Present Day...

At the present moment, he was stood in his private bedrooms while his royal aides, Notepage and Page Assist fussed around him. He'd ditched his illusion form for the most part, now fully comfortable in his crystal Umbrum form. As he fidgeted, his aides were adjusting his armor and making sure they were polished to a high shine to meet his guests.

“Ready, sire.” They said in unison.

Sombra set the crown atop his head, studied his reflection and nodded, satisfied. His aides fell back into step behind the King as he walked down to the main lobby.

"Sombra!" Fluttershy's gentle voice met his ears as the doors opened and the shy pegasus trotted in. Sombra smiled and they shared a friendly hug before speaking.

"How was your journey?" Sombra asked. He'd had a carriage sent for her and Discord, so they could travel in comfort and style.

"Oh it was just lovely!" She beamed "the city looks so pretty, I love it!"

"I'm glad to hear that, its still growing by the day, so many ponies visiting and moving here. It's amazing! Even this far on, the city still grows, new buildings, new businesses," he trailed off, chuckling "Sorry, I still act like a child in a toy shop when I see my home the way I do!"

"I’m just glad you’re happy," Fluttershy assured him "that’s what makes your ponies happy too!"

This made Sombra smile and he thanked her sincerely. His home was his world and all the ponies he'd been given the opportunity to rule over were his family. The family he always thought he'd been denied as a young colt.

Then he noticed Fluttershy was on her own, hadn’t she said-?

"Isn't Discord with you?" Sombra looked about for the Draconequus, puzzled by his absence.

"Oh, he said he wanted to go see the statue of you," Fluttershy looked perplexed "he said you’d know what that meant."

Sombra snorted, which made Fluttershy look puzzled.

"He stuck a moustache on it last time," the monarch explained "the guard chased him all the way here!"

"Oh Discord! I should've stopped him!" Fluttershy panicked, eyes wide. Sombra gently dismissed her fretting, saying he found it amusing and was wondering what Discord had done this time. Maybe another moustache, to continue the tradition?

"W-well, if you’re okay with it.." Fluttershy accepted, calming her heart down.

Right on cue, Sombra heard the trickster's voice just seconds before his body followed after it as the blur that was his best friend came charging in "I win!"

Discord spotted Sombra, grinned and scooped him up in a big bear hug. A traditional way of greeting his friend, this involved swinging him around in a circle before setting him down. A dazed, slightly cross-eyed Sombra dismissed the guards and insisted they leave the perceived "vandalism" as it was. Although he was so dizzy he addressed this to a pot plant, they just shrugged and accepted it.

"Moustache?" Sombra asked as his vision straightened out and he turned to face Discord.

"Moustache." Discord nodded sagely and Sombra laughed happily.

Fluttershy giggled, seeing how well the two got along made her really smile. Sombra was a good friend for Discord, and the Draconequus seemed less restless now he had someone to discuss chaos magic with!

"It's so good to see you Discord." Sombra said happily. He looked forward to his visits, some of which came out of the blue and often seemed to be timed around when Sombra felt like the stress was driving him mad. He mused over the idea that Discord knew him better than he may well know himself at times.

It was comforting to know that here was someone who could see the faults in his actions and rope him into countless silly pranks within the castles walls.

"You look pale." Discord was studying his Alicorn friends face, noting he seemed a bit distant.

"What-?" Sombra blinked, seeing both of his guests peering at him now.

"Are you OK?" Fluttershy asked.

Realising what they were asking about, Sombra smiled.

"I'm fine, late nights is all!" the King laughed lightly.

"Doing what. hmmm~?" Discord waggled his eyebrows perversely, making Sombra give him a death glare and causing poor Fluttershy to blush profusely.

"Don’t be idiotic!" Sombra chided.

"Aww...but I’m the best at it!" Discord whined, pouting childishly. His oddball behaviour had always endeared him to Sombra and he could get away with just about everything short of blowing the world up, and you'd better believe he knew it! Most of the staff had accepted this and endured the many pranks with good humour.

"Oh my.." Fluttershy shook her head as her giggles calmed down.

"How about something to eat?" Sombra changed tack "I had the kitchen prepare some desserts with the crystal berries shipment that came yesterday!"

"Race you!" Discord was gone so fast he left behind a semi transparent silhouette holding a sign saying "see you later!"

Sombra face-hoofed and Fluttershy rolled her eyes good naturedly. Discord was….Discord, he was realities blind spot! Sharing knowing smiles, they trotted off to catch up with him.

After a massive lunch, big enough to satisfy even Discord's appetite, the King and Draconequus accompanied Fluttershy to the shelter to see the animals.

The shelter workers greeted the King with obvious delight, saying it was honour for them to have him visit! And Discord too~

Sombra watched in curiosity as a dozen different birds landed on on his back, examining their reflections in his crystal body. He laughed as the birds shuffled up and down his back, chirping at each other and bickering the way birds did.

Discord watched the Infinitum trying not to fidget, hopping from hoof to hoof like a kid, his amused laughter ringing in the high ceilinged room. Fluttershy was up to her shoulders in a whole HERD of cute fluffy things that wanted cuddles!

--It's good to hear him laugh, even this long after what that brute of a Gargoyle did to him..-- the chaos lord mused as he watched Sombra and his bird entourage.

The shadows he'd seen in Sombra's eyes earlier had bothered him. Was something wrong? His friend hadn’t mentioned anything in their previous visits, he'd seemed a bit bogged down by his usual duties, but other than that he was the same pony Discord had become so fond of.

Well, not like THAT.

Right?

Part of Discord's mind tried to point out the secondary reason behind Discord's fondness for bear hugs as a way of greeting his friend. It had been pointing it out for awhile now.

"Look, a fluffy perch!"

He was distracted by Sombra ambling over to him and suggesting the birds try a different perch. Inside of three seconds Discord suddenly had a flock of birds taking up residence on the two different horns atop his head. He glowered at Sombra, who was still flushed from the tickle-torture of the birds.

"Wise ass." Discord grumbled and Sombra bit his lip as he tried not to laugh at the sight. But a mischievous spark flickered behind his eyes and Discord found it hard to stay mad at him. He'd probably taught this behaviour to Sombra, with all those pranks he'd brought him along on in the earlier days of Sombra's recovery.

"I learned from the best!" Sombra smiled brightly and Discord's mind again threatened to betray him. He stamped it down and instead did his usual routine of tweaking Sombra's ears, a habit from the start of their friendship. Goodness his ears were soft...

--Damnit.-- he thought.

He pushed those thoughts aside for the rest of their stay and eventually forgot about it...

The next time he visited, it was on his own as Flutters was busy with the girls.

This meant he got to have his best friend to himself all day, which pleased him immensely.

Pranking the guards over with and Sombra's sides aching from laughter, they headed to the joke shop.

"It has been awhile since I checked in, things have been so hectic!" Sombra said as they walked down to the shop. Discord grinned, rubbing his hands together eagerly. Then he noticed a strand of confetti stuck in Sombra's tail from one of the pranks and quickly whisked it up while the stallion was staring at the path ahead. Sombra's tail gave a little swish at being disturbed and a minute shiver raced up the pony’s back.

"Eeh!" Sombra squeaked, his gait offset a moment. Discord bit back a giggle, THAT was just adorable.

--Adorable, eh?-- that sneaky voice said in the back of his head and he told it to shut up.

Sombra gave him a look, but Discord just looked innocent. Which was a tell tale sign that he was the exact opposite.

Right as they walked into the shop, there was a whole class of kids being given a demonstration by the staff.

