even more. The dream he'd had last night...

Somber sighed crossly "I'd better go inform Principal Celestia about this." then he turned on his heel as was gone. Left behind, Discord felt uneasy.

Something was searching for him, that dream had showed it honing in on Discord's classroom. Had it been a premonition?

He resolved to come back that night, see if he could find out more, maybe catch the thing in the act?

So when the school was empty of students, and darkness was falling, he got a cab over to the school. He was carrying the sword in its bag, wondering if this thing would be of any use?

He picked the lock with his magic and crept inside, having already knocked the security cameras offline with a small EMP device. Along with knocking the guard out. He couldn’t be too careful, this world was more guarded then Equestria had ever been. Between CCTV and the internet, everything was everywhere. Rather taxing, really.

He didn’t notice the door fail to close properly as he crept inside...

Somber was annoyed. He'd left his phone at the school. If he was lucky, the security guard wouldn’t have locked the doors. Sometimes the guy stayed late, especially in light of the break ins.

To his relief the door was slightly ajar, and he pushed it open.

Empty silence met his ears. Where was the guy?

"Mr. Lightshield?" he called. No answer. Somber began to feel uneasy. Something felt off. Like that door earlier. He'd felt cold as soon as he seen the girls injury. Something weird was going on, but he didn't know what. It reminded him of the battle of the bands incident.

He was about to call for the guard again, when he heard a crash, a cry of surprise, and- glass breaking?! Taking off, he ran towards the sound, grabbing a metal folding chair as he ran past a display by one of the younger classes. It wasn't much of a weapon, but it was all he could get hold of. Swung with enough speed, it could still incapacitate someone!

He ran round the corner, and nearly dropped the chair in shock. A shadow was holding that loopy physics teacher, Discord, about three feet off the ground.

"Hey!" he snapped "get out of here before I call the police-"

In a heartbeat, the thing dropped the dazed Discord, and shot at him like a bullet. He swung the chair towards it, but was surprised when it hit something that offered resistance, but felt spongy. It absorbed the impact like it was nothing.

"I'm sorry.." a garbled voice giggled "your voice isn't as interesting as hearing your bones BREAK-!"

The chair was suddenly pushed back with enough force that it pulled free from Somber's hands, and slammed into his collarbone. A blinding pain shot down his right side, and he soon caught sight of the ceiling as it knocked him to the floor. Dazed, he fought to breathe as he scrambled into a sitting position only to fall again as the thing shoved him.

"Hmm...what to do..?" it babbled. Somber tried to curl onto his side and get to his feet that way, but the vile shadow pinned him back down again, like a cat with a mouse. The cold of its body felt like ice water seeping into his clothing, the temperature around him dropping...

"Never turning your back on ME is a good start!" Discord got to his feet and charged up a small bolt of his magic. He brained it in the back of where he guessed its head was, causing it to turn towards him again.

"Very well, I’ll drain everything you've got, then I’m breaking every bone in this frail ones body!" it cackled. It shot towards Discord, who ducked and rolled aside, causing it to smash face first into some lockers. He continued to lead it away from Somber, hoping the teacher would get up and run.

--He is vastly different to the Sombra I knew of. He’s a normal human here, not a magic user.-- Discord reminded himself.

At last the shadow got tired of Discord's tricks, and feinted one way, before striking another, using tendrils of its shadowy body to pin his wrists and ankles tot he floor once it knocked him down. The sword he'd been ineffectively wailing on it with was knocked aside, skittering across the floor.

"You know.." Discord snickered "you’re very forward. A date first would be much more appropriate-?"

"Shut up!" it cackled "your blathering wont help you now!"

While this was going on, Somber had regained consciousness, and seen the sword. It was lying a few scant feet from him. Something about it called out, and before he knew what he was doing he was staggering to his feet, swiping the blade off the floor as he did.

To his shock it grew a shimmering red aura along the blade, and he felt an electrical charge jolt through his whole body, the sensation nearly enough to make him pass out. It pushed the pain of his injured shoulder out of the way. He felt...powerful. He looked up as he heard Discord's off-hand innuendo to the one trying to kill him, and ran towards them.

