Author's Notes:

Thank you all for waiting, enjoy!

Thanks as always to LadyUmbra for her help!

Sombra grew in strength day by day and soon there was no need for drips and oxygen masks, he was able to comfortably do without. His husband was also back in bed with him every night, and he was relieved to be able to hold the stallion once more.

To his parents surprise, Loki turned out to be a very heavy sleeper. The new parents weren't woken half as often by his hungry/upset wails as they expected, but when they were, they'd both bolt out of bed and dash to his side.

“One of us could sleep on, love.” Discord chuckled as he set Loki back in his crib, having sung him a lullaby. Propped up against his side, Sombra smiled softly.

“I know, my dear Discord. I'm just so anxious, I cannot stay still.”

Discord nodded then kissed him softly, wrapping his arms around the pony as they gazed down at their sleeping son.

“I know just how you're feeling, my sweet Sombra. It's such a wonderful thing, knowing we have a son.”

Sombra nodded and nuzzled him happily, he had the family he'd always dreamed of…

As his husband got into bed, Discord’s eyes settled on the pony's rump. He bit back a groan, he was getting so easily aroused lately…

But just days after Sombra’s awakening, the doctor had taken Discord aside and stressed that Sombra shouldn't be partaking of any “sexual activity” until he was fully recovered.

“You see, this is different to just his magic being drained. The usage of his abilities has put strain on his physical body too. The drips and medicine he is taking at present will help until he is ready to start moving around, but I must insist you two refrain from...” he waved a hoof.

“The horizontal tango?” Discord sighed heavily. It'd been so long since he'd “been” with his husband. Entertaining himself could only do so much-

“Yes...” the doctor said dryly “that’s the one.”

“Alright. For my Sombra.” Discord had sighed.

Sombra heard his beloved sigh and his ears twitched. He halted, body halfway onto the bed, peering back at his husband.

“What is wrong, love?” he asked, brow furrowing. Discord turned bright red and blathered about everything and nothing, grinning sheepishly.

“It’s absolutely, totally nothing, cutie!” he finished lamely, face aching from the fake grin he had plastered on it.

“Mm-hmm.” Sombra was looking at something other than Discord’s face as he spoke “yet that is not what you are telling me, my love.”

Discord blinked, looked down and-

“Dang it, wang, this is not the time! Can’t trust you, can I?”

Sombra muffled a laugh, beckoning his husband closer.

But Discord resolutely shook his head “as tempting as that ass of yours is, the doctor will literally flay me alive if he realises I ploughed your royal plot.”

“Well,” Sombra tapped a hoof against his chin as he contemplated this, eyes gleaming as an idea formed itself in his head “there are things I can do that don't involve just rutting.”

He lay back on the bed, propped up by the pillows, a seductive smile curving his lips. He motioned Discord to stand over him and…

“You may want to hold onto the headboard, love.” Sombra advised, before sitting forward and-

Discord gave a low groan as his aroused member was surrounded by the warmth of his husband's mouth…

“Mmhh, that was- wow..” Discord stepped back, legs actually shaking from the force of the orgasm he’d just experienced and sat down with a bump in front of the stallion. He kissed Sombra, grinning as he caught his taste on Sombra's lips. “You’re really good at that, cutie. And what you do with your hooves- sublime!”

“Well, I had a good teacher.” the pony said languidly.

“That guy at the bar that you ploughed all that time ago?”

“No!” Sombra chuckled at the memory of his first adventure prior to Discord “I read a book from the Umbrum library, sex is a big facet of our culture, as you know. The book I read described quite an interesting way to use your tongue.”

“Well, are there any other lessons you wish to show off?” Discord asked with a big grin, kissing his muzzle.

“Tomorrow night, my love.” Sombra teased “I wont see you wanting for anything, I promise.”

Discord kissed him hotly, grateful that he had a partner who wasn't frightened off by his bedroom appetite. If anything, Sombra was growing increasingly more adventurous with each year…

Now that he was awake in the regular sense of the word, Sombra found he was hit by all manner of cravings. What with having been incapable of eating during his stasis and sustained purely by magic throughout, he naturally wanted anything and everything!

Watching Sombra polish off a second helping of dinner, Discord queried where Sombra was putting it all?

The stallion thought about it then shrugged, he hadn't a single clue on the matter. He just knew he'd missed food something chronic during his month-long absence. The doctor later suggested that his body was simply metabolising so fast to recoup from the absence, thus it was burning up the calories in next to no time.

“It should settle down.” was his eventual diagnosis.

“At least it is not all going to my rear.” Sombra mused with a wry grin.

“Why, want me to check?” Discord waggled his eyebrows in his usual crude manner, making Sombra laugh loudly. He pulled the chaos King in for a kiss, groaning happily as his husband held him.

Loki gurgled in his crib and they quickly parted, sharing a guilty “maybe later” smile. They couldn't afford to get amorous now, baby Loki needed them, he was still so little. They’d been making do with oral and magical pleasures as far as their intimacy went and although Sombra was insistent he was fully recovered, Discord did notice he became exhausted easily by the days end.

Two days later, the girls came by for a visit from Ponyville. Bearing even more gifts, they were met at the entrance by Umbra, who showed them upstairs.

“Sombra is still resting, doctor’s orders. He complains often of being bored, but the process took quite a lot out of him.”

Sombra was propped up in bed, with Loki nestled in his forelegs, when the door opened. Discord was curled up atop the bed beside his husband, he glanced over and smiled, beckoning them all in.

“Ooh, can we see the baby? Can we, please? Huh, huh?” Pinkie Pie asked, her eyes wide as saucers as she danced from hoof to hoof in anticipation.

Discord motioned them to come forward slowly and they all filed around to the far side of the bed where Sombra lay. They laid their eyes on the newly arrived baby and instantly a chorus of adoring coos and smiles swept over over the group of mares.

Loki was curled in the stallion’s left foreleg, face buried in the crook of it. His little ears twitched as he heard the soft murmurs surrounding him and his tail, which was draped over Sombra's leg, twitched gently as his eyes opened. Their brilliant orange depths caught the light as they focused on these new faces surrounding him.

“He's just adorable~” Rarity squeed softly.

Loki gave a squeak and burrowed his face back into the crook of his father’s leg, eyes scrunched shut and ears folded down.

“Aww, it's OK fellah, we ain't here ta scare ya!” Applejack promised.

“Y-yes, we just wanted to meet you, little one.” Fluttershy said softly. “You’re ever so sweet, aren’t you? We're your daddies friends!”

Something about the pegasus’ soft-spoken voice made Loki lift his head and open his eyes again.

“There there.” Fluttershy brought her face closer so he could see her better.

After a few seconds hesitation, the baby freed one arm from under him and reached clumsily for her. His chubby little fingers grasped her nose and squeezed and she gave a squeak of amusement. This made Loki giggle, so he did it again and Fluttershy caught on, giving an even more theatrical squeak and causing more delighted laughter.

“He’s so cute!” Pinkie Pie declared “me next!”

When Loki booped her nose, she made a variety of silly sounds and the baby dracon-pony grew a little more confident. With a scrunch of his nose, he poofed into existence atop Rarity's head, where he batted at her mane.

“Ah- Loki!” Sombra yelped “down from there, little one!”

“Oh it's quite alright, darling!” Rarity beamed, peering up at the face so close to her own as Loki peered at her “he's just exploring-eeh!”

She giggled and went cross eyed as Loki did the cutest thing and planted a kiss on her forehead, before teleporting to atop Rainbow’s back.

“Hey, champ!” Rainbow spread her wings for him to pet, then took off slowly and flew him leisurely around the room, listening to him giggle in glee and clutching fistfuls of her mane so he didn’t fall off.

Discord nuzzled Sombra's cheek as he watched their son “it’s good to see him so excitable, isn’t it?”

“He has a rambunctious side~” Sombra teased “just like you!”

Discord grinned proudly as Fluttershy caught his eye. Loki was teleporting from mare to mare, getting cuddles and kisses from all of them, his happy gurgles earning him even more “d’awws”.

“He’s simply adorable Discord,” she beamed “I'm so happy to see your family grow.”

“So am I, Fluttershy,” Discord said gently “at first I didn’t think I could be a father, but my dear Sombra and a good friend convinced me otherwise.”

Sombra smiled softly, nuzzling Discord’s cheek lovingly.

Eventually, Loki grew hungry and began to whimper softly.

"Oh hay, someones got a rumbly tummy!" Twilight cooed as she returned him to Sombra's arms and Discord went to mix up a bottle of formula. Sombra relaxed back against the pillows as Discord took the baby and Loki’s cries gradually diminished as he was fed.

“Aww, he's all tuckered out.” Fluttershy whispered as Loki fell asleep in Discord’s hold soon after finishing the entire bottle off.

“Sleeps like a log, this one does.” Discord chuckled, listening to the soft burbling sounds his child made.

“He gets that from you.” Sombra teased as he kissed Loki on the forehead “sometimes I think it would take the end of the world to rouse you before you wish to be woken.”

“You manage.” Discord shot back with a teasing grin.

“That success is because I know your weak spots. Thus, my dear Discord, my victory.” Sombra replied with an arched eyebrow and an almost seductive smirk.

"Oh-ho...is that so?" Discord retorted...

Rainbow Dash looked from one to the other as this debate went on.

“Innuendos!” she surmised triumphantly after several seconds. Applejack snickered to herself and Rarity rolled her eyes at the pegasus.

“Pretty much, yes.” Sombra sighed good-naturedly “I have been tutored in such a linguistic fashion by a certain husband of mine.”

“Guilty, yo.” Discord chuckled as he hopped down from the bed and moved to tuck Loki back into his crib. The child whimpered in his sleep and flailed his arms as if seeking something.

Discord looked about then scooped up an obviously well-loved plush Wonderbolt from where it'd fallen to the floor, giving it back to his son. Loki clutched it close and fell asleep again, burbling softly…

“He adores that toy.” Discord said to Rainbow Dash, who said she could always buy more if he needed them!

That evening, Sombra was finally told by the doctor that he could leave his bed and the King immediately opted to join the others for dinner.

“I am almost fully recovered, my appetite is back to regular levels. Why did I remain in bed so long?” he wondered.

“The doctor just wanted to make sure that you’ve truly recovered, love. You did use up a LOT of magic, plus what was stored in that gem AND everything that was fed in during stasis.”

“I know, I sensed that it was from you, love.” Sombra said softly as they walked with the girls towards the dining hall “I have been meaning to speak with you concerning it, I hope I did not take too much at the time-”

“Hush, you've nothing to worry about. It was nothing a decent nights sleep couldn't cure.” Discord said gently “I'd have given anything to ensure your safety and my magic can be regained, after all. So don't fret.”

Sombra flushed softly and nudged his husband’s shoulder gratefully with his muzzle.

The girls spent the whole weekend with the new baby and his parents. Loki seemed to grow infinitely more confident as the days went by, with his new playmates to encourage him. In between bouts of playtime with the girls, he'd bound over to his parents and persuade them with his big innocent eyes and insistent babbling noises, to join in on the games.

He particularly liked snuggling under Sombra's wings due to their massive size. Sombra would rest one wing flat and his son would burrow around underneath. On one occasion he discovered if he tickled the wing joint, both wings would go pomf in the air and his father would laugh.

“Oh-ho~” Discord grinned and Sombra blinked, realisation dawning just a split second before familiar hands tickled his wings at the base. He cracked up laughing, trying to sternly order his husband to stop, but the effort was hampered by his laughter.

He lightly zapped Discord, like he had back in his recovery days. The girls burst out laughing as it had an unexpected effect, Pinkie Pie clutching her sides from laughing. Catching his breath from the tickle onslaught, Sombra turned his head to see that Discord's fur had gone full floof so he resembled a fluffy toy.

Loki of course, absolutely loved this sight. He padded over and held up his short little arms to Discord for a hug, squealing in delight as he got his wish. His father’s strong, warm hands lifted him up and he burrowed happily into the mass of fur that was his chaos father’s chest, falling asleep amongst the fluffed up Draconequus fur.

“That kid is just made of adorable~” AJ wiped her eyes and smiled at the sleeping Loki as Discord settled his fur back down.

“He's inherited so many unique traits from you both,” Twilight added, looking over at Sombra “Has he shown much magic yet? Some children have bursts in their early development.”

“Hay yeah! Like the cake twins, hoo boy did they ever give me the run around!” Pinkie Pie nodded, recalling the boisterous twins and the madness her evening of watching them had contained.

“Bar the occasional instinctive teleport, nothing yet. It is not strong enough to sense yet, it probably wont grow in for a few more weeks. But, Chaos magic and my Umbrum/Dark magic seem to share similarities. Whichever way he develops, Discord and I can teach him everything he needs.”

Discord came over to stand beside him as he spoke with a sleeping Loki cradled in his arms. The baby snuffled in his sleep, uttering a scared whine as if he were having a bad dream, so Sombra placed a gentle kiss on the child’s forehead and he settled down again, a tiny smile curving his mouth.

“He can recognise our distinct scents,” Discord explained to the girls “it seems to reassure him if either one of us is close when he's having a bad sleep. Draconequui recognise scents from an early age, they can identify their parents in a crowded room.”

“Whoa, that is one keen sense of smell!” Pinkie Pie twitched her nose curiously.

--They make wonderful parents..-- Fluttershy thought as she watched them. Their love for their child was obvious in every word, every gesture. This little one was the first of his kind, he had a bright future ahead with two powerful parents to guide him…

The girls left on Monday morning, fussing over Loki while saying their goodbyes.

Loki sat on Sombra's back as the couple headed back inside, comfortably burrowed into the space between Sombra's wings. One gentle little hand stroked the soft feathers, his father’s wings fascinated him..

Back in their bedroom, Discord and Sombra put Loki to bed and then crept over to the couch, where they curled up in each others arms to enjoy some relaxation together. They talked idly of this and that, sharing the occasional nuzzle and kiss.

Sombra's heart thudded as Discord's hand rubbed between his wings, sending thrills up his back. It'd been awhile since they'd made love after all, since the doctor had stressed no physical strain for the equine King. Loki kept them both pretty busy, they couldn’t afford to be otherwise occupied when their son needed them…

The hand started to slip further down and Sombra abruptly broke the kiss.

“W-we shouldn’t...” he said anxiously, glancing at Loki’s crib.

Discord sighed, then let his hand move back to rest on Sombra's back. Sombra’s ears dipped slightly, he felt bad for refusing his husband…

“You guys SO need a babysitter.” a voice remarked and Sombra bit his lip to stifle a yelp. He couldn’t stop his wings however, which pomf'd up in fright.

Sombra stared, twitching slightly, at the female Draconequus who stood in the balcony doorway. Wordlessly, Discord folded his husband’s wings down, giving him a subtle tap on the bottom to persuade him to focus.

Sombra got down off the couch and went to greet Eris, receiving the usual bear hug as ever.

Discord hugged his sister tightly as he reached her “Long time no see.” he smiled, as he let her go.