Discord nudged Sombra and winked, the kids hadn’t seen them yet, here was room for fun!

He vanished in a snap and when the staff pony whisked a bouquet of flowers out of his shirt sleeve, Discord popped out of it, pulling the goofiest face he could. The kids cheered and giggled when the staff pony yelped in surprise, dropping the flowers. Discord flew free and gave a bow to much delight from his audience. They knew who he was of course, his face was plastered all over the shop!

"Thank you, thank you!" Discord grinned "You kids are in the best place to learn how to throw a pie and run like hell!"

More giggling and clapping.

"But today’s extra special- you see, I bought a friend!"

Discord pretended to reach behind his back and Sombra suddenly found himself whisked from where he stood at the door and deposited beside Discord, who announced "ta-da!" while the bemused pony got his bearings.

The kids cooed in wonder, it was his majesty! They took in the fluffy wings, sharp red eyes and gleaming crown.

"Morning!" Sombra got his brain together and gave them a grin and a wave!

"Cool!" One of the kids whooped "wait until the rest of the school hears about this~"

"Hey, who wants to see a few pranks his royal goofiness has managed to get away with?" Discord asked the kids.

Needless to say, they cheered so loudly the shop owner came down to see what the fuss was.

"Who's making all this noise, I thought it was just a class of kids today?" he asked the closest staff pony. Said staff pony stepped aside and gestured with one hoof.

"Well, we didn’t bank on the shops mascot and our own beloved King making an appearance!" she chuckled as the owner took in the sight of his majesty entertaining the kids, along with Discord.

"Well, cant fault him for taking an interest, but why is it he only ever acts THAT much of a goof-ball when the other guys around?"

"Eh, we all have that one friend who can talk us into anything. Mine is my brother!" the staff pony giggled.

The teacher watched his majesty acting like a full grown foal, his chaotic friend right alongside. The kids adored it though, it was like meeting a celebrity for them!

At last the fun and games came to an end and the kids left for the next stop on their tour. Seeing a King instigate a pie fight- best day ever!

Sombra used his magic to clean up any mess in a heartbeat and thanked the owner for putting up with the lunacy!

Sides aching, Discord looked at Sombra as they got into the carriage. The King's face was flushed, eyes bright. The way he smiled, Discord's heart jumped a notch-

As such he wasn’t paying attention and snagged his foot on the plush carpeting as the door shut behind him and the carriage took off. With a yelp, he went flying into Sombra, knocking the pony flat on his stomach.

"Oof!" Sombra squeaked.

He was so warm, Discord could feel it through the thin cloak the stallion was wearing-

"Sorry!" Discord blurted, panicking as he hastily righted himself and pulled Sombra to a sitting position. The King shook his head, looking dazed."I tripped over my own stupid tail.." Discord lied.

"Heh, it's fine." Sombra laughed. Seeing Discord looking panicky for a second, he asked "you OK?"

"Fine, yes!" Discord tweaked the stallions ears and grinned. "winded me, was all! Those kids faces, priceless wasn’t it?"

Sombra chuckled, looking pleased "indeed. It's nice to take a day off! I am glad the shop is doing so well, it means a lot to me, after all."

Discord nodded, trying to not let his face go red. He couldn’t refrain from thinking...what did HE mean to Sombra-?

--No, stop thinking that!-- he commanded.

The rest of his stay there, he was able to put it aside, but barely. It took more effort than he'd usually care to give anything, however!

The next trip to see Sombra was a longer one, and he was visiting with Flutters again! It was Hearts and Hooves Day soon and Sombra had invited them up to celebrate the occasion with a big festival he was hosting.

In his letter he'd mentioned how with Cadance's help, he'd made it more thematic this year and he would love to see them! But that wasn’t the entire reason for such a long stay, for not long after that was Sombra's birthday, so the two were staying for almost three weeks altogether.

The other girls were celebrating Hearts and Hooves with family and Twilight was up in the Crystal Empire with Spike, her BBBFF and Cadance for the Empire's party!

They’d all be converging on the Umbrum Kingdom though, for Sombra's birthday bash. There was a huge ball planned, and everypony he knew was invited!

The usual tackle-hug greeting and catching up went as usual when the two arrived at the palace, then Sombra left them to unpack while he seen to that evenings dinner arrangements, making sure the kitchen had everything they needed.

After his friends were settled in and Sombra had requested Discord cease pranking his aide, they went for a leisurely tour of the main shopping area. Fluttershy bought some souvenirs for her friends and her animals. Angel Bunny needed a new bed, so she picked up one with a gorgeous hoof-stitched blanket.

"The arts and crafts here are just sublime" she said happily "Wait until Rarity sees these new dresses!"

Sombra smiled, Fluttershy was such a bright, cheerful pony. No wonder animals loved and trusted her so easily…

Lunch was at one a big fancy restaurant Sombra often attended fundraisers at and the staff went all out to make the Infinitum and his friends happy.

"Goodness, they’re so pretty!" Fluttershy said as she admired a carved centrepiece of a phoenix at the tables centre. "This is Umbrum crystal right? How do you get the colours?"

"That seems to vary, depending on the artist," Sombra smiled "Different ponies create different effects and colours. Strangely, mine appears as virtually colourless, just...clear. Although I have been able to add a cloudy pearl effect in the last few months, I still wonder why I don’t generate colours?"

"You ever shine a light through clear crystal?" Discord asked. Sombra blinked.

"How do you mean?" he asked, confused.

Discord asked him to generate a crystal, which Sombra duly did. Discord pulled a small flashlight from his bag, picked the crystal up and pointed said light at the crystals base. An array of colourful lights burst forth, patterning the ceiling with a rainbow of shades.

"See? Yours DO have colours!" Discord grinned.

"Every single one~" Fluttershy clapped her hooves "it's lovely!"

Sombra stared at the fan of colours, stunned. He'd honestly never thought about it this way!

"See?" Discord grinned, casting Sombra a knowing wink.

"Yes, I see perfectly now," Sombra said honestly. That hadn’t occurred to him, he had simply assumed being colourless was just a trait he carried, in the manner other ponies generated colour or effects in theirs.

Discord clicked the light off, setting the crystal down as the food arrived.

To further cheer Sombra up, he did an old favourite and replaced his eyebrows with carrots. When Sombra seen him, he clapped a hoof over his mouth to muffle a snort.

This was a familiar game, the "see how long it takes to make Sombra crack and laugh his ass off" game.

This was followed by goofy accents, more vegetables and his usual crude humour-

The wait-staff walking by the grand table were caught off guard by a loud guffaw, followed by the sort of genuine laughter that made everypony around chuckle, the sort that spread like wildfire!

The wait staff snuck glances at the table and soon found the source. The chaos lord, Discord, was sitting back smugly in his chair, carrots for eyebrows and a cabbage balanced on his head. King Sombra was burying his face in his forelegs atop the table, shoulders shaking in amusement while the shy pegasus with them was a bit flushed, battling with her own giggles. When the King lifted his head, the staff seen the amusement in his deep red eyes, the grin that lit up his normally serious but handsome features.

"Dayum," one mare whistled low to the guy standing next to her "he's even cuter when he smiles.."

They cleared off when Sombra spotted them from the corner of his eye, looking as busy as they could!

Sombra sat up, wiping his eyes, trying to calm his laughter. This was what he looked forward to, these days when he could laugh like this with his friends.

"We really shouldn’t play with the food.." Fluttershy giggled as she resumed her meal.