The darkness, since Discord didn’t exactly feel like asking its name, raised another spike, aiming to drive it down into its captive's heart-

When a searing pain interrupted it, slicing across its lower body. It retracted itself, releasing Discord. Its mind reeled, who had-?

"Somber?" Discord blurted. Somber was standing between him and the shadow, the sword held it front of him. The blade was gleaming a brilliant red...

--No way-! This is what it can do?!-- Discord's mind was whirling.

"I said get the hell out of here!" Somber snarled, stepping forward and fluidly spinning round to swing at it once more, cutting a second bright red line across its body. It withdrew even further, realising things had shifted.

"You've bought yourself a little time, but an inexperienced fool with a sword will not hold me for long!"

Sombra shook his head in irritation "I do fencing, you idiot! This is just a better sword!" He shifted into a stance that certainly leant credence to his claim.

It laughed, then just as abruptly dissapeared into a shadow cast by the now bright moonlight outside.

Soon as it was gone, silence rang in the halls. Somber let the sword drop with a gasp of relief, doubled over with his hands braced on his knees. He felt dizzy, like that time he'd gotten a minor electric shock...

"Professor...?" Discord got up, slowly approaching the stunned man. He reached out a hand to brush his shoulder, but barely had he made contact then Somber straightened up, shoving the hand away as he turned to face him.

"What.." Somber hissed, face flsuhed from adrenaline "was THAT?!" at that last word he stepped up to Discord, expression one of fury.

"Its a long story..." Disocrd looked at the sword, which was back to its normal, unassuming self "how did you do that?"

"I don't know!" Somber tried to hide his shock behind bluster, picking up and swiftly shoving the weapon at Discord so he was forced to hold it. "It's your freakish weapon! What does it have to do with me?"

He trailed off, coughing "U-ugh...if eel about to be sick...". He turned his back to Discord and stumbled a few steps away.

"That's shock for you. You need some tea or something sweet. Come with me-" Discord moved towards him, backing up rapidly when Somber turned and glared at him again.

There was a phrase Discord had learned back in Equestria that seemed relevant here. "If looks could kill". Were this true, he'd be dead as this worlds dodo's.

"Are you CRAZY?!" Somber yelled, jabbing a finger at Discord's chest "after everything I just seen, and that weapon you brought into a school, why would I go anywhere with you?! Well, the police station maybe!"

Discord stared calmly back at him, "because I can explain all this." He said "you’ll have tot rust me.."

"TRUST?!" Sombra cried "that's the last thing you're getting from me!"

"Do you honestly believe what you just saw? I can explain all of it, and the sword." Discord spoke bluntly, honestly.

Sombra faltered, unsure what to do. His mind was grasping at straws...

"I'm not the threat here, I promise." Discord reached out a hand towards him again but Somber flinched back, the uninjured arm raised in a "keep back" gesture on autopilot. Evidently he was still on edge.

"I can at least treat whatever injuries that thing gave you.." Discord could see from how pale Somber's darker skin tone had gone that he in quite some pain.

This made Somber hesitate. He pictured how much trouble would be caused if he went to A&E, the doctors would ask questions, the police would be called. And he'd be locked up for being a loony before he'd even finished the explanation.

Let alone how he'd explain the damage to the school to Principal Celestia. It was this idiots fault anyway.

"That thing was trying to get me off- wait I mean OFF ME as well. Sorry, turned a bit sexual there. Then again, it had tentacles...” he shook his head and carried on more sensibly “Believe me, I’m not friendly with it, and I’m pretty sure it wants to kick my ass."

"Well it can join the queue." Somber growled under his breath.

I don't know what else I can say to convince you. Other than THANKS." he took in Somber's confused expression "I'm Serious. Cross my arse- wait, no heart. you saved my ass back there, I owe you. Sorry, my grasp of the language is everywhere today!"

Somber stared at him for several silent seconds, then reluctantly spoke;

"Fine." he said, then added "but you’d better have a DAMN good explanation for this bullshit!"

Discord nodded, then picked up the sword, stashing it away in the bag he carried. He gestured off down the hall, Somber storming ahead of him. A quick bit of magic behind Somber's back tidied up any spilled blood, any TRACE they'd been there. Somber didn’t deserve to get in trouble over this..