“Yeah, sorry about this. It’s been a bit tricky sneaking out to check the messages in the papers lately.” Eris sighed heavily, then shrugged “ah well, no matter. I'm here now. I have just one question; where’s the baby? I wanna see him!”

Discord chuckled and brought her over to Loki’s crib. She peered in at the sleeping child, her eyes lighting up in glee.

“He's adorable, bro!” she whispered, squeeing softly. “Oh, those ears are just the cutest~”

Discord smiled proudly as he watched Eris fawn over the baby. Loki woke up right then and upon opening his eyes he seen his daddies and someone new. He squeaked and rolled into a ball, unsure who this towering figure was.

“Aww, it’s alright.” Eris said softly as Sombra floated the child up with his magic, settling him in the curve of one foreleg. Loki burrowed into his fathers leg so just his wide orange eyes peeked up, ears twitching.

“Say hello to your aunty Eris.” Sombra told his son gently. Loki looked up at him, then eventually over at Eris.

“Aunty Eris.” Discord repeated to his son, motioning Eris to move closer. She sat down in front of Sombra, so her face was level with Loki.

“Hi!” she said cheerily. Loki reached out a chubby hand and petted her muzzle curiously. She reached a hand out to him and he curled his little fingers around one of hers, nose twitching as he learned her scent.

“I'm your aunty. Your chaos daddy is my brother!”

Loki smiled at her and reached up to pet her hair now. Sombra motioned Eris to take him and she held her breath in silent delight as Loki allowed himself to be placed in her arms. He sniffed at her coat, decided her liked her and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly.

Eris could barely say a word, she was so enraptured by the moment. This was her nephew, a new part of her family. She kissed the top of Loki’s head and he beamed up at her. Then his tummy rumbled and he whimpered, suddenly hungry. Sad eyes turned to his auntie…

“Wanna feed him?” Discord asked as Sombra went to fetch the formula from the fridge installed in the corner of the room. A big grin and a nod was his answer.

Sombra brought the bottle over, instructing her how to hold the baby and how to tilt the bottle. Holding her breath, Eris did as instructed and squealed happily when Loki began eagerly feeding from the bottle. His eyes flicked from his bottle up to the one feeding him and she swore he was memorising her in some way.

“Oh, he definitely knows you now,” her brother nodded “he studied Sombra and I the same way, as well as Umbra. He knows you're family now, your scent is in his memory.”

“That is so awesome. You guys have made the cutest baby, it's official!” Eris declared as she rocked the infant gently. Loki yawned as he finished the bottle, nuzzled his cheek against Eris' chest and promptly fell asleep with a tiny sigh.

“He is our pride and joy.” Sombra said, receiving a confirming nuzzle from Discord.

Eris spotted a look of longing cross Discord's face, seen his eyes trace the curve of Sombra's body and the sway of his tail as the Alicorn walked over to the door to set the empty bottle in a basket for cleaning.

“I know this is personal, but, when did you guys last have any “alone time”? You know, the old horizontal tango?”

Sombra blushed, but tried to think back, feeling a jab of guilt when he realised the span. Aside from his oral ministrations, they hadn’t really…

“Well, for me it has not been as long, but for you-” he looked up at his husband “it has been since I went into stasis. More than a month. The doctor has been insistent we not get too excited, as it were.”

Discord smiled faintly “This is the first time this process has been documented, he's right to take precautions. But I wont lie, I’ve missed being close to you, if you catch my drift.”

“As per the information we have, we spent most of the time bonding with Loki,” Sombra said to Eris “showing him his room, letting him meet his immediate family and friends, as well as setting his sleep pattern.”

“And you guys have done a great job, he's the most well behaved kid I’ve ever met. Draconequui are normally bundles of terror when they're young!”

“Well he is part well-groomed, well-mannered gorgeous stallion.” Discord teased his husband, seeing him flush.

“Well, why doesn't auntie Eris and auntie Umbra watch the little guy for the evening? You guys have been working yourselves silly I'll bet, you must be due a break by now. Go out, have fun. Go have a date or run around the chaos realm for the rest of today. I'm sure Umbra and I can keep this little terror occupied!”

“That would be nice- but should I really leave him?” Sombra fretted and Discord gave him a wry look, shaking his head.

“Oh, you are so taking an evening off. You’ve been busting that butt of yours for too long.”

“Well, so have you-” Sombra objected.

“Yes, but you did all the hard work “birthing” him, as it were. You deserve a break, amongst other things.” he patted the stallion on the bottom as he spoke, making Sombra blush bright red and squeak.

“Yup, you guys need to go do...” she fumbled for the word, finally going for “each other. I'll look after the baby.” Eris giggled as Sombra face-hoofed at how crude she was.

“You know you love it.” Discord teased his husband, chuckling at how flustered Sombra occasionally got around euphemisms.

Sombra groaned, but kissed his beloved, chuckling faintly.

Eris was set on her plan, going along with them to find Sombra's mother Umbra and telling her of the plan.

“If it is not a bother-” Sombra began again, fidgeting anxiously- but his mother stopped him with a smile.

“It’s no trouble, child. You both deserve a night off, you’ve been working yourself senseless since the “birth”, you deserve a day off. Loki, Eris and I will have a grand time together!”

“Thank you both!” Discord said, feeling a surge of affection for his sister and mother-in-law at their kindness.

“Now, shoo.” Eris pushed them towards the door “go do fun things, it’s an order!”

As they stood out in the hall, Discord looked at Sombra and snapped his fingers. A portal to the chaos realm opened up and he escorted the King through.

“What do you want to do first?” the chaos King asked, nuzzling his husband's cheek. “Loki will be in heaven playing with those two. I could feel how much longing was in the last “relief” you gave me, so don’t worry. Tonight is just us..”

Sombra nodded, there was no denying he had been imagining a good rutting for some time now.

“What’s on your mind?” Discord tilted the pony’s chin up so their eyes met.

“I'm looking at him~” Sombra said huskily. He faced Discord, pressing his body close to the Draconequus’.

Discord felt a flutter run through him as the warmth of Sombra's chest pressed against his. It'd been so long since he'd had the chance to make love to his King, he couldn’t stop himself from becoming aroused. Sombra noticed this and smirked, the light making his eyes gleam.

“Oh my, seems I should get started right away. How about a little preamble to the main event?” he purred seductively, dipping his head to suck gently at his lovers tip, swallowing the beads of pre-cum that welled up.

“Sombra-” Discord moaned, tangling his fingers in Sombra's mane and massaging the back of his neck. Sombra moaned eagerly as his tongue teased the chaos King’s hard-on.

--He likes that thing I do with my tongue, doesn’t he?-- Sombra thought and thus began stepping up the pace, teasing and pleasing in equal measure. Discord’s eager groans and gasps were like music to his ears and this was just the start.

As Sombra teased and lavished his shaft with that agile tongue, Discord had an idea. He leaned down so he could plant a kiss at the base of Sombra's back. Bracing his hands either side of his husband's flanks, the chaos being gripped the pony's tail in his mouth and tugged on it. A searing jolt of pleasure ran from his member to his spine as Sombra sucked even more eagerly.

Sombra groaned lustily as he felt his husband tug his tail again and took the Draconequus' whole shaft in, sensing his impending orgasm.

“Yes, that's it-!” Discord couldn't hold on any longer and with an eager thrust of his hips he came. He felt Sombra's hoof stroke his cock as he blew his load, prompting a second burst of cum as the first barely finished.

Discord caught his breath as the last drop was given, sitting back as Sombra released his member from his mouth, licking his lips.

“Mmm, how I have missed this,” Sombra said huskily. “Now. You gave me everything I desired when I went into stasis, so,” he kissed Discord, giving him a taste of himself, before nipping on his ear and whispering “tell me what you want, my love and I vow that I shall fulfil it.”

“Sombra.” Discord whispered, so many thoughts running through his head. So he picked the one that he'd been daydreaming about every day “I want to make love to you by the fire.”

Sombra blushed at how sweet this was and the adoration behind the request made his heart pound deliriously. “Then I am yours, my dearest Discord.”

Discord snapped his fingers and they found themselves in front of the fireplace. A flame blazed up, the gentle warmth of it washing over them as Discord let his gaze roam over Sombra's body. He was gorgeous and such a passion burned behind those crimson eyes, it gave him the most delicious shivers.

“One condition,” Discord murmured as he kissed Sombra's muzzle “Let me do everything.”

“As you wish,” Sombra purred “I abide by my promise.”

Discord traced a finger along his husband's jaw, coming to rest over his lips “you just concentrate on feeling good. I've waited a long time to pleasure you, my love. “

Sombra nuzzled against his cheek as the chaos being whispered;

“I've missed the feel of you.”

The rug brushed against Sombra's back as his husband laid him down.

“The scent of you when you're aroused-”

His wings pomfed out as Discord traced a finger down his chest and over his belly.

“The sound of your voice.” Discord whispered in Sombra's ear.

“Discord-!” Sombra panted rapidly, his heart was racing so fast. Discord's hand began stroking his belly in slow, gentle circles. He groaned eagerly, arching his back under those warm hands.

Discord summoned a tub of lube and dripped it onto his fingers. His eyes met Sombra's as he pushed three fingers in, seen the way Sombra closed his eyes and bit his lip as a shudder of desire racked his muscular body. Discord continued his preparations, Sombra's moans like the sweetest music.

As he'd promised, Sombra let Discord do all the work, fighting the desire to lift a single hoof as those gentle hands traced over his body. The Draconequus laid a trail of kisses from his husband’s mouth down to his shaft.

Discord squeezed at the base of his lover's member as he snapped his fingers and made a familiar toy appear. He pushed it into his husband and with every ensuing thrust he made with the phallic object, he squeezed and stroked Sombra's shaft with enough pressure to please, but not cum.

“Ahhh! Discord, please-!” Sombra groaned, he needed to climax so badly, but Discord was keeping it at bay as he did him with the toy.

“Mmm, fret not, I’ll allow you to come soon. Just one more task left, my love. “

Discord sat back as he spoke, grasping Sombra's hooves and pulling him to a sitting position at the same time as he used his magic to insert the false member fully into his beloved. He pulled the pony against him, his tail slipping between them and coiling around both their shafts. He kissed Sombra as he began squeezing and languidly stroking both of them with said tail.

Sombra gave an urgent moan as every movement he made stirred the lube-slicked toy inside him, sending shivers up his back as its girth rubbed his sweet spot. Discord's tail stroked and teased both their members as his tongue explored Sombra's mouth.

Sombra could feel his climax building rapidly as the dual pleasures of toy and tail drove him wild. Discord could feel it too, for he gave one final squeeze with his tail, timing his orgasm so it matched with his husbands. Sombra groaned deeply, grinding his body against the Draconequus' as he finished, the climax echoing through his body.

“Whew, that was absolutely magnificent.” Discord whispered to him, gently laying his husband back on the rug and kissing him as he removed the toy from inside Sombra. He set it aside whilst casting a spell to clean both his and the stallion’s coat.

“Mmm, we taste pretty good together.” he teased, to which Sombra blushed and kissed him.

“Indeed,” the stallion panted “but that object is a little cold. Maybe you could warm me up?”

Discord seen the longing in his husbands eyes, his eyes travelling down..

“Of course, my love. I've missed how hot-” he thrust into his King without hesitation “-you are inside.”

Sombra shuddered in bliss as he felt Discord's hot, hard member push into him, filling his insides and making him cry out in desire. No toy could match the real thing, make him feel so aroused and his insides so sensitive…

Each thrust brought back the mind-blowing sensation their love making had always held. Sombra wrapped his wings around them both as Discord thrust hard and fast, the friction on his insides making his own member throb. Discord angled his serpentine body round to swirl his tongue around Sombra's tip as he rutted him.

Sombra arced his head back, feeling the plush rug brushing against his ears as he felt his climax swiftly approach. His whole body felt like his nerves were alight with electricity, as Discord’s actions once more pleased the two places at once.

“Discord-” he panted heavily “I’m going to come-!”

Discord's response was to speed up his oral administrations and finally- with one final deep thrust from the chaos beings cock- he brought Sombra over the edge. The monarch shouted his husband's name as the orgasm swept through him.

He heard Discord swallow in the silence that followed as he caught his breath, felt the Draconequus' lips releasing the equine shaft they’d been wrapped around.

Discord slowly, almost teasingly withdrew from Sombra's rump, hearing the pony groan softly and sounding utterly, deliriously happy as he did.

“You look so gorgeous. my love.” the Draconequus whispered, lying beside him and drawing the pony into his arms. Sombra smiled softly, the firelight reflecting in deep red eyes.

They lay together awhile, nuzzling and exchanging kisses and gentle caresses. At last, Sombra rolled them over so he was atop Discord.

“Any other wishes, my love?” he asked as he leaned down to kiss him.

Discord smiled “if you’re offering your mind blowing skills my love, there IS an old favourite-”

Even as he spoke, he felt a shadow tendril brush against his cock, wrapping around it…

Discord massaged Sombra's back as they lay in the chaos King’s bed later that night. The pony groaned happily as his husband’s hands roamed over his body, easing his muscles.

Discord finished the massage with a pat on the pony's rump before lying down beside him, body curled around the Alicorn’s.

“Is there anything else you desire, my love?” Sombra asked, eyes gleaming in the lamplight. Discord shook his head, kissing him gently.

“You’ve given me many wonderful orgasms tonight my Sombra, I think every drop I have is spent for now.”

Sombra smiled knowingly, kissing his beloved as they got under the covers. He felt tired, in a wonderfully raunchy way. So much energy dissipated by his husband’s hands, mouth and other body parts…

He nuzzled against Discord's collarbone, breathing in the scent of his fur. Slowly he drifted asleep, happy and comfortable.

Several months passed and Loki continued growing like a weed, his magic keeping pace along with him.

Since it first manifested, he'd already accidentally set the curtains ablaze when he burped fire (a sign of indigestion in little ones, according to Discord), much to Sombra's alarm. He was also getting eerily good at locating his fathers and would often teleport as close as he could to one of them then go on a hunt.

Many a time had Sombra's meetings been interrupted by Loki suddenly puffing into existence atop his head and declaring “blrbbl!”

The same went for Discord when he was dealing with matters concerning the citizens. Order would fly out the window as he shared a cuddle with his baby son, this often followed by the frantic nanny racing in minutes later.

Even with their son's growing pains, they still made time to spend together. Umbra or Eris would look after Loki, while Sombra and Discord enjoyed an evening of romance and steamy sexual fun.

Not long after Loki’s most recent teleport act, the nanny resigned saying that, as an earth pony, she simply wasn’t equipped to deal with this!

The parents were both sorry to see her go and insisted on giving her a very generous pay packet as thanks for her work. She kissed Loki on the head then left, moving back to her own home in the Umbrum empire.

“So now we need a new nanny.” Discord said with a sigh at dinner “It was hard finding one who's trained with such a boisterous child, to start with!”

“I'll have a look around, ask some friends.” Umbra assured them “we'll find one, don't fret boys.”

She was in luck, as it happened, for a friend she spoke to on the third day had a very unusual guest visiting who was a big hit with the kids. And she didn't speak a word, well, not words as you'd expect them.