"I know, but its fun!" Discord grinned.

"Don’t you DARE turn the fruit into fruit-pones again, it took forever to corral them last time!" Sombra warned. Discord, who was holding a banana and looking very suspect, grumbled good-naturedly and put it down.

The two were left to themselves as Sombra donned his armor and went to make a brief appearance at the training barracks, to meet some new recruits. He wasn't gone long, and got back in time for dinner!

Sombra had asked they make his friends favourite desserts, which involved lots of crystal berries! The traditional Umbrum recipes were a big part of what drew ponies to visit the kingdom. The food was spectacular, focusing on a lot of mixes and flavours, and Sombra's mother Lady Umbra was pleased to see them being reborn in this modern day.

She joined them for dinner that night, laughing as Sombra recanted the story of the lunch trip! She thought of Discord as a part of her family, as she'd grown very fond of him after seeing how kindly he'd treated her son, helping him build real belief in himself right up until his coronation.

Fluttershy retried to bed early, to write letters to her friends as shed promised. This left Discord and Sombra to talk, so they wandered back to Sombra's dressing room. This was where the fancy armor and cloak were stored, the smaller room adjoining the Kings bedroom.

Discord floated around the room, looking at framed newspaper clippings from all the way back when Sombra had been seen at the fight against Scorpan, to present day. Stories about Sombra's recovery, his crowning, the opening of the Umbrum kingdom. On a stand was the chain given to Sombra by a friendly crystal pony, a chain bearing a miniature replica of the crystal heart.

"You have a lot of mementoes.." Discord mused.

"They all came from the kindness of the ponies I met." Sombra explained as he removed the last of the armaments. The armor had been a gift from Discord and his Umbrums. They’d designed and made it as a thank you to Sombra for accepting his place as their King. He set the pieces atop a dress dummy, smiling fondly.

Sombra's back ached slightly and he stretched, hearing his back click as his stomach brushed the floor, wings unfolding to loosen the muscles. "ummf- I really should visit the spa again- anyway, I didn’t want to get them damaged so I had those cases built specially."

"Ah, I see-" Discord turned round and trailed off. Sombra was just straightening up from his stretch, and the way his posture showed off that well toned body..

--Down boy..!-- Discord's brain gave him an internal slap. He had seen ponies openly admiring Sombra as they had strolled through town on their way to visit the animal shelter with Fluttershy. Eyes travelling over that flank and that powerful body overall. More than a few stallions had been giving the King envious glances. Now he was doing the exact same thing...

--I'm screwed, aren’t I?-- he thought.

Sombra folded his wings down and looked over at him, seeing Discord staring into space "you in there?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. How goes the cutie mark questing?" Discord grinned guiltily.

This was a bit out of the blue and Sombra had to think for a moment before the pieces clicked "Ah, the citizens? Quite well, it seems to operate in a slightly different way to other ponies. I expected it might, given Umbrums never had cutie marks until this time around. Given I accidentally invented the ability for our kind, I shouldn’t be surprised!" Sombra smiled, then looked puzzled "you seem a bit spaced out. Something on your mind?"

"Me? no, nothing. Not a lot going on there!" Discord joked, knocking a hand against his head, making hollow sounds. Sombra gave him an amused yet critical look.

"Really? You were spacing out at the animal shelter too last time...ah-" he got a crafty look on his face "It is Hearts and Hooves Day soon, is somepony on your mind?"

"Pfft!" Discord snorted, waving a hand dismissively "borefest alert! But I'm surprised YOU remembered that, didn’t think romance was your bag." Discord tried to deflect suspicion, he was figuratively sweating buckets by now. Did Sombra suspect-?

Sombra raised an amused eyebrow "I wouldn’t normally, to be honest I don’t understand it. But I know it has become one of the most anticipated holidays since the empires founding. I’ve had so many imports coming in for themed decorations and cakes! Even Miss Pie sent over some special ingredients to the palace. There’s a huge festival planned, I cannot help but take notice!"

Discord sighed in relief, Sombra had gotten off track.

"You’re not fooling me!" Sombra continued, cocking his head, trying to read Discord's expression "is it possible your mind is elsewhere?"

"Don’t be idiotic, that’s MY job!" Discord jokingly stuck his nose in the air with a huff. Sombra chuckled, turning back to the mirrored table in front of him as he removed his crown and opened the special case he stored it in.

"Really?" he asked.

Discord grumbled under his breath, maybe he could throw him off the scent by giving something away. "It's a pain, they’re so..." he again found his eyes straying over the pony, who had his back to him, focused on locking the intricate case "...distracting."

"I must admit, I am curious to see just who could distract YOU that much?" Sombra at last looked up from the case, meeting his friends eyes in the mirror. Discord had to hurriedly shift his glance from the enticing curve of Sombra's ears to his face.

"Keep dreaming!" Discord shot back, blowing a raspberry. Sombra laughed.

"Real mature, I hope your date likes that~"

Discord just pulled a smug face. But inside he was heaving a sigh of relief, he hadn’t been rumbled. YET.

--Dreams...huh. Guess that’s what ill have to settle for..-- he reminded himself as he bid Sombra goodnight and floated away down the hall. What if admitting anything to Sombra only ruined their friendship?

Just how strong were these feelings anyway..?

He got his answer not long after...

The next few days, Sombra took them both all over the kingdom. One day they took a carriage ride out to the forest where Sombra had fought all those Timberwolves. No more of the things had moved in after the ponies at the construction site, alongside the infinitum, had pushed them back, but it was still advised you take care should you venture in there however!

Under the watchful protection of both Sombra and Discord, Fluttershy gathered samples of new flowers and sketches of other creatures and plants. She sang to the birds, who flocked to her happily, joining in her song.

"She has the best voice, don’t you think?" Discord said proudly. Sombra nodded, he knew Fluttershy was very rarely heard singing like this, and considered it an honour to hear her.

Fluttershy's saddlebags were crammed full by the time they turned back. Discord noticed Sombra seemed to either have a habit of getting his flowy black tail stuck in shrubs, or he was just a twig magnet naturally.

When they returned to the palace, Sombra said he was going to take a bath and left them to themselves. Fluttershy went to pack away all the new notes and samples she'd made so she could mail them back to Ponyville and study them at her leisure later.

Discord, who hadn’t been listening when Sombra had mentioned the bath thing, drifted upstairs after a while, to find his friend. He wandered down the lavishly decorated hall, knocking on the door.

"Come in.."

Discord did, drifting THROUGH the door, so his head looked like it was mounted on said door.

"Bu...-" he was trying to say "boo!" but lost all of the remaining syllables when he seen what was in front of him.

Sombra was standing on the balcony opposite from the door. He'd just gotten out of the bath and his mane and tail were still damp, clinging to his soft, fluffy, undoubtedly hot coat. The rapidly waning sun highlighted every muscular curve of the Alicorn's body...

Discord was glad his mismatched wings were on the OTHER side of the door, as they’d just gone "sproing".

--OK, even I’m not going to believe I don’t find him sexy as fu- --

"Hello?" Sombra turned, spotted his friends head stuck through the door. This, coupled with Discord's genuinely blank expression startled him and he gave a loud yelp. His wings fluffed up to try guard him and he ordered them to relax. His heart was pounding in his chest, that was just scary-!

"Good grief, Discord! You were staying that still just to scare me!?" he huffed, once he calmed down.

Discord seized this as a way out of explaining himself "worth it!" he sang, grinning cheekily.

Sombra glowered at him.