After all, he'd saved Discord by intervening when he had.

Realising Discord didn’t drive, Somber insisted he'd drive them. Pointing out he was probably in shock only made the professor snap at him, so Discord just kept a very close eye on him as they drove in silence. This was only broken by the GPS telling Somber what route to follow.

"This is your house?" Somber stared up at the huge residence as he parked the car. His hands were starting to shake, which wasn't good...

"Yup, I like my privacy." Discord shrugged. He ushered Somber inside, leading him towards the biggest room, which was where he'd fitted all the tech equipment and his notes. It was a makeshift lab of sorts.

"What...what ARE you doing in here?" Somber paused in the doorway as Discord chucked the bag containing the sword onto a nearby couch, and swept some papers off a lab table.

"Plonk your butt here, I can see if that bones broken.." Discord said with an air of unruffled calm. Still leery, Somber realised he'd gone too far to back out now. He reluctantly did as instructed.

With barely even an eyelid being batted, Discord easily undid the top few buttons of Somber's shirt. When he seen the bruising he winced.

"Yeesh, that thing certainly packs a wallop!" he said with raised eyebrows "now, just to warn you, this is gonna hurt-!"

"Yeowch!" Somber still found himself caught off guard, even with the aforementioned warning. On instinct, his left hand snapped up to grab Discord's wrist before the other could poke him again.

"Relax. As I said, I’m not the one trying to kill anybody here...would you rather go to the, what-sit called?"

"Hospital?" Somber said sarcastically.

"That's the one." Discord seemed entirely unfazed by Somber's anger. Glowering at him a second more, Somber forced himself to relax and let Discord's wrist go.

"Now hold still..." Discord had studied the anatomy and bone structure of these humanoids, and had learned a great deal about how to maintain a human body. Necessary after all, to take care of his own!

But good grief did Somber fidget. Every poke and prod made him mutter, curse and fidget atop the table. He sat as drawn up as he could, hands gripping the table so hard his knuckles were white. Eventually, he began gazing at the walls, which were plastered in printouts and photos, to the high tech computers.

"Are you running something out of here?" he blurted at last, as Discord backed off and returned a second later with an ice pack.

"Like what? Oh right, you have those problems with fake money and whatnot. No, nothing of that nature, I assure you. I just need a lot of computers, that’s all. I've been looking for something."

"What could you be searching for that needs this much power?" Somber looked at him then, paling slightly and wincing anew as the compress pressed against his collarbone.

"The thing that attacked us." Discord's reply cut Somber's sarcasm short.

"You’ve been searching for it?" Somber asked, looking confused. At least the icepack was numbing the pain, he could barely feel it right that second...

"More like its been searching for ME," Discord sighed heavily, suddenly feeling tired himself.

Somber didn’t speak for several seconds, then he asked "I want to know what happened at the school tonight, exactly what’s going on?"

"Very well, let me finish here and ill give you the details."

A mute nod. He got the impression Somber wasn't fond of close contact, he was so tense right that minute, Discord expected him to sprain something else in addition to his injuries.

After more silent minutes passed, with Somber seemingly all out of illegal things to ask Discord if he was involved in, Discord finally removed the icepack and nodded "how does that feel?"

Somber cautiously moved his shoulder, and stared.

"I-it barely hurts at all. How did you-?"

"It WAS fractured." Discord said, nodding at Somber's injury "now, little more than heavy bruising. See?"

He brushed a finger over the spot where the fracture had been. Sombra yelped and tensed up, expecting it to hurt like hell, but...only the faintest throw of pain registered on his radar. he felt himself flush at his reaction, but mercifully Discord didn’t seem to notice.

"What is..?" Somber stared at the ice pack.

"Infused with something unique," Discord gestured to the ice pack "I’ll explain that too..."

--What is he??-- Somber thought shakily as he did his shirt back up, relieved to not be on display like a specimen or something. But he marvelled at how the injury didn’t hurt hardly at all...just a dull ache.

Discord sat him on the couch, fetched some sweet tea, and began explaining. It involved some of the photos and drawings on the walls, and a lengthy explanation.