Neither Discord nor Sombra knew what to say when they were presented with Umbra’s pick for nanny.

At first glance it appeared to be a big round ball of lilac coloured floof. Then they noticed two big green eyes, a round nose and a small pink tongue sticking out.

“Thhbbt!” the creature waved a previously unseen hoof at them.

“This is Hufflepoff!” Umbra beamed “she's great with kids, she's been babysitting for pony families all over Equestria and now she's making plans to live here for a few years. She wants to study for a degree.”

Huffle held up a stack of references, which Discord took to flip through. They were all glowing with praise, highlighting her ease with even the grumpiest toddler.

“Hello, miss Hufflepoff...” Sombra began.

“Thhhbt!”

“Oh, you prefer Huffle? Very well.”

Discord did a double take at his husband “wait- you understand her?”

“Why, yes.” Sombra chuckled “I will transfer the knowledge later, love.”

For the moment, they decided to introduce Huffle to Loki. They brought her to his crib, which was situated in a room adjacent to theirs now. She trotted over, taking little steps but somehow moving at quite a pace.

She reached the crib and bounced up and down excitedly. She flicked the catch with her nose, catching the side of the crib in her mouth so it didn't bang and scare the little one within. Setting it down she made a soft “thhbt” noise to Loki. The baby dracon-pony blinked at her, wide orange eyes taking in this new, fluffy face. He reached out a hand and petted her fur and she beamed at him, making another happy “thbbt”.

Loki giggled happily, crawling over and rubbing his face against her fur, giggling in glee.

--Wow, she is good.-- Sombra thought.

Loki began to whimper and Huffle sniffed the air, blew a raspberry, then with a nudge of her head she rolled the infant onto her back and scuttled across the floor to the changing table.

The parents plus Umbra watched in astonishment as she set him down on the table, changed his nappy, throwing the old one in the bin to the side, then finished off with a nuzzle to the cheek. Loki gurgled happily, he liked this fluffy being.

Setting him back in his crib, Huffle raised the side again and turned to face Sombra and co. She blew a series of raspberries, the last one lilting like a question.

“You did excellently.” Sombra answered “Loki seems to really like you.”

He looked at Discord, who nodded.

“You are hereby hired!” Sombra said to Huffle, who bounced up and down with glee. Then she tripped and landed on her face. To Discord's amusement she didn’t seem fazed, instead she began motoring around on her face.

As she whooshed by, Sombra grabbed her in his magic and set her upright. She burbled a thank you, and Umbra offered to show her to her new rooms.

She watched Huffle swiftly unpack her cases in a blur of motion, including a telescope.

She seen it had an inscription along the side that read “Huffle Telescope.” When she asked where it was from, Huffle drew a photo of Twilight, meaning Ponyville.

And thus Loki gained the most unusual nanny he could have had. But he adored her, so when he couldn’t have either of his daddies, she played games with him and drew pictures to make him giggle, illustrating entire stories as she went.

A scant two months later and Sombra would face the most difficult test of his married life, one that would come out of the blue and leave quite an impact on his heart…

It all started with a seemingly ordinary excavation from outside the kingdom. Sombra was told a mare was waiting to see him and his husband, that she had urgent news. He asked that this guest be brought straight to the throne room, also requesting some tea be brought in.

“Wonder what this is all about?” Discord asked his husband as they waited for the visitor to be escorted to them, but Sombra only shrugged, not having a clue and nothing was coming to mind.

“I'm sure it is something we can help with, that is the reason they have come to us, surely.”

As he spoke, he had to move quickly to grab his book before it fell off his lap. It was a leather-bound book, one well worn and filled with Eris' handwriting. On finding out that Sombra didn't know a whole lot about Draconequui, she'd promptly given him her old diary. She'd kept it right up until just a few years ago it seemed.

“You’re probably right, love.” the chaos King smiled.

Sombra nodded.

“But don't call me Shirley.”

---------------2 weeks prior———————

“It's a little wordy and kinda nonsensical, but I had a lot of growing pains, so I wrote it all down. Saved me having to be lectured by our father or one of the other elders.” she pulled a face, mimicking what was obviously her fathers voice “He was always “Eris, will you never learn?” Eesh, such a grump.”

“Ah, I see.” Sombra nodded as he accepted the book “thank you, Eris.”

“Any time, bud.” She grinned, then elbowed her brother “honestly, what have you two been talking about, if not biology?”

“Politics?” Discord shrugged and Eris rolled her eyes.

“I figured it was not urgent,” Sombra said at last, sensing Discord felt a little awkward about the matter “so there was no reason for Discord to talk about it just yet.”

Eris nodded, recalling her brothers feud with their father “well bro, you're off the hook. But you gotta promise to answer any and all questions, clear?”

“Yes, yes.” Discord stuck his tongue out at her. Sombra chuckled, watching them act like siblings should, silly but caring.

Back in the present, Sombra was just starting a section that talked about what had happened to Eris and Discord's mother. Discord had mentioned she had gotten sick, but he'd been too little at the time and hadn't wanted to know the details as he grew. Mourning the loss of her had been enough.

But judging by the sheer amount of notes she'd bookedmarked in this section before giving it to him, Eris had evidently asked everything she could and written it all down here, she didn't like not knowing and seemed to fear the vulnerability this created. His stomach ached as he read Eris' messy writing, detailing a sickness inherent to chaos beings.

It had reportedly been rampant in the very early days of their reign and while less common now, they all carried the gene. There was a low but still present potential for it to activate.

He was on the verge of asking Discord to elaborate when the doors opened and the guards announced their guests arrival.

“Your majesties.” The mare took off her hat and bowed deeply “I’m AK Yearling.”

“The author?” Discord perked up, he'd read her books recently. The mare nodded to him with a smile.

“It is an honour, Ms Yearling, would you like some tea?” Sombra smiled at his beloveds enthusiasm. He loved to see how Discords face (sometimes literally) lit up when he got excited.

“Oh, that would be a wonderful idea, your majesty!” she gave a sigh of relief “it has been a long journey, I can tell you that!”

She sat before the throne, sipping some ginseng tea (complete with the teabag singing merrily underwater) and explained why she'd come to see them.

“A short time ago, I was contacted by an old friend and journeyed out to an excavation outside the border of this empire. I believe it to be part of a cave system that you yourself worked in during this kingdoms construction.

“It is connected to those caves?” Sombra pondered this a moment “there were so many cave-ins, it makes sense the network could very well continue on. Given it's unstable nature, we did not venture far in after the first few collapses.”

Yearling handed them copies of the map, explaining how she, her friend and his team had come to the conclusion the two caves were joined by a collapsed network that ran deep below ground.

“Anyway, to the reason I’m here. We found this.” She took a large box from her travel bag, holding it out to them. Sombra floated it in his magic, opening the scuffed lid. What he seen sent a cold wave through him and his pulse thundered in his ears as he regarded it.

“What’s wrong?” Both Yearling and Discord asked at the same time as they seen Sombra go pale as milk.

“This is-” Sombra lifted the pink crystal from its box. It was carved like a very familiar shape and Discord's eyes widened as he seen it. It was crude, but undeniably shaped quite like him. There was a section missing from its tail however.

“We weren’t able to find out how it was damaged,” Yearling explained. “but the damage is very old.”

“It certainly looks very old, maybe it was broken before it got buried in there?” Discord suggested.

“It looks just like the amulet that wraith took up home in.” Sombra said softly.

“Yes, I read about that.” Yearling nodded “gave you quite the run around before you erased it, your majesty. And it lived in a crystal like this?”

“Yes, it was shaped differently, but there’s no denying it. The colour is identical to that which I encountered.” Sombra said.

“I thought you should see this, due to its resemblance, King Discord.” Yearling said “I recognised the shape from seeing you in the pictures.”

“There’s no denying, I recognise this style from my old home.” Discord said “it's a little, shall we say, cruder than the sculptures we have now. Maybe it was a first attempt, or it's from our earlier days? It may even be a recreation!”

“It seems dormant, dead even.” Sombra blinked.

“It could very well be, let me check.” Discord said as he set a hand on it.

He sent a pulse of magic through it, but there was no response. The thing was inactive and lifeless as far as he could tell. He felt a minor twinge in his head, but that was soon gone and he relinquished his hold on the sculpture, setting it back inside the box.

“Sorry to say, Ms Yearling, but the things dead as a dodo. I'd say it's far too old, it likely won't be able to hold any magic ever again.”

“A shame, but perhaps for the best,” Yearling accepted with a sigh “if anything like the tales I weave were to come true, it would be quite troublesome for this nation.”

“Yes, I have a complete set of your books!” Discord beamed, snapping his fingers and making his absolute favourite appear. “can I be a pain in the butt and ask-?”

“Of course I’ll sign it, your majesty!” Yearling chuckled as she withdrew a pen from her bag.

While she did that, Sombra asked about payment for the item, if she would be wiling to sell?

“Given its relevance to your empire, your majesties, I brought it here with the intent to give it to you for safekeeping. Better in the hands of those who connect to it, than in the hooves of some greedy thief.”

“You will not accept any payment?” Sombra asked curiously.

“Oh, my books make me more than enough bits, but I do ask if you'd mind me using the story of the wraith as part of an upcoming book?”

Sombra and Discord were more than happy to accept such terms and Yearling was thrilled with the new plan. She promised them advance copies, which delighted the chaos King no end.

That evening, as their day drew to a close, Sombra noticed Discord seemed a little sluggish and distant.

“Are you alright?” Sombra asked his husband as he nudged his cheek.

“I'm fine, it's just a headache.” Discord kissed him gently, but in truth his whole body ached a little now.

It didn’t fade that night, however and Sombra was doubly concerned for his husband as they dressed for work the next morning. The chaos King was fumbling with his cloak catch, cheeks flushed. He seemed to be having trouble keeping upright…

“You really do not seem well, my love. I am calling for the doctor, right away.” the Alicorn wasn’t about to allow him to work in such a state!

“Don’t-”

Discord began to speak but was interrupted by an avalanche of pain suddenly exploding behind his eyes. With a sharp cry, he crumpled to the floor as the world blurred and began to go dark.

The guards outside in the hall were startled by a cry of panic issuing from within the bedroom. They flung the door open and seen Sombra crouching beside an unconscious Discord, calling his name with a desperate panic.

“I'm sorry, your majesty, I don't know what this is.” the doctor said as he and Sombra stood outside the bedroom. Sombra twitched, anger and worry warring for dominance, his whole body seeming to shift.

“It must be an illness present in this day and age and if not, surely it is in one of the books! Look for it!” the monarch demanded.

“Your majesty, I will do everything I can, but I’m telling you straight off, this matches no known active disease or virus present in the last ten years.”

The King looked close to having a breakdown as he fought to keep his temper in check.

“Fine, doctor.” he said at last “let me know if you find anything.”

“Yes, sure.” the doctor nodded, watching as Sombra went back into his room, the door clicking shut behind him. He could see his majesty was heartsick, his adoring husband was very ill.

The pony sat silently by the bedside as nurses and aides fussed around Discord, setting up drips and a monitoring station. They left his majesty King Sombra alone, seeing the tension and worry in his body language.

The nurses job over with, Sombra was finally left alone with his beloved, sitting beside the bed. Discord was asleep, pale as milk and hooked up to the drips and a monitor that bleeped regularly.

--Why is this happening?-- he asked himself, feeling sick from worry. His vision blurred as he sat there, he couldn’t stand the thought of losing the love of his life.

Night dragged on and his mother came to see him, but he couldn’t find much to say to her. She hugged her son tightly, saying she'd send for the best doctors from all over Equestria, they'd find a way to help Discord.

“What if I lose him, mother?” Sombra croaked. Umbra looked at her son's tired, pale face, seeing how his eyes were red from lack of rest and many an outburst of fretful tears.

“I wont let that happen.” she said “I’ll send for Eris, maybe she can help?”

Sombra nodded, opening the drawer on the bedside table on his side of the bed. He handed his mother the codes to contact Discord's sister and as he did, Umbra spotted the diary.

“Is that hers?” she asked, recognising the writing on the cover. The fact she'd added “keep out, Discord the Dingus” was cute.

“Yes, she- she wanted to help me learn about their species.” He stared at the book now “maybe she wrote something?”

“Read it if it'll help child, but please get some rest.” Umbra asked and Sombra gave a slight nod.

As his mother left to try contact Eris, Sombra pulled the book towards him, intently scouring the pages as the hours ticked slowly by.

As dawn rose, he came to the end of the section he'd started reading before AK Yearling had shown up. He felt a cold ball of ice form in his stomach as he turned the page and seen a page torn from a book, detailing the disease that'd taken their mother from them.

“No, no.” he begged, the book dropping from his hooves as he processed what it said.

If the books contents were correct, the same illness that had taken Discord's mother was slowly destroying him too.

“This is impossible-” Sombra began to rant, then came to an abrupt halt. That artefact. The one Yearling had brought. Discord had said it was inactive so he' d given it no further thought, but what if it had contained a previously dormant sickness? Traces of something from its previous owner, what if it had come from a burial chamber and Discord had woken it when he'd unwittingly given the thing a taste of his power?!

Part of him thought “if only Yearling had never come by.” But he knew it was not her fault, she hadn't known, how could she have? She was a pony and this sickness clearly didn't affect them. It was a limited species virus, honed to latch onto chaos DNA? It was the best explanation Sombra could give right then.

He read the last few lines in the entry.

“They found the moribund plant, but it was too late. The thing is rare in winter, flowers mainly in summer. Nobody had thought to stockpile any dried flowers, so by the time father found some, mother was too sick to take it and she passed away. It broke dad's heart. Sometimes I think he can't look at Discord and I because we're so much like her, especially Discord. His eyes are just like hers after all, he has her carefree spirit.”

Sombra felt tears of sympathetic grief well up, both his husband and Eris had endured so much.

But it gave him hope. It was summertime now, that flower had to exist! Hope rose, then crashed as a very vital problem reared its head.

How would he find the home of this flower?

He paced and wrote ideas for nigh on two hours before hitting on a workable idea. The journal had a gem embedded in it, one that’d once been used to lock it. It was activated by chaos magic, however…

--I must power it, it is the only way to save Discord. He has taught me about his magic, I just have to emulate it.-- Sombra told himself.

He'd once recreated the Crystal Heart’s magic using a memory from when it had transferred immunity to him. When he'd been in stasis creating their son, Discord had given him his magic and Sombra could still recall the sensation of the chaotic power. That was all he needed to use his Umbrum ability to “copy” it, like a clone.

He focused on recreating the memory, a ball of magic began to grow until it was the size of a small ball.

He gathered the power and fed it cautiously into the journal. He held his breath as the gem glowed, the faint trace still dormant in it absorbing his magic and reviving. The gem shone then faded to a soft glow, but it was strong enough to act as a guide.

Discord had shown him, after the Chrysalis incident, how he'd traced Sombra's magic all the way to his rescue. Sombra touched a hoof to the book and felt a blinding pain in his head that had him staggering around the room until it cleared.

But he'd done it, he knew “where” to go now.