--Please tell me he's buying this...-- Discord pleaded in his head, feeling his fixed grin starting to waver.

"I am sure it is~" the King drawled at last, but with a wry, familiar smile.

"Score!" Discord chuckled, dizzy with relief. He suspected nothing...

Sombra rolled his eyes as the rest of Discord's body followed him into the room.

"What were you watching?" Discord asked curiously. Sombra gestured to a telescope, a gift from twilight of course.

"I was watching the sun set over the kingdom. The buildings look beautiful.."

Although he nodded, all Discord could imagine was the sight HE'D been focusing on. As Sombra looked out over the kingdom below him from the balcony, Discord let his eyes wander over Sombra's wings, across his back and on to his flank...

He had seen his friend like this, as in not wearing fancy cloaks, plenty of times before. So why was his friends appearance suddenly causing so much confusion, among other things?

He snapped back to attention as Sombra suggested the Heart and Hooves street festival for the day after tomorrows expedition. OK, the day itself wasn’t until the end of the week, but the celebrations started early.

"Sounds like a laugh.." Discord shrugged.

Sombra moved onto asking about how things were back in Ponyville, what was Discord doing these days? Discord was happy to answer him, take his mind away from the puzzling feelings developing in him.

That night, as he lay atop the fancy bed in the room he always stayed in when visiting Sombra, Discord tried to get his thoughts in order.

It’d been a huge relief, back when he'd first been persuaded to help Sombra by Fluttershy, just to get the pony to stop flinching and looking about to cry at the slight touch. But soon he became attached to Sombra. He could see the pony was a fragile wreck, poised to shatter.

And at that time, they were banking everything on him remembering what the gargoyle that’d tortured him into that state had been planning. Bit by bit he coaxed Sombra into relaxing, into trusting Tia's promise she'd protect him. By the day Scorpan finally showed up to exact his revenge, Sombra had chosen who he wanted to fight for.

Those few days while Sombra had slept in stasis after defeating Scorpan had felt like boring, agonising, drawn out borefests. It just didn’t feel the same without the pony's deadpan sense of humour to counter his own loopy attitude. So when Twilight had said she'd worked out a theory to waken the Umbrum king, he'd hugged her. She hadn’t looked too pleased about it, squirming and whining a lot, but then Twilight was funny about him, most of the girls were. Dearest Fluttershy always spared him a big smile and many hours of her time, but the others still doubted him. He'd boasted to Celestia that he'd become a good guy now and knew how to be a good friend, but it hadn’t started to really come into practise until he offered that friendship to a pony who badly needed it in turn.

When Sombra had thanked Discord, amongst others, in his coronation speech, the Draconequus had felt himself flush with pride. Not just for the pony he'd helped, but for his own actions. Not something he'd felt very often, save for Fluttershy. He was still regarded with some wariness by most ponies due to his troublemaking in the past, but with Sombra on his side ponies were starting to thaw to him more and more. Even Ponyville residents greeted him now with smiles, as opposed to looks of fear and incoming pranks.

But, staring at your friend and pondering what it would be like to kiss him. THAT was surely going beyond friendship, right? He was pretty sure admiring your friends ass was impolite.

Or the way he smiled...

There was no denying it. He wasn’t viewing Sombra as his friend any more. He was hoping for more...but how did Sombra feel?

It'd been almost 2 years now since Sombra had been recovered from Scorpan and he'd never seen any sign from the stallion. Come to think of it, he'd never seen Sombra date anypony, or even mention it. During one key visit, the son of a visiting Lord had developed a crush on the King. Sombra had treated the young pony’s feelings with the utmost respect, letting him down gently. He hadn’t seemed uncomfortable with the affection...although he hadn’t reacted very strongly in the other direction either.

--That pony is a master of the poker face. Must take him to Las Pegasus some day, he'd be a pro at cards!-- Discord sighed, grumbling to himself as he pulled the covers over his head.

"Stupid sexy Sombra..."

In his dream he was sitting out on the balcony, Sombra was sat beside him. he looked stunning, eyes catching the light. He was so warm, sat right there. He turned his head, seen Discord staring at him, and smiled happily. Discord went red and Sombra tilted his head, looking curious...

Discord reached out to brush a hand along Sombra's cheek. What if he were to kiss him…?

But he hesitated and rapidly the look in Sombra's eyes clouded and turned to anger. He got up and ran back into the room behind them. Discord few after him, but the pony was nowhere to be seen. The room now resembled a maze, with semi opaque walls everywhere. He seen a flicker of something pass by and ran after it, then flew. But as high up as he went, the walls were always there to greet him.

"Who’s creating these blasted things?!" he cursed, giving one an experimental kick.

"Thou art." a voice remarked calmly. Discord gave a bumbling shriek and swung round, coming face to face with Luna, who was stood atop a neighbouring wall. She looked as calm as always. Luna was a master at keeping a flat expression on her face. Discord however, was not.

"Not to be rude," he grumbled "but is there something you need here?"

"Yes, we need to tell thee to quit stalling. This is the third time we have sensed these feelings emanating from your dreams."

"You’ve been watching them?" Discord looked concerned and shifty.

"No, merely monitoring what emotions they exude."

"Thank goodness. Last week, well-"

"We do not need to hear it!" Luna shook her head, flushing slightly.

"Really? it involved a sauna-" Discord grinned pervertedly "and some towels-"

"Stop evading our question!" Luna blurted, her cheeks turning very red.

"What question, you never asked one!" Discord threw his arms in the air.

Luna recovered her composure "Did we not? Well, let us ask it now: are you planning to let him know at all?"

"I don’t know!" Discord grumbled, sulking.

"Hast thou tried SAYING something?" Luna asked.

"Well DUH." Discord snorted.

"Duh, what?" Luna looked puzzled. Discord groaned, she was not dropping the issue.

"Well,- What if it makes him run away, like, well...he just did!"

"For one, that is just a representation of him, you cannot apply its logic to the real Sombra. For second; even WE have seen how much he cheers when you show up. Is it so unrealistic to assume he might accept this?"

"Luna dearest.." Discord patted her on the head, making her scowl "I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even swing that way, if you get me. That pony’s barn door don't open that direction and I am not going to embarrass myself and alienate one of the two friends I have by admitting I fancy him!"

Luna raised an eyebrow. "We have seen him hesitate just a little when stallions flirt with him, more so than with the females. It is barely noticeable, but we seen it during a party. Do not assume he will react so coldly."

Discord stared at her, she'd seen that?

"How did you spot that?" Discord asked, impressed.

"We OBSERVE." Luna looked a touch smug "it is important, Tia tells us so."

"Touché.." Discord replied, sighing. he looked at the maze he had apparently created. Was it trying to tell him he was making this more difficult?

"It is Hearts and Hooves Day tomorrow. We suggest you take advantage of the occasion and broach the matter with him. If you ever want an answer as to whether dreams can match reality, you must do something."

"Fine, I'll try." Discord sighed. Luna patted his shoulder and nodded, then she was gone.

The next day Sombra was tied up in official business for the morning, so Discord and Fluttershy went out on their own. During the visit to the animal shelter, Fluttershy noticed how silent Discord was.

"Is everything OK?" she asked, resting against her friends side. Discord tousled her mane and smiled absently. He been lost in imagining a heart shaped bed and a certain King...

But he was also imagining what would happen if his friend laughed at him if he tried to say how he felt. He didn’t want to lose Sombra...was it worth trying at all?

"Its nothing my dear Fluttershy, truly." he told her.