By the end of it, Somber wasn’t sure what was first on his list of "things that I refuse to believe", so eh went for the most ludicrous.

"Another universe? Really? Are you sure you're not running hallucinogens out of this place?" Somber snapped, as he paced back and forth in front of the couch.

Discord was leaning against the table, seemingly unfussed by Somber's fury.

"Ponies? A dracon-ehwhat? MAGIC?! That makes no sense. You know, right now I think you're high!"

"I am NOT a drug dealer, for the last time!" Discord sighed. Somber stopped pacing, threw his hands in the air in a gesture of defeat and slumped back onto the couch, head resting in his hands.

"Well it makes more sense then other worlds, dragons and- what did you say...a unicorn King?!" he looked back up.

"I said that's who you remind me of. Back there, Equestria, there was a King named Sombra. His coat and mane, even the eyes, resembles you closely. Although you're skinnier."

Somber was silent. Even their names were similar...

"So what happened to him?" he asked "I can tell by your face it isn't good."

"It's not. Sadly, he went famously crazy with power and was sealed away. When he broke free, he was erased by the crystal heart. That's in my time-line anyway. Clearly there are others in which he turned out to be a good guy. Or a human teacher in this case."

"This is madness."

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

Somber shook his head, the shock was fading and he felt so tired.

"What is that weapon?" he asked at last.

"That sword? I don’t know. It showed up after I did in this world, some months ago...all the clue I had was this." He handed the sheet of paper over to Somber.

"Hope? Find one that wields- hold up, you think this means ME?"

"Yes." Discord leaned back against the table behind him "That weapon responded to you. You remember the thing with the car?"

"Yes, I nearly ran you over. Starting to regret using the brakes. What’s your point?!" Somber snapped.

"My point is, that was when that sword let me know it was more than just a hunk of metal. I seen it when you were wielding it, it was glowing all manner of magical!"

He picked up the weapon from the bag, and held the blade very carefully, extending the handle to Somber.

Somber shook his head "No way. I am not touching that thing...not again."

Discord sighed, he'd expected resistance. It seemed Somber was easily as stubborn as he himself was.

"Look, I’ll phrase it this way; That thing nearly killed me. Me, a creature of chaos magic. I cant kill that thing by myself. I don’t know why it chose you, maybe it can see something in you that even YOU don’t know exists. Right now I know about as much as you do. But I need your help, end of story."

Somber sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He looked as if he had a massive headache. It was this that put the crazy idea into his head.

"This is BULL, and maybe you'll quit pestering me if I humour your madness!" he snapped abruptly, then reached up and took the blades handle. He hoped he could prove Discord was off his face on something, that the lump of metal wouldn’t do anything at all!

Sadly for him, however, at the slightest touch the sword shimmered faintly, the same glow building up around the blade. Sombra bolted to his feet, aiming the weapon away from Discord and himself.

"T-this is crazy..." he stammered. "how?"

He felt as if something was invading his head, a tangle of images and sensations. The world seemed to go grey, and he felt a jolt run from him to the sword.

Discord watched in fascination, seeing the blade react a second time further proved his hypothesis. Somber seemed frozen, staring in apparent surprise at the weapon.

Then the glow on the sword died down and the one holding it swayed unsteadily on his feet. The sword clattered to the floor as Discord managed to catch Somber before he gave himself a concussion.

He looked from the unconscious Somber to the innocent looking blade lying on the floor.

"Well, this escalated quickly.." he muttered.

Somber didn’t seem to be planning on waking up any time soon, So Discord realised he'd have to find somewhere to let him sleep off everything that happened.

He settled for putting Somber in HIS bed, and figured he'd do some work, then sleep on the couch.

Somber didn't budge an inch towards waking even when he being tucked up in the big double bed. He muttered something inaudible and winced slightly, but that was it. A quick check revealed he had a mild temperature.

--Not much I can do. Hopefully he'll be lucid enough by tomorrow.-- Discord shrugged.

As he shut the door behind him, he reflected on what a relief it was the next day was a Saturday. He didn’t think Somber would be particularly appreciative if he was late for classes on top of everything else he'd put up with!

Author's Notes:

Crazy as it is, i had fun writing this.