He summoned a guard to fetch the doctor, while he packed a bag to go find his husband's hidden home.

“Here I am, your majesty- what are you doing?!” the doctor cut off mid-bow as he seen Sombra pulling on his armor and strapping the goggles Rainbow Dash had given him all that time ago over his eyes. Under the armor he wore a cloak with a hood to keep him dry.

“I am going to find a cure.”

--He's lost it.-- was the doctor’s first thought, but he put that aside and tried to talk the King down. Sombra was a passionate pony in all areas of his life, but this trait sometimes led to him becoming too absorbed in whatever was to hoof.

“Your majesty, please listen to me! You’re showing all the classic signs of anxiety and grief, you’re not thinking clearly-”

“I am thinking more clearly than you could possibly imagine, doctor!” Sombra said sharply, showing the doctor the book “this is my sister-in-law’s journal, her mother died from this same illness. There is a mention of a flower-”

“You can’t go off on some half-cocked quest based on a childhood journal. Please cease this, your majesty!” the physician pleaded, but Sombra just glared coldly at him. It actually sent a shiver up the other pony's back, he was so intense, his majesty…

“Your mother has arranged for a coded message to be placed in the paper, we'll have miss Eris here soon-”

“There is no time. This could kill him!” Sombra cried. He shook his head, opening a draw and stuffing some of Discord’s secret snack supply into the massive saddlebags he wore “I will not hang my husband's life on a matter of days!”

The doctor could only stammer incoherently as Sombra finished packing and moved to his husband's side to kiss his forehead gently.

“I will not let anything take you from me, I promised.” he said sorrowfully, feeling tears prickling at his eyes as he prepared to leave “For my sake, for your sake, for Loki’s. I need you-” he broke off, biting his lip to keep his panic at bay.

He heard the sound of the window unlatching and looked over at the doctor. The doc was gesturing to the wide open window now.

“Go, your majesty.” he said heavily “I know you wont forgive yourself if I force you to stay. But if you can stand to wait a minute more, I will bring medical supplies and your mother.”

Sombra reluctantly agreed and the doctor was back in a few minutes, an anxious and sleepy Umbra in tow.

“Take care child,” she asked, hugging him once she’d heard the plan “I will care for Loki and Discord, I'm sure Huffle will keep him occupied.”

Sombra hugged her wordlessly, feeling like he was close to breaking, but his husband needed him. He couldn't fall apart now, not with his family depending on this.

Umbra and the doctor watched as Sombra flew out the window, then the doctor closed it behind him.

“Don’t suppose there is any point in trying to send some guards after him as backup?” the doc asked her.

Umbra shook her head “if what he is saying is true, they wouldn’t be able to track him. It's just like how Discord located him, after all.”

They were silent for a moment, then the doctor piped up “Page is going to go nuts.”

“Mm-hmm…”

They woke the aide, who promptly did have a fit, until the doctor got fed up and emptied the flowers out of a nearby vase, before dumping the cold water over the bellowing aide. Page was shocked into silence, sputtering furiously. Umbra almost fancied she could see steam rising from his ears…

But eventually he agreed Sombra stood the best chance of locating this “flower”, he just hoped his majesty would come back safe.

Unaware that back in his castle, his aide was going nuclear and his son was curled up asleep next to Huffle, Sombra flew through the skies.

His head ached after every punch through reality into the chaos realm and out again, but each jump brought him out in a different place. It was essentially a very long range teleport when you got down to it, albeit one involving dimension hopping.

But the sense of closeness to Eris grew with each leap as the hours passed, until-

He punched through the latest portal and appeared in a forest that he didn't recognise from any map.

Also, the sky was Purple.

He was so preoccupied with this fact that he didn't notice when he slammed into a tree. This knocked the wind from him and he landed with a thud in the mass of plants below.

“This has to be it.” he coughed as he got his breath back, checking himself for injury and finding none. Picking himself up he re-read the book, the image of the flower was practically seared into his brain.

He took off, flying carefully through the tangle of trees, but nothing caught his eye that looked remotely like the flower from the book and he began to feel cold, icy fear…

So intent on looking was he, that he didn’t notice when his wing brushed against a tree branch, one that glowed faintly as the Alicorn swooshed by, sending out a soundless signal through the trees network of roots.

He knew this was definitely the right place when he spotted a rock shaped like a butt.

“Only in Discord's home would that be so prominent. No wonder he is so fascinated by mine, when he grew up with this thing.” he shook his head, a faint chuckle escaping him.

Then something caught the corner of his eye and he actually uttered a full-on laugh as he realised the flower not only existed but...was growing in the giant ass-rock. In the moss-coated crack of it, no less.

“You can not be serious.” Sombra groaned, but he didn't waste any time in swooping over and grabbing a bundle of the flowers with his magic and checking them against his book. They were the right ones, the flowers he needed. He felt a sob of relief escape him and let his guard down for just a moment.

That was when the ground began to shake.

“What in Equestria?” Sombra looked all around, where was it coming from? The whole forest trembled in all directions-

He got his answer when the heavy curtains of moss to the far left of him suddenly parted and a giant creature came storming through, eyes blazing as it sought its prey.

Sombra yelped, quickly kicking off from the rock and flying back out of its reach as it lunged for him.

He got a proper look at it as he flew away, it was a giant armoured creature with four stout legs and a mouth full of teeth. It had wings but they didn't seem capable of lifting it up very far, but they aided in its jumps as its teeth snapped at the bottom of his tail. He darted away again as it swung its massive head towards him now.

“Stop!” Sombra cried futilely “I am not here to hurt you, I am just here to save my husband!”

But the thing clearly couldn’t understand him, he realised with a sinking feeling. All it seemed to know was that it had picked up the scent of a potential opponent and was going to wipe it out regardless.

--Eris' book never mentioned a huge territorial forest guardian!! Is it mad about the plant, or-?!-- Sombra panicked as he evaded the thing once more. He genuinely had no wish to hurt this thing, but it wasn’t going to let him go and it’d destroy the forest it was in such a rage.

An idea flashed though his mind and he shot away, hiding behind some trees as he fumbled with his pack. The doctor had given him some sedatives in case of emergency and now he had a plan in mind. He lifted the first ampoule and broke it open. Summoning an orb of his magic, he fed the sedative into it. Given the size of this thing, he went and added every other dose he had. It'd hopefully be enough to slow it down at best, make it dizzy at worst.

His plan ready to go, he flew back out, yelling at the top of his voice so the creature would lock onto him.

“You want to fight?” Sombra growled. “Come and get it!!”

It charged.

An elder Draconequus was sat at his desk, writing in an old leather bound book when his advisor ran in, his eyes wide and waving his arms about in startled distress.

“Havok, sir, there's a disturbance in the forest!”

“What?” Havok slammed his book shut “that’s impossible!”

“See for yourself.” the Draconequus aide ran back outside, with the elder Havok in close pursuit. He followed the advisor hand as the other male came to a halt and seen the trees shaking in the distance accompanied by heavy thuds and faint roars.

“How?” Havok frowned. It had been hundreds and hundreds of years since any disturbance like this had been seen. Even the forest never made such a racket…

“Hay, what’re we all staring at?” Eris yawned as she drifted out of her house “dad..?”

Then she spotted the shaking trees and whistled “whoa, cool. Some thing’s pissed off in there!”

“And we're going to catch it!” Havok shot off, with his advisor and an intrigued Eris in hot pursuit.

As they got closer, something swooped directly overhead, but it was too fast to get a lock. Eris seen a black tail and a gleam of light between the tree branches over her head.

--It can't be- I must be seeing things?-- she thought, as the three of them slowed their advance and crept closer.

They came to a gap in the trees just in time to see a glowing ball, surrounded by shadow, hit the armoured creature right between it shoulder blades, slipping through a crack in its armor.

The massive beast wobbled, yawned, then fell to earth several seconds later with a thud that sent them all reeling.

“What in blazes?” Havok snarled dizzily. Eris prised herself out of the Y-shaped tree she'd been flung into and shrugged, then she seen who swooped down and landed atop the unconscious guardian.

The pony wore a hood and at first glance seemed to be a pegasus- Then she recognised the tail.

“Sombra?!” Eris blurted before she could stop herself. There was no mistaking the armoured Alicorn- and he was in big danger if he didn't leave now!

Hearing her fathers furious words trailing in her wake she shot off, glomping Sombra at speed as he turned.

Sombra got a shock when he was suddenly tackle hugged and nearly knocked off his feet.

“Eris?” he blurted. She seemed very tense as she hugged him tightly and whispered one word into his ear.

“Run!”

Sensing her urgency, he made to take off soon as she let go, but a sudden stomach-churning pain hit him and he fell, landing in a crumpled heap. Eris ran to his side, helping him to sit…

“Dad?” she asked someone out of Sombra's view “What are you doing?”

Dizzily, Sombra lifted his head and seen two other Draconequui following. Whatever magic he'd been hit with, it was making him sluggish and he could barely lift his wings.

“Why do you greet this intruder so readily, Eris?” Havok snarled as he came to a stop.

His expression faltered slightly as Sombra lifted his head, his hood spilling back and revealing a horn to go with the wings.

--An Alicorn?-- Havok stared, he didn't resemble either of the Princesses he and the other chaos beings stayed away from. That horn, those eyes….

He told himself the magic dampening spell was a necessity and pushed any concern aside.

“Who are you and how did you defeat the beast?” Havok snapped.

--So this is him.-- Sombra felt a jab of fury. This was the father who had made Discord feel so worthless.

Havok was surprised when the pony finally spoke, for there was no fear in his voice “My name is Sombra. And I am fully aware of who you are, even if not by name.”

“How can you know such a thing?” Havok was unsettled, this pony was staring so directly at him, so unafraid of him.

He put two and two together when he looked at Eris and she flinched, looking away.

“Discord.” he hissed.

“The very same.” Sombra snapped.

“How did you get in here, this place is nigh on impossible for outsiders to penetrate.”

Mouth quirking at the innuendo, yet more of Discord's influence, Sombra just chuckled.

“I am here to accomplish one thing, save my husband.”

“What’s-?” Havok took only a second to realise what this weird pony was saying. There was only one way he could’ve learned chaos magic and he'd said he was here to save his married partner. This meant that he knew the wayward son, Discord.

Impossible. It couldn’t be.

Without pausing for thought, he blurted out the first thing he could think of to insult that idiot child in his absence.

“So, that disgrace of a child had brought even more embarrassment to a long suffering family, by marrying a PONY?!” Havok snarled and Sombra tensed up.

“The only disgrace is the parent who thinks their child a failure merely because they wanted freedom!” Sombra shot back, even as Eris tried to stop him.

“Watch your mouth, Pony.” Havok made a gesture with his hand and the spell he'd cast to stop Sombra fleeing ramped up a notch, causing the pony to cry out in pain.

“Dad, stop!” Eris stood between her father and her in-law.

“This pony is an intruder, he must be dealt with. They are capable of trickery too, Eris.” Havok snapped. More Draconequui filled the area, some expressing shock and awe at how this intruder had taken down the beast of the forest and done it non-lethally too.

Sombra felt panic start to grow as he was marched through the forest to the hidden village where the Draconequui lived. It was a simple set-up, yet he could see magic’s influence in the shapes of the buildings, in the artefacts and art scattered about.

He was brought to the biggest one of all, marched into a sizeable office and sat down on one side of a large oval table, with Havok sitting on the other side. Behind the elder chaos being was a desk, upon which he threw Sombra's saddlebags.

Sombra's wings bristled as he heard two more Draconequui taking up place behind him and felt the tip of a spear jab the back of his neck where the armour didn't cover. But he kept his fury inside for the time being, he had to be careful.

“I am sorry for my intrusion, but I was not aware your home was even here. What I followed was a memory of magic imbued within that book. But I must say this again,” he said to the stony-faced Havok “you don't understand the situation. If I do not get that antidote back, Discord's going to die.”

“What?!” Eris, who had been eavesdropping outside the door, came haring in now only to find herself restrained by two more guards and sat firmly down in the corner.

“The journal you gave me-” Sombra began as he glanced at her, but he felt a magical force grip his jaw and force him to turn his head to face Havok.

“You'll talk to ME, intruder.” Havok snapped “I'll admit, your little trick with knocking the beast out was impressive, but it is as far as you go. I cannot have this place being common knowledge amongst ponykind. They have caused us nothing but trouble, far in the past we were HUNTED by primitives who believed us spirits to capture. The fact that my own son has married one? I regret not cutting his power off when I had the chance.”

Sombra felt like he had been slapped. “how could you do tha-”

Again his jaw was gripped so forcefully that he cut off.

“Our laws are strict, we do not want outside influence.” Havok released the pony and smirked as Sombra growled softly, only to cut off when the spear pressed into his spine.

“I'm sorry for whatever intrusion you perceive, but time was not of the essence to make a diplomatic trip. I came here following that flower, I have to save him. You should understand- your wife- ah!”

“Don't you dare speak of her, you wretched liar.” Havok snarled, pain clawing at his chest as he gave Sombra another dose of pain via the spell. This had to be a lie, this pony was just another lackey of Celestia. She’d finally located this place…

“My son's foolish venture and the trouble it brought us meant we had to be isolated to stay hidden from those nosy Princesses.”

“They're-” Sombra coughed as his pain faded and he could talk again “Celestia and Luna? They are not evil!”

“He's right dad, they're nice!” Eris blurted.

Havok glared at her “I knew you were sneaking off, but I did not think you foolish enough to visit their world after the mess your brother made. Who knows what trouble you have brought down on us now?!”

Eris glared “They. Are. NICE.” she hissed through gritted teeth.

“Those deceitful ponies-”

“HOW DARE YOU?” Sombra shouted and Havok was caught off guard just enough not to slap him “Tia and Luna are the ones who saved me from a hell beyond words. Celestia alone was willing to give me a second chance, how dare you speak about her that way! She is worth a million of any of us ponies!”

Havok laughed harshly to cover his surprise “how cute. But it wont serve you any better, there are only two choices open to you now; stay here and accept you're never leaving, or have my medic brew a little remedy for your memories.”

Sombra stared, confused. What did he mean? He dimly heard Eris yelling something inaudible…

“It's rather potent,” Havok smirked as he ignored his raging daughter “who knows how much of your memories you'll be left with? But you'll be left outside our borders, no doubt you’ll be picked up somewhere along the line.”

“I am not staying here, I will not be kept prisoner!” Sombra barked, fangs bared as he snarled.

“Very well.” Havok snapped his fingers and barked “have the brew be mixed straight away!”

The aide did a double take.

“Are you sure, sir?” he asked softly, studying the pony as he moved to speak privately to the elder “even with the matter of the Princesses, this is still the same sickness that killed my best friend. I know how much you felt her loss, but so did I and-.”

“I will not be tricked by ponies and their lies. Discord nearly destroyed us all by angering those high and mighty mares. Obey your orders and fetch the drink!” Havok snapped.

The Draconequus aide nodded and left, casting a last glance at Sombra as the door shut behind him. This felt wrong…

Havok smirked at Sombra “this will be just a few minutes.”