But she spotted his glance divert out the window as some ponies passed by carrying bags patterned with hearts.

"Is it because it's Hearts and Hooves Day?" she said subtly.

Discord jumped like he'd been scalded, fluffing up like a startled cat.

"What? Don't be silly...as if that mushy stuff interests me!" He made a face like 'bleh!', breaking out in hearts-shaped hives as a joke "too smoochy.."

Fluttershy chuckled, but she did wonder if something was bothering him...

Dispelling the hearts, Discord shrugged nonchalantly "I'm fine Fluttershy, really...I was just thinking about the last time I seen those of my own kind. We have some wacky mating rituals, its all about showing off really. The goofier the better!."

This rare titbit about Draconequui did its job, and distracted Fluttershy completely from asking about discords spacing out! New information about any species was a sure fire way to get he undivided attention. She asked more questions and Discord did truthfully tell her about the displays the males put on to attract a mate...

"And don’t get me started on the amount of time sin a day-oops i'll stop there." he decided, seeing Fluttershy going beet red. She was just adorable~

"Do you ever see them? Do you have...family?" Fluttershy broached once shed calmed down. Discord winced.

"I do, but saying we don’t get on is an understatement. Even if I knew where they were-" which he technically DID, "I wouldn’t want to see them after all this time!"

"How long do they live?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh, ages. We can prolong our lifespans by sleeping, like a kind of stasis. Like Sombra does but on a massive scale. explains why I’m still good to go after being stuck in that statue, it's the same kind of thing. Only boring. Very boring."

Fluttershy patted his arm "its OK, that's gone now. You’re doing great, nopony's gonna make you go away again, I promise." she hugged him tightly and he felt the old pain fizzle away.

"Thank you, my dear Fluttershy.." he said softly, hugging her tightly "you’re a real friend. You and Sombra, you’re my world now."

This made Fluttershy very happy and she smiled widely.

Then they heard a commotion outside, lots of happy voices.

"What’s going on?" Fluttershy murmured, as they went over to the window.

Outside, Sombra was just dismounting from the personal royal carriage, his appearance drawing a lot of interest as it always did. The festival crowds flocked to their King and he smiled at them, nodding and responding to their calls as he walked towards the door.

"My apologies for being so late, things ran on rather long." Sombra's smile was kind, his ears looked so soft...

Kicking such thoughts from his mind, Discord followed Fluttershy and his best friend outside...

They stuck by the King as he visited the stalls. The owners beamed to see their precious ruler visiting them, offering him all manner of gifts. Sombra insisted on buying presents for the other six, based on what Fluttershy thought they’d like, as well as a special present for her.

"Can we get a photo your majesty?" a reporter flew up, others not far behind him.

"Of course!" Sombra agreed and Fluttershy was eventually convinced to pose for one with her friends, next to a stall selling animal sculptures!

On their travels, Discord found a charming bird sculpture that Fluttershy's eyes lit up upon receiving. She hugged him tightly and Sombra smiled as he watched them. Those two were close and he felt a funny pang in his chest when he considered the gift may have been a romantic proposal from the Draconequus to the kind mare. This was further backed up in his view as he seen Discord snap his fingers and Fluttershy's mane was done up with little hearts and ribbons.

--Why would I be jealous? I mean...-- he shook his head subtly --It's not like I’ll stop seeing him if he pursues miss Fluttershy. Get a grip!--

He quickly quashed those traitorous thoughts. He didn't want to lose his best friend and if he were to find out Sombra was jealous of Fluttershy for...romantic reasons? Well, Discord would likely distance himself from him. That was the last thing he wanted...

For lately, the usual greeting-hugs and ear-scratches from Discord had sent little shivers up Sombra's spine. And not the unpleasant kind either. He'd started feeling guilty, he shouldn’t be thinking this about his best friend. Was he really that desperate for attention that he'd start warping the closest relationship he had? Was his job getting too much suddenly?

--Pretty sure he doesn’t fly that direction, ya know?-- he reminded himself. --Probably knows how to fly in the 4th dimension and its probably full of string cheese, but I’m certain he wont fly...a stallions way..--

Last years Hearts and Hooves hadn’t been as big as this, the kingdom had still been in its starter stages, so he hadn’t put much thought into it beyond ordering whatever was wanted for the first festival. This year, with the imports and home-made business booming, he'd paid a lot more attention to it, noting what the citizens seemed to like the most. Future festivals would be even bigger!

He sighed heavily inside, keeping the cheery façade up even as he took a bite out of the cake he was enjoying. To distract himself, he asked the stall owner for another as he polished of the last bite...

While Sombra was wrestling with his own mild jealousy, Discord was peering at some necklaces on a Zebra's stall. The work was so delicate yet so intricate, he wondered if it was time he got Celestia a gift as thanks for putting up with him?

"Your affections will not go to waste,
find your beloved, tell them, make haste."

"Gah!" Discord yelped, flattening himself to the ground in defence, then raising his head cautiously. "Why does everypony keep startling me lately?!"

"We did not mean to scare you, just to let you know your feelings are important too"

Discord whipped his head round to see the stall owner smiling knowingly at him, and he recognised her now.

Aeris was the leader of the tribe of Zebras Sombra had rescued from dying out due to storms. He had given them homes in his still-growing kingdom, they'd put down roots and soon started branching out and making new families. She was a good friend of Sombra's and her daughter Fern looked up to him as an extension of their family. Aeris tapped at a necklace with her hoof, smiling.

"This one suits their heart best,
it will play a valuable part in your quest."

"I-I have no idea what you’re talking about!" Discord said, turning red as he peeled himself off the ground and stood up. He seen the amused look on the Zebra's face as he dusted himself down and realised he wasn’t fooling her one bit. She packed the item and held it up to him.

"Take it as a gift,
I hope it will aid.
You should not delay,
and your love will be made."

First Luna, now this Zebra. How could they all see what he was desperately trying to keep under wraps? He found his gaze sliding over to Sombra, who was polishing off a cake. The stallion rubbed at his cheek with one hoof to brush away crumbs and Discord felt a smile forming as he watched the gesture. The way Sombra smiled happily at the stall owner...

The Zebra gazed past the Draconequus, seeing the way Discord was sneaking subtle glances at a certain pony...

She pressed the box into his hand, nodding.

Discord looked at the box, then back up, intending to at least thank her...but she was gone. Blinking, he seen her at the other end of the stall now, serving two Umbrums. She winked in his direction and carried on.

Bemused, Discord tucked the box away into his bag. Had she known?

He rejoined Fluttershy and Sombra. The Umbrum Alicorn smiled, asking had he found anything? Discord shrugged, making jokes about it being too lovey dovey for his tastes, breaking out in the heart-hives again. Sombra gave him a sceptical look, but then nodded.

Discord could feel the weight of the necklace and what it represented to him as they continued with their day...

Alone in his chaotic little realm the next day, taking a bath after a fun trip to the kingdoms biggest cake shop to make some treats, Discord at last had an idea. Maybe he could make a practise dummy? Scooting outside as soon as he was clean, he corralled some of the clouds that floated around his realm, using his magic to fashion them into a being of solid cloud. A cloud Sombra.

"Right.." he addressed the cloud-Sombra. The pony cocked his head to one side and Discord sighed softly.

"Besides Fluttershy, you’re the closest friend I’ve ever had. Now, I'm pretty sure admiring your best friends arse and ogling him isn’t something friends do. Maybe, well, I want him to be more than a friend?"

The cloud looked blankly at him. Discord tried again.