Ice cold panic clawed at Sombra's gut, he had to convince him-

“For pity's sake dad, he has a son!” Eris beat him to it, trying to bargain with her father. She shot Sombra a “sorry, I had to!” look, which he returned with a quavery smile. He knew she was trying her best…

“What? How?” Havok stared, this pony WAS a guy, right?

“I am a species of pony known as an Umbrum,” Sombra said patiently as he turned “we- well, I- can create a child using a rare ability. All we need is power from our partner, whether they be male or female.”

Havok was floored by this confession, did this mean he had a grandson-? He shook his head, no, ponies were nothing but trouble. He couldn’t let this fact cloud his judgement, not after all this time. How could he trust a pony?

“Then I am sure he will be able to bond with you again once you return, minus your memories.” he said coldly, trying to keep his façade steady.

Big mistake. Sombra felt cold all over and there was a funny tingling deep within his chest.

“How could you?” He hissed in such a deadly voice that Havok actually felt a faint shiver “we are both fathers, yet you would leave a child without one of his parents for no better reason then you did not agree with Discord's choices. Do you even know what he has done since then?"

The pony’s crimson eyes seemed to glow as Havok felt another uneasy shiver run up his back. Those eyes, something about them spoke of a true self locked beneath the surface…

“He brought trouble upon us, I will not risk those Princesses sealing us all away. I have a clan to protect-”

“And I have a family to save!” Sombra cried and Eris seen there were tears in his eyes “you do not understand what you are doing. Please listen, if I do not save him, Discord will not only die-” he cut off, steeling himself against the tidal wave of emotion threatening to overwhelm him “I will lose one of the most important things in my life, my son will lose one or potentially both of his fathers and my HOME will lose a King!!”

This silenced the room.

Havok processed this. This pony was saying his failure of a son ruled a kingdom? Given these two were apparently married, that meant this pony was a King himself. Why had he not declared this? Instead, he'd come as a lowly commoner…

--He has a child, just like you do. You had a son too, before you drove him away—

He felt the first seed of doubt over his decisions start to grow and snarled, slamming that thought aside. He couldn't make an exception because of this sob story. But even as he opened his mouth, that inner voice piped up again, saying what if he was wrong this time? Even Eris, the “good” child of the two, claimed those Princess sisters were kind.

Fear forced his hand in the end, he couldn’t, nay wouldn’t, risk it.

“It's lamentable, but our numbers are already dwindling, I cannot risk any more of us being locked away by the whims of a hot-headed pony Princess or her cold sister. “

Sombra's heart broke in fear as this final axe came slamming down. His body slumped, head bowed so his mane fell over his eyes, ears ringing. For a moment he thought sorrow would win out, but as the curtain swished open and the same Draconequus from earlier entered carrying a bowl of steaming hot liquid in his hands, fury took over.

“I have tried.” Sombra spoke at last.

Havok turned, the bowl in his hands, glancing idly at the pony as he sat down. He pushed the bowl across towards Sombra.

“This is your final offer.” the elder said.

“To be patient.” Sombra spoke as if he hadn’t even heard Havok.

“Drink this by choice or force, or submit to a life here.” Havok said icily even as he frowned, just what was the pony trying to do?

“But I will not hear one more word of this!!”

Sombra's final words were a shout and when he lifted his head, Havok seen his eyes were glowing.

There was an explosion of light and he was hit with a backlash as the spell he had laid on Sombra buckled and crashed.

--How? That’s the most powerful spell our kind has!-- he thought numbly as he shielded his eyes.

At last the light faded away, enabling him to see again and his jaw dropped at what was before him.

Sombra was a mirage of glittering light now and the two guards that had been keeping an eye on him were pinned against the wall by a glowing white light. The only colour came from the crimson of the pony's eyes and the green and purple sheen of his magic.

“If you are not willing to listen to decency and show compassion, than you leave me no choice. I tried to make my apologies for intruding, I came only for the herb, not to attack your home. I rule an empire, thus I honour the sanctity of such places.”

He took a deep breath, heart pounding in his chest with such force he felt close to screaming.

--How…-- Havok sat frozen as the Pony spoke, jaw dropped open.

“I WILL save my husbands life, with or without your approval!” the pony roared, then with startling speed and agility, he leapt over the table towards Havok. His horn glowed with a bright magic-

Havok ducked, thinking he was avoiding a full on blow from the pony. But as he hit the floor and no blow struck him, he realised the diversion. Twisting round, he seen Sombra hadn’t been aiming for him at all, he'd been after his saddlebags.

Throwing them onto his back, the pony stood atop the desk and spoke to the stunned occupants of the room.

“I truly am sorry for your loss all that time ago, but your grief is clouding your mind. I have known what it means to feel such despair, but I fought it, with the love of your son! I owe him my life and I vowed in turn to save his when we wed. I will never cease defending him!”

He cast a cold, baleful glare at Havok as he finished, then took off through the wall, punching an impact crater in it that oddly resembled his shape. In seconds he was gone, shooting through the air like a torpedo, beyond even the fastest of them in mere seconds.

The guards were released from the spell as the pony got far enough away.

“And score one for the nice guy!” Eris crowed in the silence that followed it the wake of the escape. Havok turned to her, seeing she looked smug, arms folded and eyes narrowed as she addressed him.

“See, this is why being a total douche-canoe is a bad idea, dad.”

Havok dismissed the guards, leaving him and his daughter alone in his office.

“Eris-” he began, but she shut him up the next second, zooming right up in his face as she did.

“No.” She growled, he'd never heard her raise her voice like that “you will be silent for once. I've spent years suffering under your paranoia, we ALL have and now you're going to listen to me.”

She snapped her fingers and a box thudded onto the table between them. Flipping it open, she pulled out some photos and proceeded to enlarge each one to show her stunned father.

“This one was taken at the wedding, who do you see?”

Havok stared at the photo, it showed Celestia and Luna pulling silly faces and posing together, with a very Pink pony sticking her head in at the edge of the photo, grinning widely and wearing a lampshade on her head.

Next was a picture of Sombra, Celestia, Luna and..

“Discord.” Havok said softly and Eris nodded.

“Now this.” The next one made Havok pause. It showed his son and the pony dancing together. The shot had been captured mid-step and the pony was resting his head against Discord's chest, eyes closed, a gentle smile on his face. But what struck him was the expression on his son’s face. Discord was looking at the pony he danced with as if he was his whole world, nothing could matter more. He'd never looked this happy as far as his own father had ever seen.

The next photo was a copy of the one Sombra kept on his desk in his room. It showed him and Discord snuggled close and grinning happily into the camera. The joy in their expressions was obvious, they were content together.

At long last Eris showed a very sweet picture that took the wind out of Havok's sails for good. It had been taken on her recent visit, she told him. It showed Discord and Sombra sitting close together and held in their arms, looking up at his fathers with rapturous joy, was…

“That’s their son,” Eris said and Havok was surprised to see tears in her eyes “his name is Loki.”

So it was true, not a lie to plead for his life. Everything the pony had said was real, captured in these photos. The Princess sisters, not armor-clad tyrants but giggly, smiling mares. They were smiling at Discord with happy, open faces.

“That’s a chaos name.” Havok said on instinct as he stared at the photo of Loki.

“Exactly,” Eris wiped at her eyes “he named him that because he loves my brother, he sees so much more than a “disgrace”, as you call him. Sombra was put through hell by a monster, tortured and beaten. He was willing to die, dad, rather than keep on living. Then my brother became his friend and saved him from everything he'd endured. Because of the son you hate, a scared pony became a King once more. He leads an empire with my brother, the pony's adore them equally. The Princesses care for them!”

She pulled out an extra photo, this time one of Fluttershy hugging Discord “this is Fluttershy, she's Kindness and love all rolled into one shy pony. She taught Discord what having friends was like, persuaded him to trust ponies again. She told me she was delighted to see Discord and Sombra together, because they've both had hard times, but they were able to save each other. Without that “pony” as you called him, Discord would have just fallen prey to what you thought of him and caused trouble. But Celestia set him free, gave him a second chance and he hasn't screwed it up! He's better then ever now, since meeting Sombra.”

Havok didn't have a rebuttal for that, so Eris just carried on. She pulled a newspaper from the box, showing her father two pictures on the front page; one of Sombra and Discord sharing a kiss on the altar with a beaming Luna behind them, the other showing the crowds inside the building. She pointed to a pony in the front row.

“See? That's me. He didn't have to, but Sombra asked me to come! And see, Princess Luna was the Pony of Ceremonies. You seriously wanna say she's cold hearted? She's super cool!”

“How-”

“He was given a chance, dad. Which is more than you've ever given us. You're so obsessed with order and control, you're keeping us cut off from living fully. Celestia has long forgiven Discord, you'd know that if you didn't spend so much time with your head under a rock whilst jammed up your ass! Heck, I bet Celestia would be happy to meet all of us, if you quit calling her names for five minutes!”

Havok was stunned. His efforts to keep them safe...had failed? He flashed back to Sombra's words, his desperate pleas to be let go so he could save the life of the one he loved. He hadn't been able to save his wife, but this pony-

“Then it's true, Discord is..” he couldn’t finish.

“Yes, he's back home in their empire, being attacked by the same thing that took mother! Please dad,” Eris began to sob and her father realised for the first time that he could hear how much pain was in his daughter’s voice “I don’t want my brother to die the same way mom did. Let it go, don't chase after him.”

Havok paused.

“That pony, he's not like the others. Have they changed-”

“Yes, they have! There's four Princesses now, five if you include the baby one. One of them is a fricken’ Princess of friendship!”

“Then-”

Eris watched as her father shook his head, then abruptly let his head fall into his hands.

Havok was swamped. Was his son really dying? He'd spent so long using Discord's mistake as leverage to persuade everyone to stay hidden, he'd never considered that Celestia might forgive. He'd assumed she'd had him locked up for good and he'd been angry at both her and his son, painting her as a villain as well as her sister.

He'd assumed he'd never see his son again, but now he knew he was not only alive but ruling alongside that pony. And Celestia was behind setting him free?

“It doesn’t make sense..” he croaked. He felt Eris' hand on his shoulder.

“It does, dad. Things aren’t what you thought. You never looked in on the world to see if it was kinder than it once was. You assumed the worst of Equestria and abandoned Discord to it. Celestia set him free and Fluttershy showed him what being good could do. Sombra showed him what his chaos could do for an empire and showed him he deserved love like you and mom once had.”

She placed the photo showing Loki in front of him and he shakily lifted it in one hand. There was so much said in that one image. The smile on Discord's face, the way he had an arm around the Alicorn pony. The way Sombra's wings were fluffed up, one curving around his husband. Between them, beaming so happily, was a child composed of parts of both a Draconequus and Sombra's race. The first child in their line in so long…

And iy hit home just how happy they were. He traced a finger across the crowns they wore. Two Kings and their son, a little Prince named Loki.

He realised the sheer weight of his mistake and for the first time in centuries, felt guilt well up en masse. A feeling he'd pushed down time and again, always convincing himself he was doing the right thing for his home. His vision blurred and Eris was startled to see drops splash onto the picture as her father set it down.

“Dad?” she asked as he didn’t look up.

“I've made a fatal error, haven’t I? I assumed he was an agent of Celestia, here to trick us all. I hated her for taking him away, yet I also hated my own son for causing trouble. I should have seen what this pony has, the good in him.”

Eris rubbed his back, feeling just a little sorry for him. He was her dad and she still loved him, despite her anger and his mistakes. Her voice shook as she spoke…

“He was a kid when she died, he was too little to understand that she was never coming back. Then, when his efforts to show you he was there and attain your love resulted only in his getting a scolding, he began to lose faith in love. He ran away because he couldn’t stand being punished for no reason he understood. He wanted to bring something back that would make you proud. But he made a mistake, ticked off the sisters and was sealed away. But he's made up for it now, Equestria has grown to love and accept him. They could love us all, dad…”

Havok looked up at last, determination in his face. He got up and strode out of the room, moving with purpose now. Grabbing her box of mementoes, Eris hurried after him. Where was he going?

Had he heard her at long last?

Havok descended into the bowels of the building, rummaging in some dusty boxes until he pulled out a jewellery box.

Inside it was a necklace. It had once belonged to him, a token given by the village when you married. He dusted it off now, holding it up to the light.

“Hay, I remember that,” Eris floated beside him “you used to always wear it, until-”

“Until I lost your mother.” Havok sighed “it's my wedding amulet. It's design symbolises the joining of two who belong together. I think,” he took a deep breath “that this should belong to my son and son-in-law now.”

Eris' heart lifted “you mean?”

Havok was misty eyed as he looked at his daughter.

“Yes, it's time that things moved on. If that pony is right and you are right, then perhaps Celestia can forgive one more. As well as that pony-?”

“Sombra, dad.” Eris reminded him “Discord said it translates to “wise shadow” or something like that, I cant fully remember. I got pretty drunk at the wedding.”

“How appropriate a name,” Havok smiled very faintly “he knew about me, yet he didn’t quail from confronting me. Neither did you, my daughter.”

“Well, you were being a total butt.” Eris joked, wiping at her eyes.

“Indeed.” Havok had to chuckle “is this “butt” a term from Equestria?”

“Yeah, there's lots of them. Rump. Rear. Arse-”

“That's great Eris, hardly intellectual, but good to hear.” Havok managed another smile and was rewarded with a hug from Eris.

“I know he will not wish to see nor hear me, but I must speak with Sombra. First however, I need a favour from you, Eris.”

“Sure dad, like what?”

She was surprised when he told her, but readily agreed.

Sombra checked multiple times as he flew back, but in none of his trips did more Draconequui pop out of the figurative woodwork to arrest him.

Even so, he did a series of backtracking jumps and loops before heading home.

He pushed himself as far as he could, seeing the palace zoom up into view as he shot by, generating a slipstream that rattled windows and tangled laundry into knots.

As the castle loomed ahead, he spotted what he recognised as Pages office window (it had those specific family crest banners below it) and shot right at it. However, he clipped a sculpture on the top of one of the peaks and his trajectory was sent into a spin. Thus, instead of opening the window with his magic, he crashed right through it.

Page Assist was just approaching his desk when he looked up and seen something heading for the window- and fast! He ducked, hearing the window smash and glass rain down. Whatever it was bounced off the desk with quite a thud and hit the floor behind him, rolling until it hit the doors.

“Oww..” a voice coughed and Page Assist stood up right quick. He stared at the intruder in astonishment, for it was his majesty. He'd come to a halt upside down against the door, tail draping into his face. Glancing at his desk, Page seen where the King’s armor had left deep gouges during his impact.

“Make a joke about my weight and you are in trouble.” Sombra groused, rolling himself back to his feet.

“Where is Discord- never mind, I know the way-!” he strode forward and slammed face first into the door, magic apparently on the fritz. That or he'd hit his head pretty hard in the crash.

“Your majesty-” Page recovered his voice “thank goodness you’re back, where did you GO?”

“Oh, to chaos and back again, but I got the flower!” Sombra shook his head, his sense of urgency returning as his senses did.

He pulled the door open and raced off, with Page Assist in hot pursuit. So intent was he that he didn’t even stop for obstacles, lifting tables, vase stands and even servants up in the air and setting them down behind him as he ran.

“Oh, he's back!” the bewildered maid said to her friend “we should really install speed limits in this place!”

Sombra barged into the doctor's office mid-way, shoving the book and flower in his face. The doctor read it, surmised how to make it and promptly had Corona come and drag his majesty out of the lab.

“Unhand me!” Sombra huffed as the Gargoyle tried to drag him down the hall by his tail. The Alicorn King tried to cling to the carpet but it was to no avail. Corona was pretty strong…

“You cannot expect them to create the cure with you there. You can't sit still for the love of sanity, sire. You’ll only get in the way!”

Sombra quit struggling, so the Gargoyle chanced releasing his tail. Sombra flopped to the floor in the empty corridor like a lifeless puppet. He sighed heavily.

“Look, sire, you’re exhausted. Go take a nap or something.” Corona patted the kings back “leave the armor with me, I’ll fix those dents.”

So Sombra shucked the armor and toddled off towards his bedroom wearing just the cloak that’d been under the armor. This, he threw aside as he walked to sit beside his husband, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. Taking a shaky breath, he whispered to him.

“I did it, love. I found the cure. I don’t care what vengeance your father wreaks upon me, I will not let anything take you from me. I love you.”

As he spoke, he suddenly felt the adrenaline fade into nothing. Every scrape, bruise and aching limb seemed to hit at once and he collapsed at the beds edge, sobs of relief hitting his body. He let them fall, he'd done all he could for now.

Once he ran dry, he sniffled, lifted his head and went staggering into the bathroom. He washed his wounds and cleaned the dirt from his mane.

Then he was hit by an idea.

What if they DID manage to track him-?

He reactivated at the spell linking to Eris and with a jab of panic realised it was closer, loosely speaking, then he'd expected. What if Havok had dragged her by force?

He shut off the shower, not bothering to dry himself off as he raced into the bedroom.

What was he supposed to do-?

As he thought this, he seen a gleam of light in the corner of his eye. Walking over to it, he realised it was from the prototype gem he'd created to power him in stasis. By some miracle, it was still powered since its last test. The fault with the prototype had been that it gave all its power at once, when he'd needed a slow release.

But that didn’t matter now, it had energy and he needed it. He fetched his neck-plate, discarded back at the start of all this, slotting the power gem in place of the regular one. He felt a surge run through him as the power was absorbed. He swiftly felt energised and his pain was soon but an echo of its former self.

--This should be enough, I shall show him what happens to those that try to destroy my life..-- Sombra thought sadly. He had hoped for anything but this.

He turned and left, creeping unnoticed to the rooftop tower. The warm breeze made a chill run over his wet coat and he took a moment to dry off, then he wove an illusion from his magic and waited.

Knowing the way there, Eris took a much faster route than Sombra had. All his ducking and hiding had been for nothing, for she already knew the way.

“How far now?” Havok asked for the third time.

“Next jump!” Eris called.

With one final portal, they shot out of the sky above the Umbrum empire. Its stunning visage spread out below, all glittering buildings and tall spires.

“This is beautiful.” Havok whispered.

“Isn’t it? You’d love it if you had a look around, dad. Sombra built a beautiful home, literally worked on-site until it was done. All he wanted was a happy home for his ponies and anyone that needs help.”

The castle was approaching fast and both their hearts leapt when they seen a figure atop it.

“Discord?” Eris cried, then realised something was a bit odd about him. Her father realised it too and they tried to pull up short, but it was simply too late.

Sombra dropped the illusion as they got close enough, launching himself at Havok. He heard Eris yelp as he slammed into the elder chaos being.

“Wait-!” Havok tried to reason with him.

“For what?” Sombra spat as they tussled mid-air, before the stallion pushed him away with his magic “for you to erase my mind? To destroy my home, my FAMILY?!”

Rage and sadness battled in his voice and in his eyes as Havok met his gaze.

“Sombra!” Eris cried “please, listen. It's not what you think-”

Havok realised then just how much trouble he'd caused. By treating this pony like a criminal, like he'd assumed all ponies were, he'd destroyed any hope of an easy reconciliation. This pony had immense magic and was set to unleash all of it for Discord's sake.

He'd gravely underestimated the true nature of ponies.

“The both of you.” Sombra shook his head as he hovered there, magic crackling around his horn, mane billowing in an unseen breeze. Tears sparkled the crystal as the pony shook his head, heart torn by grief “I will not forgive-”

He opened his eyes and prepared to fire, only to be tackled out of the air as he spoke. He hit the smooth paving of the tower, skidding to a halt. Coughing, magic sparking over his body, he sat himself up and seen Eris a few metres away. She'd tackled him, stopped his spell.

“How could you-” he cried sharply, but she didn’t answer. She just shot forward and threw her arms around him, the embrace startling him into stilling.

“Please, Sombra.” she cried softly “please!”

He remained tense, but didn’t push her away.

“He's not here to hurt you. Neither am I. I'm sorry you feel betrayed, but I showed dad everything I had of you and my brother. He asked me to seal his magic, he can't use anything but basics until I say so. It's the strongest honour spell we know, he can't hurt you, he wont.”

“Why should I trust him?” Sombra asked coldly as she let him go and met his gaze.

“I cant provide that reason,” she said honestly as she wiped at her eyes “but he wants to try. After you left, I yelled at him, told him what an idiot he was being and showed him my memories. He listened, what you did got through to him. He's spent years hiding from how he's really felt, now he has to deal with it and that starts with making up for what happened back there.”

Sombra's expression seemed to crumple, eyes filling with frightened tears again “how can I trust that you aren’t lying to me?”

“Because I’m family. I love you, my goofy bro-in-law. I would never hurt you, not after everything you’ve given me. But I believe dad wants to make up for being a jerk for so long. Will you trust me, to trust him?”

Sombra looked away, gaze briefly settling on Havok, who had landed atop the roof. He looked older suddenly, less a tyrannical father and more a regretful one. Sombra could see a tiredness in his eyes, the way his hands were clenched tightly together, unease in his posture.

He looked back at Eris.

“Please?” she begged “I would never want to hurt you, never-”

He heard the honesty in her words and nodded at last. She began crying softly and he made a move to hug her.

Then the door was suddenly flung open with a bang, there was a flash of magic and in a split second the roof was covered in a shimmering dome shield.

“Nopony move-what the?!” It was Corona and a squad of guards.

“Your majesty!” One of them seen Sombra and charged over, glaring at Eris and motioning her to step away from the King “who are these people?”

But Sombra seemed to be in shock, only staring blankly at the space Eris had been occupying.

“Sire?!” the guard asked again, slowly approaching the King “are you hurt?”

“Seize them!” Corona snapped.

Eris blinked, raising her hands “whoa, hey now!”

Corona frowned, why did her voice sound familiar? He had a memory of a wedding party…

Havok backed up as the pony guards advanced. Without his magic he was at their mercy and a sudden thought occurred to him now, was this how Sombra had felt? Trapped and victimised?

For this reason he stopped moving, letting them approach.

“Stop.”

Sombra spoke at last and they all looked over at him. He had gotten to his hooves, dulled and tired eyes focusing on the guards.

“They are not intruders. Stand down.”

“Who are they, your majesty?” Corona asked.

Sombra stayed silent for what felt like an eternity, then at last answered with “family.”

“What?” Corona blinked, realising they were in fact very similar to Discord. One was a female, the other an older male.

Sombra spoke bluntly, instructing the two Draconequui to follow him and headed inside, refusing any medical treatment from his guard.

“Hey fuzz-ball!” Eris greeted Corona “remember me?” She turned herself into a pony and back as a clue.

“So you’re-?” Corona connected the dots.

“I’m Discord's sister, Eris. That’s our dad, Havok.”

“I see. Why are you here and why now?” Corona asked.

“I need to see my son-in-law, this “Sombra-” Havok piped up.

“That’s King Sombra,” Corona said sternly “and going by his majesty’s body language, I’d advise staying a safe distance. He rarely shows his temper, but when he does- boom.”

“Yes, so I’ve seen.” Havok murmured to himself “but when he is ready, tell him I wish to speak with him.”

“You’ll be waiting awhile, bud.” Corona said again “With the current situation regarding his husband, he has little focus for anything beyond making sure he recovers.”

Havok said nothing, for what could he say to that?

Sombra came to a halt just ahead of them and the whole entourage stopped, looking expectantly at his majesty. The pony turned his head to look over his shoulder, expression eerily neutral.

“These rooms are for your use. Eris, yours has been left just as it was since your last visit. Mother added some more books.” he managed a weak smile, then his expression blanked again. “Feel free to explore the palace as much as you wish, although I request my private chambers be considered off limits.”

“Of course.” Eris managed to speak “don’t worry, I promise not to booby trap your bathroom like last time.”

Another faint smile, yet the mere action seemed to take more than Sombra had.

“If you need anything, ask my mother or the Captain here. I must leave you now, I wish to attend to my husband and son.”

Just as he spoke, a blur of fluff came tearing round the corner and came to a halt in front of Sombra. It was Huffle.

“Thhbt!” she addressed the monarch. “Thhbt, thhht!”

“He cannot settle? Yes, I’m heading there now, fret not. He no doubt knows things aren’t as they usually are right now.”

Huffle bobbed her head, watching the King as he strode away down the hall. She looked from him, to Eris and Havok, then made a series of raspberries before racing to catch up with the King.

“What did she say? Were those even words?” Havok asked in the silence. He looked at Eris, doing a double take a she realised she looked about to cry “Eris?”

“She.” Eris sniffled “she asked: “why is his heart breaking?””

Another surge of guilt and the older Draconequus found himself at a loss for words.

Sombra felt a little less shaken as he held his son in his arms. The baby gurgled up at his dad, waving a chubby hand as he seen his reflection in his fathers eyes. Sombra placed a kiss on Loki's forehead, heart aching as he beheld his pride and joy. Which that lunatic had threatened to take away from him.

How could he forgive that? His home, his FAMILY, had been threatened by an elder chaos being with a grudge against ponykind. He knew he had to keep an eye on him while he was here…

Loki was fast asleep now, snuffling softly. Sombra smiled lovingly and laid him back in his crib. His vision blurred and he had to fight to push back the maelstrom going on in his head.

Huffle nudged his side, asking was he OK?

“I am fine, it has just been a very long day.” He assured her as he left Loki to sleep…

He went next door to his bedroom, where the doctor was changing the drip at Discord's side.

The doctor looked up as the door opened, trotting over to greet the tired King.

“That flower-?” Sombra asked straight away.

“The distilling process is almost complete sire, as per that book you sent down to us. All you can do is wait, we are working as fast as we can.”

Sombra nodded and the doctor studied him closely, seeing the bags under his eyes, how oddly frail he seemed when you looked past his stoic façade.

“Sire, when did you rest last?”

“It has been awhile.” Sombra said shortly “but I am fine, I will rest once the cure has been completed.”

He strode past the doctor to sit at his husbands' side and the doctor sighed softly. He could see Sombra was determined to have his way, nothing would convince him otherwise. The best he could do as his majesty's doctor, was to keep checking in on him. Or have Corona drag him to a separate room to have a lie down.

Alone with his beloved, Sombra let his head rest atop the bed, hot tears burning his eyes, but he was too worn out to break down. So he just sat in silence, listening to the machinery monitoring his husband.

“Please wake up, love.” Sombra whispered to the sleeping Draconequus “I found the remedy. But unfortunately your father followed me here, I am so sorry. I did not know I would find your old home, I was focused only on that flower.”

He dozed off some indeterminate time later, during which time the remedy was finally finished. The doctor concocted a dose relative to Discord's body weight and whatnot and took it up to the room, his aide alongside.

They walked in, having received no answer to their knock and were beside the bed by the time they realised. Sombra was still there, head buried in his forelegs, ears drooped. He was fast asleep however, as not even the knocking on the door had roused him.

“Should we, wake him up-” the aide began, only for the doctor to cut him off with a frantic shake of his head.

“For Celestia's sake, do not disturb him. You know how hard it is to get him to sleep when he's stressed out. No, leave him be, just be very quiet.”

So they stealthily hooked up the bag with the cure in it alongside the drip and left the room. Sombra slept on, unaware of any of it.

But his heart lifted when he woke and seen the second drip bag marked with an icon of a flower. He looked at his husband's face, worry blooming anew as he seen he still looked as pale as earlier.

There was a knock on the door, and a guard stuck his head in.

“Your majesty? Dinners ready, cook said to let you know.”

Sombra thought about food, then thought about one particular guest he currently had and sighed.

“Could you have it brought up here, I do not wish to join the others tonight. Please give them my apologies.”

“Of course, sire.” the guard nodded, trotting away down the hall. Sombra sighed, returning to Discord's side.

“I’m afraid his Majesty King Sombra will not be joining you for dinner tonight, he sends his apologies.” the guard informed the others at the table minutes later.

“I hope he's alright.” Umbra sighed.

Eris had come to see her earlier, with her father in tow and a tale to tell. Umbra had been pretty startled, she'd heard briefly about him from Discord. But to her surprise, he wasn't like she had expected.

“Oh!” Umbra said in surprise as she opened the door to her office to see not just Eris but a tall, older Draconequus.

--Could it be?-- she felt a jab of concern, but Eris gave her a reassuring, pleading smile so she went with it and let them in, offering tea or coffee.

“I can see from your expression that you know who I am.” Havok said at last.

“I assume you are my son-in-law's father?” Umbra said smoothly.

“Yes, my name is Havok.” the Draconequus said.

“How did you come to meet my son?” Umbra asked curiously “last I seen that child, he was hell-bent on getting the cure for his beloved Discord.”

“The flower he sought grows in the depths of the forest that helps keep us hidden.” Havok said briskly “why he did not just come directly to us-”

“Oh please, dad!” Eris burst out “what would you have done then? Threatened to hold him hostage or just move straight to that memory potion and addle his brain-”

“You were going to do WHAT to my son?!” Umbra's back was immediately up. Eris put her hands up in a “please wait” gesture.

“Dad freaked out, he still thought Celestia and Luna were on the hunt for the rest of us. When Sombra showed up, kicked the beast of the forest up the arse then gave dad a good yelling at, it was a bit of a surprise.”

Havok glowered at his daughter, but she just stared right back and he remembered his feelings upon seeing those photos of his son's wedding. The happiness they shared, how strongly Sombra had spoken of his son.

The very real fact he may have lost both his son and his in-law.

Umbra seen how tired and close to misery the male Draconequus suddenly looked as all the fury seemed to leave him and she got down from her chair, standing in front of him. There had to be more to this story besides this being threatening her son with a mind wipe for no reason.

“Why did you come here?” she asked, her kindness only making Havok feel guiltier.

“I realise my chances are less than zero, but I wanted to apologise to both your son and mine. I made a foolish judgement, assumed your son was coming there to expose my home to the wider world. After the Celestia incident, I sealed us off, didn’t want her finding us.”