"Nopony's ever gotten under my skin this much. And I’m NOT letting you away with it, you stupid sexy stallion."

Still blank.

"Can you even hear me?" Discord asked it. The cloud-Sombra nodded.

"Good. Look, your a facsimile of my best friend. One I can't stop thinking about initiating the horizontal tango with, get me?"

A nod.

Discord groaned, mind flashing back to his dreams.

"Were talking about a KING here. Cant just straight up ask him if he wants to bonk. This has to be tactful, much as the word is alien to me."

Another nod and a flicker in its eyes. Discord rambled, unaware of his creations growing faculties.

"He’s sexy as all get out. You’d faint if you seen him in my dreams. Especially after that bath the other day, reminded me of that dream with the sauna.." he trailed off, then snapped back to the subject and hand "It was a close shave, him thinking I was being so quiet just to scare him. The truth was, I was admiring that nice curvy rear of his...oh, don’t you start!"

The cloud copy had stood up, shifting so he was facing away from Discord, tail swishing across the aforementioned tempting butt. Perfectly recreated as it was in compacted cloud.

The cloud copy looked at him and flicked its ears. Discord sighed at its blank expression.

"What in Equestria am I supposed to tempt a King with? he has power, magic....a palace..."

The cloud copy sat back down, every movement seeming deliberate and unfussed.

"OK, just sit there and look natural...act...normal..?" he shrugged. The cloud Sombra seemed to shrug back, idly examining its hooves as Discord tried to find a way to explain himself.

"I know, you probably have admirers lining up around the corner, but-" no, that had some crass implications. Imply he was a sex pest. Nice going, straight out the door with that one! Discord shook his head in despair.

"You and Fluttershy, you’re my friends. But there’s something else, Sombra-" No, that sounded stilted.

Why was this so hard?!

"I've longed to catch you since the start, even when you didn’t need saving any more..." he sighed softly, tapping his nails against his chin.

Silence reigned.

"I couldn’t be any further out of my league if I tried, but- buck it!" Discord snapped, folding his arms petulantly, glowering at the unfazed cloud-copy "why is this so hard? I'm only trying to tell my friend I want to date him!"

The cloud-copy blinked, absorbing this data. It got up and butted Discord's face with its own. The mopey Draconequus looked up.

"Would this work?" he asked it; conjuring a sign that said "Guess what? You’re gorgeous!" under that was written "fancy coffee?""

The cloud copy made a vaguely bewildered face that Discord took to mean it was a bit OTT.

"Guess this one's way off the mark?" Discord joked feebly, indicating a sign simply reading "nice arse".

Another moderately offended look from the clone.

"Probably never find a use for that sign!" Discord sighed and tossed it over his head where it lodged in the side of a cloud.

"This shouldn’t be so hard, I know him better than anyone!" this was true. Sombra had opened up more to him than even Celestia. He mentioned before Discord was the reason he wasn’t scared of letting ponies closer to him now. And part of the reason why eh was finally able to accept the position of Infinitum all that time ago.

"I just want to keep you with me.." Discord stared at the cloud copy and sighed. It just blinked again, seemingly clueless.

"Forget it...I cant replicate how his mind works. Go on, scram." Discord snapped his fingers, releasing the spell from his hold. But he wasn’t paying attention, mind caught up in ways of letting Sombra know how important he was to him...

He recalled the necklace the stall owner had given him. Maybe it’d serve as an ice breaker?

He went inside the house to find it and rethink his speech.

Outside, the clouds, dismissed by the half-hearted spell, now reformed into a cloud Alicorn. It stood silently, watching the house, waiting for the one who'd created it to reappear...

Time passed as day turned to evening...

Sombra was surprised when Discord missed the start of dinner. Fluttershy was concerned too, so Sombra said he'd go see where he had gotten to. He returned to his bedroom and readied his magic.

Some time ago, Discord had taught Sombra the spell to open a gateway to his chaos realm, and now Sombra launched the spell. There was a loud pop and the portal wobbled into existence before him. He dove through, landing on a passing cloud as it shut behind him. A flock of toasters swum by, honking happily.

Sombra shook his head, this place was an affront to physics, but it made him want to laugh. It suited its occupant to a T. Chaotic, free...handsome-

He shook his head. Stupid Hearts and Hooves Day. If Discord cared for Fluttershy, he would be happy for him. End of story.

Kicking that train of thought off the tracks, he spotted Discord's house and jumped to the next floating cloud. This one must’ve been combined with a trampoline, as it flung him, at speed, face-first into the nearest cloud. He pried himself out of it, chuckling at the HIM-shaped imprint left behind. Another cloud had closed in while he was amusedly staring at the imprint and he ended up with his hindquarters stuck in another cloud when he tried to fly backwards. Prising himself out, he settled for a cloud further away. This one thankfully wasn’t...boingy? was that a word, he wondered? He was still chuckling to himself when something tackled him.

The cloud copy seen the portal open and broke off its surveillance of discords home. It seen a pony come through and its blood boiled. This one was identical to it.

Trespasser.

It crept closer, extending its own wings as it tracked the Alicorn bouncing off the clouds, trying to land gracefully. Seeing an opening he pounced. His weight slammed into the other pony's. This one was warm, flesh and blood. It stared up at him, confusion written all over its face..

Sombra gasped as the air was punched from his lungs. Something fuzzy was bodily pinning him so he kicked out, succeeding in pushing his opponent off him a little. Enough to use his wings to fling them back. Whirling, he snarled;

"How dare you attack a Ki-" And stared. It was himself. A doppelgänger made of clouds? It growled deeply, looking at him with total malice.

"How the buck..?" Sombra spluttered as he backed up. Then remembered he had magic, he'd take care of this right away! He teleported away from this insane copy, appearing on another cloud some distance away, magic illuminating his horn. The cloud copy snarled and Sombra seen the clouds behind it suddenly crowd in, forming into spears. Sweet Celestia this thing was really gunning for him! How did it have such control over the cloud?

It fired in his moment of faltering and he was forced to abort the attack spell, diverting his magic instead into teleporting and not a second too late. The cloud spikes impacted where he'd once stood, and his stomach sank.

Sombra's mind was reeling, why had Discord created this thing? This was way too smart for a random occurrence, plus the fact it was an exact mimic of him!

--Why would he have a crazy cloud copy of me, is that how he sees me...?-- he felt a sick sense of panic, surely he had to be wrong. But why would there be a cloud copy of him at all? It didn’t make sense.

"Discord. You..wouldn’t..?" he choked out, confusion tearing at his chest. He knew he shouldn’t assume the worst, but this made no sense. For what reason did this cloud-copy exist??

It was this worrying that made him hesitate, his defences stuttering. The next barrage of attacks blind-sided him as he lost track of his opponent. It hit him full on, sending him flying off the cloud he'd been perched on and slamming him into the one underneath. The fall knocked him silly and he stared stupidly up at the thing hovering above him. As he struggled to make his limbs move, he seen more clouds amassing to form spears..

But as they shot towards him, a barrier cropped up, deflecting them. Sombra heard something land behind him and pushed to his hooves, panic rising...

But then he seen who it was.

"Discord..?!" he asked, initially relieved, then everything came back to him. His stomach lurched, acidic feelings of anger bubbling up inside...

"Are you hurt?" the chaos lord reached out to him, to see if he was injured at all.

"How...how could you?” Sombra spat out and Discord faltered, frowning and looking hurt. This only made Sombra angrier, how dare he act innocent?!

He backed away from the chaos lord, so many questions spiralling in his head that he couldn’t speak for a moment...