“Didn’t you ever go looking for him again? See what happened?” Umbra asked.

“No, I was too stubborn.” Havok sighed “I didn’t want him thinking he could cause trouble and get away with it, but I was also too proud to admit I missed him.”

“We all make mistakes like that. My child, he assumed the world was against him and for a time became a tyrant, nothing but hatred fuelling his world.”

Havok blinked at her “your son? The one with the huge kingdom and from what Eris tells me, adored by his populace?”

Umbra smiled “Yes. He has grown to accept his past just as he has helped build a future. My son knows what regret is.”

“He said he would never forgive what I have done and I do not see why he shouldn’t stand by that. What I did was unforgivable, I was prepared to erase memories he held dear just to keep control. But it was never needed, Celestia had stopped being angry at my son, she most likely didn’t care about pursuing an old grudge. Something that I should have learnt sooner.”

“My son knows a thing or two about forgiveness. He has both given and received it. The ponies he briefly enslaved seen his efforts to reform and unanimously decided to grant him a second chance. Now he visits them often, the Crystal Empire is our most long standing trade partner.”

“You did not see how furious he was. I do not think I deserve such mercy and I don’t expect to get it.”

“Don’t be so sure. I know my son has a fiery temper when pushed to his limits, but give him time to think and I’m sure he will agree to speak with you. We all want to protect our families,-”

“My methods were just cruel.” Havok sighed. “All these years I’ve been so blind. A stubborn old fool..”

“Old is a bit harsh, dad.” Eris joked, earning a faint chuckle from him.

“See what I live with?” he joked and Umbra laughed.

“Oh, I'm used to it. Your son has the most imaginative sense of humour, he's the one who taught my child to smile again, after all. And taught him about innuendos.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Eris giggled “I was the one who started Discord on that when he was little. We're just naturally dirty minded.”

“I can only think it must be further back on our line, you certainly did not get that trait from me or your mother.” Havok rolled his eyes.

“Aunty, gotta be. I read her diary, she had a heck of a dirty mind-”

“Yes, that's enough!” Havok sighed, shaking his head. He caught Umbra's eye and seen she was smiling.

“I think its a child’s duty to give their parents a run around. Revenge for any time you ever showed off a baby picture.”

Havok chuckled, recalling doing that to Eris, how mad she'd been. She grinned at him now, confirming his suspicions. Never underestimate your kids.

His stomach growled to break the silence and Umbra smiled. She told them dinner would be ready soon, did they want to accompany her downstairs?

Now they sat around the dinner table, albeit minus Sombra and Discord.

“I hope Sombra's OK,” Eris sighed “he must be exhausted, he's been going full throttle since arriving at our place. How can he still be thinking straight?”

“I doubt he is, by this point he'll be issuing edicts to the potted plants.” Umbra said calmly “when that child runs himself ragged, he really maxes the limit.”

“Is it true he fell asleep standing up in the middle of a talk with one of his council?” Eris recalled Discord's last talk with her involving that tale and a promise to not tell Sombra that he told her.

Umbra couldn’t help but laugh “Yes, it is. I came along just in time to find the advisor trying to wake him, but he was out cold. I had to use a spell to wake him up and insist he go to bed. I'm surprised he didn’t fall over, it's very strange.”

“Huh,” Havok raised an eyebrow “I’ve heard of being dead on your feet, but this is new.”

Eris snickered and Umbra chuckled.

“That’s my son, works until he literally can’t. Although Discord does a fine job of stopping him.”

“How?” Eris asked.

“Usually by literally carrying him away from his desk. Or hiding his paperwork so he has no choice but to stop.”

“Go bro.” Eris smiled, then she sighed “will he be OK?”

Umbra leaned across and patted her hand with one hoof.

“The doctors distilled the plant as fast as they could, it was all in that book of yours. He wasn't sick for long before my son went on a hunt for that flower, so his chances are pretty good.”

Havok flashed back to how he'd treated Sombra. Trapping him with that spell, threatening to hurt him and destabilize his memory. He'd been terrified his worst fear was coming true, that this stallion was an envoy of those Princesses. After he'd learnt Discord had been imprisoned by the Princesses, he'd felt numb from panic. So he'd gone all-bets-are-off in an effort to ensure the Princesses didn’t come after the rest of them as a pre-emptive measure. If they assumed ALL Draconequui were trouble, the end result could be disastrous.

But according to Eris and indeed Sombra, the Princesses were good. He'd assumed they were vindictive since they'd sealed his son away, assumed his tearaway child had committed some grave offence and had mentally severed all ties.

That night he was given a fancy bedroom to stay in, after hours of tossing and turning he eventually fell asleep. But his dreams were full of worst case scenarios. Sombra turning that vengeance on him now, the anger and sadness in the ponies eyes stabbing guiltily into his heart.

He woke in a cold sweat, worry accosting him afresh.

He left his room and asked if his majesty was around, specifying it was the pony King he wanted. Most of the guards had gotten Corona's memo and shook their heads, saying again and again that King Sombra did not wish to be disturbed right now.

But one guard, new on his shift, hadn’t been told this yet, thus told the older Draconequus Sombra had been seen heading for the underground training room.

Havok closed his eyes, he had basic teleport magic, but that was about it. So he aimed himself in the direction of the stallion's magic and hoped for the best-

With a pop, he appeared in a dimly lit room. It was cavernous, lit by lanterns hung from the ceiling. To one side was a workbench littered with weapons. To another was what Havok at first thought was a rack of bodies, but soon realised were just dummies, or puppets. Sawdust was coated across the floor and there were scuffs and gouges in the hard crystal floor.

His eyes settled on the pony now. Sombra had his back to him, working on a hovering ball of magic. He returned it to the crystal on the table next to him and turned to head over to the rack of practise dummies-

He spotted Havok and his wings shot up and out in a flash, the whip-crack sound actually making Havok jump. It was a clear display of hostility if he'd ever seen one!

“How did you get here?” The pony said coldly “this area is private!”

“I located you via our magic. My daughters spell left me the ability to teleport, so it was my only option.”

Sombra recalled Eris saying she had sealed her fathers magic and true enough, he couldn't sense power enough to harm him. He growled softly and floated one of the dummies over from the rack, whereupon he slotted the crystal into its chest and closed the panel. Its emitted a soft whirring noise, its eyes lighting up with a blue glow.

“What do you want?” he asked, squaring off with the creature, which dropped into a matching stance.

“I wished to talk with you.”

“Talk then.” Sombra said, never taking his eyes off the dummy, which stared, unblinking, at the monarch.

“Discord was a troubled child. After the loss of his mother, he acted out and refused to abide by my rules-”

Havok jolted as Sombra sudden lunged forward, his wing sweeping up to block the practise dummy's first blow as it reared up to strike. It stumbled back, narrowed its eyes and feinting to the left as Sombra swung his wing…

“He rarely spoke about his family,” Sombra said bluntly as he dodged a blow “when I asked him, he looked sick to his stomach. When Eris found us, he was terrified he'd lose everything. Did you ever try talking to him?”

“Of course I tried, all he did was talk back. Saying he didn’t care-”

“Well, what reason did he have? Call me biased, but I never seen him look as scared as he did at the thought of you. To him, it spelled the end of his life, our LOVE- if you were to find out-!”

This last word ended in a shout as he reared up and hit the dummy with a well placed right hook. It crashed to the floor and Sombra dropped back to all fours, wings fluffed and raised in defence.

“After his mother went away, so did you!” Sombra said, a little breathlessly as he took a solid blow to the shoulder from his opponent.

Havok stammered “H-he, I…”

He tried again.

“After I lost Diana, I didn’t know what to do. They were so like her. Discord, he has so much of her face, her boldness, that it was like seeing ghosts. By the time I began to live again, I could not control Discord. He would only listen to his sister, so I came to depend on her to keep him calm-”

“And you wonder why he felt slighted?!” Sombra barked, ducking down and back-kicking his opponent several feet across the room. His gaze flicked briefly to the Draconequus as he waited for the test dummy to get back up. Thus neither of them seen it shudder, head twitching strangely for a second before it ran right at Sombra.

The pony danced aside, dodging the charge.

“I thought he was just acting out, as any teenager would. He refused to listen, no matter what I told him-”

“Did you ever sit him down and let him talk back?” Sombra asked “maybe all he wanted was for you to notice him- LOVE him for Celestia's sake! As a child, I endured a lot of abandonment by my peers, so I lashed out, hoped I would get attention by making them angry, for being nice had never done me any good.”

He pushed the dummy back, seeing it stagger he took a breath and continued as he struck back, dropping it to the floor.

“-Maybe he seen this defiance of his as the only way you’d notice him? He just wanted you to see him for what he was worth.”

Havok listened to this and nodded. The pony had a point.

“I never seen it.” he confessed “I let my grief warp my mind, I didn't see that my children needed me. Eris was always so grown up, so capable that I didn't see she was hurting. And Discord fought me, missing his mother and needing me, which he never got-”

Havok cut off abruptly, his guilt making his eyes sting.

“I may as well have lived in darkness, I was so blind.”

Sombra studied him a moment, realising the guilt he seen was real. It seemed that way, the evidence was in Havok's voice as it stumbled during the talk.

“If Discord would talk to me, I would tell him this, but I don't think he will-”

“You're not even prepared to try?!” Sombra barked as the fight carried on. He was getting tired, his sides aching, but he needed to vent his fury. “You owe him this. Talk to him, TRY!!”

He reared up to strike, wings snapping out-

-and everything went to heck in a haybasket.

Sombra wings snapped out and the right one twitched sharply, bending at a strange, unnatural angle. The pain lanced through the wing and down into Sombra's body. He cried out sharply, the pain making him dizzy and caused his legs to give out. He slammed into the floor, the impact winding him.

The practise dummy didn't stop, however. As Havok watched, it reared on its hind legs over the stunned King, hooves coming down towards him-

Havok charged over and body-slammed the thing, ripping out the chest panel at the same time as he flung it back. As the thing hit the wall, he snapped his fingers and teleported a sword from the weapons rack over to his hand. One expert throw and he impaled the creature right through, splitting the crystal controlling it in half. It eyes flickered and went dull, a faint whine and the scent of burnt mechanisms filling the air.

Havok crouched beside Sombra, helping the stunned pony to sit up.

Realising who it was, Sombra tensed up, getting the rest of the way to his feet with a wince. His wing hurt, he couldn’t flex it-

“I know you despise me, but I’m sorry.” Havok said bluntly. Sombra glanced at him from beneath his mane, wary of his words.

“You and Eris showed more bravery than I ever had, you stood up for the son I had forgotten. That I blamed, unfairly. I don’t know what it’ll take to earn an iota of your trust, King Sombra, but I’m sorry. For what I threatened to do, for my cowardice, for tarring every pony with the same cruel brush.”

Sombra stared silently at him, processing the inflections in his voice. As baffling as it felt, he had to admit he believed the remorse in Havok's words. Getting off the high horse he'd been on wasn’t easy for an old fashioned elder, but…

...he was trying.

Havok held his breath as he the pony’s gaze cleared and those deep red eyes met his.

“You've started.” Was all the pony said and for a moment Havok didn’t understand. Then it hit him; the pony had considered his apology. Accepted it? He hoped so. Was there still hope for him?

He broke out of his trance and noticed the pony was looking over at the practise dummy now, as the thing was still nailed to the wall with a sword.

--What’s he looking at?-- he thought, then realised the obvious truth like a slap to the face with a wet fish.

The reason Sombra hadn’t met his eyes, or even faced him as he talked. So great had his anger been, yet he’d chosen to exact it on a lifeless target rather then him.

The pony had been battling his anger, literally, and he was angry at Havok. In his mind, the elder had almost taken away the love of his life.

“How long,” Havok spoke at last “have you loved my son-Discord?”

Sombra looked at him calmly “it has been many years. He had been my friend before that, I had always treasured his friendship. That it turned to love was the most unexpected thing at first, but I would not trade it for the world. Discord IS the world to me. Loki is our pride and joy, we were so happy to have...a child..” he swayed on his feet as a dizzy spell hit.

Havok heard a cracking sound and leaned his head round to look at the neck-plate the pony wore. The jewel in it was fractured, cracks splitting across its facets. He seen a faint pulse of light, then it was gone and the jewel seemed to dull in front of his eyes.

--What is that thing?-- he wondered.

Just then, the door opened and an elder Centaur trotted in. He spotted the dizzy, injured King and went pale.

“Your majesty, what happened?!” he knelt before the King, eyes moving to the injured wing “let me examine that, sire.”

Sombra nodded, wincing as the Centaur's hands probed his feathers and joints.

“It's very badly sprained, sire.” the Centaur looked from the pony to the mess the room was in “what happened?”

“It….the dummy..” Sombra croaked, throat dry as sand.

“The thing went rogue.” Havok put in, to spare the pony’s voice “when it should have stopped upon seeing him injured, it tried to brain him with its hooves, so I made a kebab of it.”

The Centaur did a double take and glanced over at the rooms new wall decoration.

“I see. That was quick thinking, those dummies pack a punch. They’re intended to match his majesty in combat.”

“Explains why they’re so tough.” Havok mused.

“Wait here, I’ll fetch the medical supplies, your majesty.” The centaur spoke to the King again.

“Thank you, Morloc.” Sombra said quietly. The centaur bowed then raced out to fetch his kit.

“You did not state that it was my fault that it failed to stop.” Sombra said to Havok.

“What do you mean?” Havok said casually.

“I know you seen me putting the spell back in. I sensed a presence, but thought it perhaps a guard, or Eris. My mind was not fully on the matter, so I did not look deeper.”

Havok shrugged “you wanted a tougher fight. Nothing I haven’t done myself, sought a better opponent. Many of us have tried to fight that beast you rendered unconscious and failed the task.”

“Could your magic not suffice?” Sombra was puzzled by this fact, surely a Draconequui could take on that thing?

“That thing is older than you think. Living within our lands so long, it had become immune to our magic over the centuries. We fight with our magic, not our physical ability, unlike what you demonstrated. How did you knock it out?”

Sombra smiled wryly “Before I left on the quest to find that flower, my physician gave me some anaesthetic, in case I needed it. I combined every vial I had with a spell. Then I used my shadow magic to get beneath its scaly hide and “inject” the spell, so to speak, directly into its skin.”

“Your tactics are admirable.” Havok said, with no small amount of admiration in his voice. Sombra glanced at him, expression closing off again.

“I did not wish to kill it. I only wanted to get to that flower. Perhaps it was foolish of me, but it was all I could think about, I did not consider its placement would be so close to your home. My recklessness was what got me caught.”

Havok considered this, then spoke honestly.

“You love my son, just as I adored Diana. I was in your place once, as you pointed out, but I did not get the cure in time. We didn’t know what we know now, thus we couldn't save her. I had lost my world and wound up becoming bitter. Had I seen your pain for what it was, without my bitterness obscuring it, I would have realised I was seeing my own story repeating itself.”

“But this time there WAS hope.” Sombra said and Havok nodded, heart aching with the weight of his mistakes.