Discord jumped, surprised by the sheer venom in Sombra's voice. The royal stallion was angry, wings fluffed up, ready to flee.

"Sombra-?" he shook his head "what are YOU doing here- no, scratch that, what are you talking about? A game, why would you think that-?!"

"WHY?! THAT is why!!" Sombra snapped, indicating the cloud copy watching them, seething silently.

"What..?" Discord looked up and did a double take "I dispersed that spell, it cant be here! This is puzzling.."

Sombra stared incredulously. How could he be so...flippant?!

"I want to know why there’s a cloud clone of me. And why in blazes its insane," He paused a moment, shaking his head "Is this how you see me, after all this? Still a madpony?!"

Discord opened and shut his mouth, seeing such anger on his friends face. But not just anger, hurt too.

Getting no response, Sombra's expression shut off and he looked away from his friend. It hurt all the worse because this was someone he'd trusted so deeply. To find out that archetype of him being mad was still present, in the mind of someone who had essentially SAVED him, it hurt. He felt his heart pounding in his ears, chest painfully tight.

Discord was panicking, this wasn’t what he'd intended.

"You’ve got the wrong idea.." he broached and Sombra glared at him once more. Seeing him looking so unhappy made Discord feel worse then he'd ever imagined. He had promised back at the start of Sombra's recovery, that he'd never see that look in Sombra's eyes again if he could help it. Now not only was it back, but HE was the reason why.

This was the worst case scenario his dreams had foretold...no, this wasn’t even a dream. It'd become a nightmare.

Sombra didn’t waste words. "Then answer me. WHY is there a crazy clone? And why is it trying to kill me?"

"I.." Discord groped in his head for the right way to say it "I was practising-"

"Practising? Practising what? Your aim?!" Sombra was aware he was behaving like a child, but he was just....furious. At Discord for doing this to him, and at himself for not seeing it, for getting lost in daydreams. He'd been such a fool, he thought, imagining anything between them.

"No!" Discord snapped, starting to get cross himself. Sombra was letting his mind run amok, he did have a dreadful habit of doing that. He'd get so locked up in his fear he'd become withdrawn...

"You have the wrong end of the stick you ridiculous pony!!" he shouted.

"Redic-" Sombra twitched "you have some nerve, given you made...THAT THING!"

They were so close together now, drawn in by the gravity of the fight, that Discord could have moved just a few millimetres more and kissed the stallion's nose.

There was a thud and they both stumbled as the shield wobbled. They broke off from bickering in time to see their pursuer was lining up more shots.

Discord shot forward, scooping Sombra up unceremoniously in his arms and zooming off. The stallion got flustered at this, bellowing to be put down this INSTANT!! So undignified and so on…

The way he squirmed against Discord wasn’t helping either.

"Loud." Discord winced as Sombra continued issuing edicts to set him down or else face the consequences! Sombra did have a habit of yelling when he got upset, he'd noticed.

He teleported them both away a second before the next barrage hit the shield they'd been behind before, shattering it. Sombra went stock still in the Draconequus' hold, voice trailing off as they did a series of dizzying teleports to try and lose the thing, before they reappeared round the back of a big bank of clouds.

"Stay low..." Discord motioned to him as he set him down. Sombra felt more like biting him to be honest.

Discord seen the anger creeping back into his best friends face and gulped nervously. He wasn’t sure which was more scary, the fake Sombra or the real one!

--Who's heart are you risking breaking right now?-- he thought --that’s the most important one..--

"Tell. Me. Right. Now." Sombra hissed. They could heard the thing roaring in fury as it sought them "I mean it!"

"Its not what you’re thinking!" Discord said, realising it sounded like he was guilty by saying that. "I wasn’t practising lining up a shot at you. Now who's being insulting?!" He folded his arms.

"Than WHAT were you using it for?" Sombra snapped icily.

"Well.." Discord heart lodged in his throat. Even under such circumstances, he still baulked at admitting his feelings for this pony.

"I'm waiting." Sombra twitched, every muscle in his body tensed to either launch at him or fly away.

"It's a complicated story." Discord was suddenly wearing an old fashioned outfit, complete with walking stick "once upon a spell-"

"Stop dodging the issue!" Sombra snarled, voice rising and Discord made a sound like "urk" as Sombra's magic hauled him so they were face to face...

"Now spit it out!" Sombra snapped. It was a strange sight, seeing the pony’s normally amicable expression warped by such anger. These days Sombra's temper of old rarely reared its head, he'd certainly become far more level headed after everything he'd been through. What drove the guilty nail into Discord's heart was the look of betrayal added to those eyes...

So he blurted out the truth, figuring Sombra couldn’t hate him any more then he already did right that second.

"Fine, you win! I was practising pick-up lines! I wasn’t trying to attack you or see you this upset. You want an answer? I was trying to find a way to ask you for a date-ACK!"

He was let go abruptly and overbalanced, falling on his ass. Shaking his head, he looked up, seeing Sombra staring at him. The pony looked stunned, and he was turning a steady shade of red.

"You...what?" he said in such a hushed voice Discord was barely sure he'd spoken.

"I was trying to come with a way of asking you if you fancied dinner, or a show..or...me.." he mumbled this last bit, so it was barely audible.

"I-i don’t understand..." Sombra stammered, mind blank as he processed this. "That cloud me..?"

"Was supposed to make it easier, but it just stared gormlessly at me." Discord sighed "I think Luna tried to warn me, she said I couldn’t apply logic to...not you. She's right, I should've just said something to your face!"

Sombra said nothing, swallowing down the resentment as it cooled into shame. He stared at the clouds underhoof, the news sinking in.

--I thought he cared for miss Fluttershy, not me..-- his jealousy from the previous day flashed through his head. He had felt a jab of resentment that he might lose the being that’d shown him so much attention and kindness. Now it looked like he wasn’t alone.

He didn’t know what to say. He'd been wrong and had shouted such nasty things just a minute before...

"Please believe me Sombra," Discord sounded upset and guilt edged his voice "I thought it would be easier to practise first, instead of making a fool of myself. But that thing up there seemed entirely unable to grasp the hint, just looked baffled for the most part. I swear I dismissed the spell, went inside to think of something else. I must not have disabled it properly, this realm does have rules of its own and it obviously re-formed. Complete with a grudge." Discord winced, seeing Sombra was still not looking up at him. He was staring resolutely at the floor till, body still tense.

"Why..?" Sombra couldn't think of any other way to say it.

"Well, if I had to guess, I’d say because it's jealous-"

"No!" Sombra blurted, closing his eyes a moment, then reopening them and continuing "I mean...why me?"

"Because..." the chaos being paused, frowned, sighed, then blurted "oh for goodness sake you silly pony, so SO many reasons!". Sombra blinked, seeing the blunt honesty on his face.

The Draconequus elaborated "You remember that day on the balcony? Where I showed you Canterlot's skyline? I didn’t want to let you go. For a moment, I thought I could make the choice myself, be certain you'd stay. But you needed to make that choice for yourself. When I see you finally move again, sit forward..." he shrugged "It was relief like I’d never felt. Even back then I didn’t want to lose you."

Of course Sombra remembered that day...

He'd hit rock bottom, had felt so afraid and hurt he didn’t want to keep hoping. Discord had pointed out he had a choice, as the pony had leant against the railings...he could give up, or keep fighting and find something worth fighting for around the next corner. Sombra remembered how relieved Discord had looked, when he'd made that choice. It made sense now...