“Oh, Discord.” he sighed heavily, realising he still loved his son and longed to get to know him again. His head ached as he felt his guilt increase.

Sombra was stunned, the last of his brief fury dwindling away as he watched this. He opened his mouth to speak, but the doors were flung open a second later and Morloc trotted in carrying a red bag with a stylised heart and cross on it.

Havok stepped back, watching wordlessly as Morloc gave the King painkillers to swallow then proceeded to put his right wing in a special type of bandage sling. The straps wrapped around the pony's midsection, keeping the wing almost immobile but also supporting it.

“Until your magic regains, please bear with this, sire.” the Centaur asked and the King nodded.

“Thank you, Morloc.”

“Proud to serve you, your majesty.” the Centaur smiled gently “are you hurt anywhere else?”

Sombra shook his head, saying he was otherwise alright. The Centaur recommended he rest and whilst Sombra nodded, Havok seen him glance away subtly. It seemed the stallion could not- or would not- rest.

He followed silently after Sombra as the pony walked up stone stairs to reach the ground floor of his palace. The guards greeted the monarch and he managed a smile, but it seemed to take more and more effort each time.

But no matter how tired he was, he had to hold it together for his ponies and for his family.

On autopilot, he turned towards the room where his son slept. Then he noticed Havok's wingbeats slow then stop as he reached the staircase leading up. He stopped, looking back at him.

“You said your private quarters were off the map,” the older creature shrugged as he turned to go “I'll go see if Eris has managed to drive anyone crazy yet.”

Sombra hesitated a moment, then, as Havok was about to leave his range of hearing, the pony spoke;

“Would you like to meet your grandson?” the pony's voice was calm, polite even.

Havok stopped, hope tugging at his heart. Would the King really allow this?

He looked back, seeing Sombra watching him, but his expression wasn’t as icy as it had been. It was still as closed off to the elder Draconequus as it'd been, but now there was evidence of thawing. Something in his eyes and posture suggested he had somehow persuaded himself to offer this olive branch of sorts.

So Havok nodded and followed after the pony as he strode down the hall. He passed by the first door, which Havok took to be the bedroom the stallion shared with his husband. Was Discord in there? Sleeping…

He seen Sombra cast a worried glance at the door, seen the pony’s breath hitch just a little, then the King pushed open the door, leading them into the nursery.

It was decorated in soft colours, with crystals arranged around it to fill the room will soft light.

Along the walls were painted scenes from both parent's lives. Havok looked at drawings of his son, along with six ponies, having a party. His son and the yellow pegasus Eris had spoken of, having a tea party. Discord was summoning the illusion of butterflies and the pegasus was beaming happily. Another one showed Discord helping Sombra to his hooves, Celestia beside him. Around the pony were shards of crystal…

He wondered what it all meant?

He was distracted from the murals by Sombra's voice.

“This is Loki, our son.”

Havok turned round and his eyes focused on the bundle of joy Sombra cradled in one foreleg. He'd grown a little since the picture was taken, the horns on the baby’s head looking more deer-like then ever. Orange eyes peered up at Havok, then he squeaked and hid his face in the fur of his father's chest.

“He's shy around newcomers.” Sombra smiled. He nuzzled the top of his sons head, murmuring some words in a language Havok couldn’t translate and after several seconds, Loki lifted his head.

Sombra spoke more in the unknown language, but Havok recognised the word “Eris” and “Discord”.

“What’s-?” he asked at last, meaning Sombra's speech.

“Its the Umbrum language,” Sombra smiled “I’ve started singing him lullabies in it, so he'll adapt to learning it when he's older. I was telling him “this is auntie Eris and daddy Discord’s father.”.”

Loki sniffed the air, nose twitching as he leaned over his father’s foreleg, staring innocently at Havok. Then, with a poof of magic he vanished, appearing atop the elder chaos lord's head. Havok made a faint squeaking sound and Sombra chuckled.

“Stay still, he always does this. He's just figuring how your scent signature relates to the ones he knows already.”

“He has that trait? That’s an ability all Draconequui have. You could go any distance away and he'd trace you. That ability tends to fade once they develop speech and facial recognition permanence.”

Sombra nodded, this information was important to him, the more he knew the better.

Loki seemed to be done working out this was his daddy's daddy and teleported again, this time appearing clinging to Havok's face.

Another faint laugh from Sombra “That translates to “hug!”, if you are curious.”

Slowly, Havok lifted the child from his muzzle and cradled him in his arms. He was a little rusty at this, it'd been years since he'd held a baby.

Loki burbled happily, a big beaming smile highlighting round, chubby cheeks. All Havok could do was study him, amazed by this little creature. This was real, his family had at last started a new lineage, this little guy was the future.

The reality of him, the warmth of the little body and the curiosity in the baby’s eyes broke any resentment Havok had left. He'd almost lost this chance because of his stupidity..

“Hello,” he said softly, seeing Loki’s ears twitch. “I'm your daddy's father, Havok. Your dad and I, we never really got along. I'm glad you have such outstanding parents, as I wasn’t able to give my son the love he needed, but I know you'll be just fine.”

Loki blinked, detecting this adult was sad. He stared up at Havok, booped his nose with one little hand and blew a raspberry.

“I have no explanation for that.” Sombra said after a pause. Havok uttered a snort of laughter, however, raising his eyebrows and blowing a fairly dignified raspberry back. Loki giggled loudly, then unexpectedly let out a massive belch.

“That’s normal for children,” Havok said, seeing Sombra's “oh good grief” expression “Both of mine did it a lot.”

“A certain someone never stopped doing it. Its his fault I can remember how to belch the alphabet in BOTH my native languages, but cannot recall what paperwork I have not signed yet.”

He laughed softly at the memory, then his worry overwhelmed him and it trailed off as he cast a worried glance at the connecting door. He looked so tired, his worry making dark circles under his crimson eyes.

“Have you rested since you came to our home?” Havok asked and Sombra sighed.

“I get what I need, I have a lot to take care of. I cannot afford to be absent for long, if he needs me-”

He shook his head and fell silent. He took a deep breath and straightened up, the same poker-face slipping back into place.

Loki whimpered and yawned, he was sleepy.

Havok passed him to Sombra, who walked back over to the crib. Loki whimpered again and reached for his daddy as he was set down in his bed.

Sombra smiled gently at him, closing his eyes and starting to sing softly. His voice was soothing, the soft rumbling tones and almost musical Umbrum words lulling Loki to sleep.

They stepped quietly outside, shutting the door behind them. Huffle was down the hall, she'd been waiting for them to exit so she could resume her job, sensing they'd needed space. Sombra smiled at her, giving a thank you bob of his head. She smiled, blew a raspberry and trotted in through the door they'd just left from.

“Maybe that is the source of the raspberries?” Havok suggested. Sombra laughed softly, he hadn’t even considered it for some reason.

“Yes, it would seem so. Maybe they communicate that way?” Sombra mused, the thought making him smile.

A guard came trotting up as they reached the stairwell, he bowed deeply before his King and informed him that Lady Umbra needed him a moment.

“Of course, I’ll head there right away.” Sombra responded and the guard nodded, turning to lead the way. Havok faltered a moment, then spoke;

“Thank you.”

Sombra stopped mid-step, looking back over his shoulder.

“-for letting me meet my grandson.” Havok finished, feeling uncharacteristically nervous. He surely did not deserve the King’s mercy, not after what he'd done.

Sombra seen the guilt on his face, understood how it felt.

“Take a look around town,” he suggested suddenly “I am sure Eris can show you the hotspots.”

Havok nodded, mulling this over as he watched the King disappear from sight as he descended the stairs

He located Eris in the kitchen, making amusingly goofy desserts. He told her what Sombra had done and said and her eyes went wide, then she grinned.

“You met Loki?”

“Yes, he's...” Havok fumbled for a word “astonishing.”

“Yeah, he's pretty awesome. But then, look who his fathers are, he's got the best!”

Havok smiled, even though guilt caused a twinge of pain “yes, he has. That pony is a soul mate, I am certain.”

Eris nodded, she knew the legend her father spoke of. There was a legend saying every Draconequus had a soul partner who would be the missing slice of their soul.

His head ached and he winced.

“You OK, dad?” Eris asked, and Havok quickly nodded, saying he was fine.

He asked if Eris could give him a tour of the empire and she readily agreed. She showed him how to disguise himself as a pony if he didn’t want to be noticed. Havok said it felt weird being on all fours, but he didn’t want to be mobbed by these “reporters” Eris spoke of. He just wanted to see his son's new home.

Eris took him first to the big open square where Sombra's Statue was. She explained the markings that covered the plinth, they showed Discord and many of those same ponies from the mural. Havok asked who they were, so Eris pointed to each one, giving their names and elements. Havok studied the carving of the young Alicorn Princess, seeing she had a very open, friendly face.

Celestia and Luna were there too, Eris explained they lived in Canterlot, but did visit Sombra from time to time.

“Sombra told me Celestia treated him with far more kindness and mercy than he thought he ever deserved. Even though she'd sealed him away once before and he fully expected vengeance, she didn’t take it. She made a promise she'd protect him from Scorpan, vowed to help him have a new start.”

“Who is this Scorpan?” Havok asked.

“This way, there's a museum!” Eris smiled “it'll explain everything, c'mon…”

Inside, they were met by a kindly pony calling herself Excel.

“Welcome! This is the museum of our Infinitum, his majesty King Sombra. Would you like a tour?”

“Hay Excel!” Eris waved a hoof “its me, Eris!”

“Oh, of course!” Excel hugged her and smiled “been awhile since I seen you as a pony. Who's your friend?”

“He's my dad.” Eris said calmly.

Excel's eyebrows almost shot off her face

“Really?” she asked curiously “I didn’t know there were more family members!”

“We're-” Havok paused “very secluded.” he finished lamely and Excel nodded. She could see something was weighing on this guy and didn’t push it.

She showed them around, explaining everything for Havok.

The replica oath band from Celestia, the blanket from the building site patterned with suns and moons. The paper articles, the models wearing replicas of Sombra's armor and Crown. The history of the Umbrum race as well as that of the Infinitum.

“His majesty is the first Umbrum ad Infinitum in a very long time, far back in our history. Were it not for him, we would have never had this chance. We very nearly didn’t have him as our King, he turned it down at the start.”

“Why?” Havok asked and Excel smiled, motioning them to follow her.

The next room was painted all along one wall with images from Sombra's story.

It showed him as a small child, running away from home and transforming into an adult. It showed him ruling over the Crystal Ponies with an iron hoof, uncaring.

“Wait, how come he doesn’t have wings? And why is he so mad?” Havok gestured to this malicious version of the King he'd met.

Excel smiled sadly “Our Infinitum was alone most of his life. The burden of reviving us was too much as he lost control when his full abilities were unleashed, he became, in his own words, “a monster”.”

She looked at the image of the former tyrant as she spoke “he gave us all his memories. We seen his actions, but we seen his remorse also. He refused the position he was born into, that of a King, stating he did not feel he was ready to rule after the mistakes he had made.”

“So, how did you convince him?” Havok asked, puzzled.

“We didn't, at least not at first and certainly not alone. We told him we forgave his mistakes and wished him to lead us once more, but his fears made him hesitate, he couldn’t bear to wear his crown. So we enlisted the Crystal Ponies to aid us. He did not realise they had accepted his heartfelt apologies, that they’d seen his efforts and agreed to give him a second chance. We brought his majesty before a gathering in the stadium and the Crystal Ponies entreated him to take his place at our head. That was the missing key, forgiveness.

After that, he began to to be more involved. He went to work at the site and the ponies there taught him to work alongside them, taught him how to settle disputes and see the side of those that still feared him and put them at ease.”

She pointed to more pictures as she spoke. Pictures of the town Sombra had saved, with its once reluctant mayor. Helping his young student master his magic, giving homes to those stranded and in need. The final picture was a beautiful scene.

Sombra was at its centre, wings raised, crown on his head. His eyes were closed, a benevolent smile on his face. Beneath his wings, many ponies of every race and type stood proudly, as well as centaurs and gargoyles. Behind him were his friends, arranged in a fresco. Those same six mares, another Alicorn and unicorn with a palace behind them in the distance, the royal sisters, Lady Umbra and of course, Discord.

Around Sombra's neck was a crystal on a chain, it seemed to shine softly.

“What’s that? He isn’t wearing it now.” Havok asked.

“That, that is a very special piece of history, this way.”

She led them to a display case where the necklace lay.

“When he was recovering, Celestia made a promise and gave him her neck-plate. Its a spell known as an oath-band spell, it ensures the caster keeps their word. Taking such an oath is a sign the casters intentions are honest and strong, Celestia knew it would take such honour to persuade his majesty back then, he was so afraid of the world.”

She smiled, tearing up as she recalled its origin.

“When the rest of us awoke, we still carried our fury at the crystal ponies. Sombra calmed us, showed us the world could be kind, if we trusted it. He gave this necklace to me on the day he cleared our minds of our anger, vowing that he would not desert us, that he would make a new future for us all. On the day of his official coronation, I realised he'd kept his promise and then some. The power inside it departed this gem and now resides within his majesty's crown.”

Havok stared at the gem, mind whirling.

“So this spell, it shows your integrity?”

Excel beamed at him “indeed! Its a very powerful spell, but it has been used throughout history to prove trust can be given. Breaking a promise comes with consequences, the caster will never flee their broken promise, being reminded day after day until ti is fulfilled. So it is not to be taken lightly.”

“Pretty badass, huh dad?” Eris looked at her father, noticing he was staring intently at the necklace “uh, dad?”

“Can you perform this spell?” Havok asked.

“I- well, yes, of course. I was taught by his majesty, not long after his coronation. Why?”

“Because,” Havok said, hope in his voice for the first time “I need your help.”

Excel seen tears shimmering in the elder chaos creature's eyes and nodded.

“Let's discuss it over tea.” she said gently, leading them to her office.

Sombra was dawdling along the hall, feeling like he'd been set adrift. It’d been a weird day, the malfunctioning gem leading to his father-in-law, the same one that’d threatened his life, choosing to save it. It made him shiver at the thought that if that practise dummy's hooves HAD come down on his head, he could’ve suffered a severe fracture or worse. He'd been so caught up in his fury he'd gotten reckless…

“-majesty!”

Sombra shook his head and stared blankly at the out-of-breath maid that was keeping pace with him, poking him with the feather duster she floated in her magic.

“Sorry, sire. But you're spacing big-time. The doctor sent me-” She smartly jumped to the side as Sombra shot off at a hundred miles an hour.

“INCOMING!” She yelled after him, hearing several yelps and one cry of “my cabbages!”

Weird.

Heart in his throat, Sombra raced upstairs, making directly for his bedroom.

--Please don’t let him be….-- he couldn’t even finish that thought.

He actually tore the lock mechanism on the door, he knocked it open with such fervour.

The doctors wisely scattered as Sombra charged in, trying to slow his speed and bounding up onto the bed. Its other occupant blinked as the mattress bounced from the sudden extra occupant, then chuckled and booped him on the nose…

Time seemed to slow as Sombra registered the fact his love was awake, and smiling…