He took a faltering step forward that the Draconequus didn’t notice, he was still muttering to the cloud under him, his demeanour like a sulky child. He doodled a pattern in the soft cloud he was sat on with one finger.

"The more time went on, the more I realised I viewed you and flutters differently."

"How do you mean..?" Sombra asked, his voice now sounding remarkably calm despite how fast his heart was beating.

Discord flushed, folding his arms even tighter and STILL staring at the cloud they were hiding behind. A few silent seconds passed by and he risked one glance up, very briefly, before returning his gaze to the floor.

He couldn’t read Sombra's expression, was he angry still? Did he return any of the affections? The worst thing was not only had he upset his friend, like when he'd betrayed Fluttershy, but he was genuinely developing feelings for this pony, which only made this all the more gut-wrenching. He decided to just be honest...

"I started seeing the way you MOVED, dear Sombra. Every little action, every single smile. You remember during the most recent visit, When I stuck my head through the door and you accused me of staying so still just to scare you? that wasn’t quite true..." he went red and grumbled the last bit "I was staring at your stupid sexy behind! Your rump is a work of art."

Sombra was surprised by this confession and blushed hotly. His rear-? He flashed back to that day, he'd just gotten out of the bath and had been watching the sky with his telescope. The thought that Discord had been admiring his body made him feel a flush of heat, but it wasn’t unwelcome. He licked his lips nervously, but the motion went unnoticed as Discord was still going..

"Even before that, I kept thinking about how the traditional greeting-hugs suddenly seemed more...significant."

Sombra began to move a little closer, almost afraid to move too fast. Like if he did, Discord would bolt. He certainly seemed pretty fidgety, could Sombra catch him?

"And don’t even get me STARTED on what that little stretching exercise you did in the armor room did! One word for it; BOING. I turned and you were just there, looking so damn effortlessly gorgeous. That was when I realised I had a problem on my hands!" Discord sighed and at last lifted his head to look at Sombra.

"So feel free to let rip, now you know the-oh!"

He stopped short as he came almost nose to nose with Sombra. The Umbrum had crept closer while Discord was venting all that and now was so close Discord had to wrestle with the temptations running around his head. He couldn’t pin down Sombra's expression, there seemed to be multiple feelings racing around the pony's head, his eyes a mix of curious, confused and....apologetic?

Incapable of resisting the pony’s proximity to him, Discord lifted his left hand to gently scratch behind Sombra's ear.

"Ah-" Sombra made a short, succinct noise, ears twitching in response to this most favoured of spots. For as long as he'd known him, Discord had been scratching behind his ears like this; why now was it suddenly so much more enticing?

Discord's heart pounded as his actions caused a shiver to run the length of Sombra's body, and he uttered that delightfully sensual sound. The Umbrum's wings fluffed up just a little, raising up involuntarily so they were halfway to unfurled. There was a dazed, yet content look in Sombra's eyes, it was obvious he enjoyed the sensation, would he enjoy more?

Sombra snapped out of his daze as the hand that had been attending to his ear now pressed flat against his cheek. It was so warm, how had he never noticed the warmth of Discord's hands before...??

Discords raised his other hand, so now he framed the stallions handsome face with both of them.

Neither tried to put a halt to things as they finally began to close the minimal distance between them. Sombra felt lips brush his- His heart raced, anticipation making him anxious..

SLAM. Suddenly his friend was pulled away from him, and Sombra gave a startled yelp. His wings flapped, trying to steady him.

He turned, seeing the cloud copy had now turned to attacking Discord. The Draconequus kicked it off and it growled angrily.

Sombra edged back as they confronted one another, glancing between them, It was the weirdest stand-off ever. Both parties ignored him, too busy eye-balling one another. He subtly began charging his magic, maybe he could use this to his advantage-

There-!

He fired, knocking the cloud him upside the head, giving Discord the opening he needed.

"You-!" he snarled, taking the moment Sombra had gifted him and grabbing the cloud copy by the throat. he flung it away from him, which sent the cloud copy punching through several clouds at high speed. Discord zipped after it and Sombra followed after them on auto pilot, hearing snatches of discords rant as he mercilessly fought the copy.

"-have any idea how hard this was?!" Discord snapped "a pony THIS important to me. All those dreams because I was to much of a coward to just admit it! Then I finally get him to believe me and you butt in-"

Sombra blinked, still catching up to it all. He'd never considered how his friend could mean more than just that. He had been so focused on being a good king to his ponies, he'd never even considered courting anypony's affections.

Thinking back, hadn't his advisor been hinting he should date? He'd almost tried, the previous year, but in the end he'd aborted on it, reverting to focusing on his empire. He couldn’t let his ponies down. At his coronation he'd said he was there for them and he had to keep that promise...

Maybe he'd been afraid, unsure if he could begin such a thing. What if it distracted him and he let somepony down? In the end these fears had made him shut off all efforts to find a loved one.

Even just last week....

Sombra's advisor had tried to corner him, explaining that he had some notes on the Infinitum biology he wished to impart to him. At that time, Sombra had shooed him away, saying now wasn’t the time, couldn’t he just submit it in writing? The advisor had looked peeved, but had given in to his Kings wishes, and had sent the files to his room. That’d been last week, and Sombra hadn’t read them. He'd been too busy getting ready for Discord and Fluttershy's visit. He looked forward to their trips, especially....Discord.

Sombra felt a wave of embarrassment hit him as he thought about it. He HAD always been most cheered by the Draconequus' visits, they were the times when he felt free, fully like he wanted. He snapped out of his daze and realised Discord was still ranting;

"-and now you have the nerve to interrupt the pivotal first kiss?! You’re going to wish I’d never created you to practise telling a stupidly sexy stallion-"

Sombra felt his confusion settle at long last, and he smiled. He spread his wings, flying up and hovering beside Discord.

"Let me help.." he smiled and Discord nodded. And so, as the battered cloud clone shot towards them, beyond reasoning now, Sombra and the Draconequus charged up their magic and let loose a doubly huge blast of dark and chaotic magic. The wide bore beam hit the compacted cloud and finally erased it from existence. They hovered there a moment, before simultaneously touching down on the nearest cloud.

"That is the last time I make copies of ANYTHING out of clouds. Far too stubborn!" Discord huffed. "Not bad, we make a good team-"

He half-thought the fight would’ve reset everything. Maybe he could try again another day to get this right-

"I cannot help but ponder...would we make a good anything else? Hm?" he felt himself blush as Sombra spoke. He turned round, and sure enough, Sombra was right in front of him, almost nose to nose. He swallowed nervously, processing what the King had just said;

"You mean-? Just being clear here, your majesty-" Discord babbled, simultaneously hopeful yet scared witless of putting one of his mismatched feet in it. Sombra snorted and shook his head, butting Discord's muzzle lightly with his own.

"Firstly, don’t call me "your majesty" ever again. You’ve never needed to. And yes, I want you to quit stalling and KISS ME for Celestia's sake! Are you just going to keep me waiting?" Sombra demanded imperiously. His lips were curved into a seductive smile.

Oh sweet Celestia he was so close, and so....direct.

--Damn..-- Discord thought, swallowing loudly and taking in the pony's confident stance. Sombra was armed with the knowledge of how Discord felt about him now, and was making things VERY clear.

So Discord gave the precocious King what he wanted. What he had been daydreaming about...

He sat down, framed the stallions face with his hands once more and drew him close. He noted in the back of his mind little details. The deep red of Sombra's kind, patient eyes, the way those jet black lashes contrasted with smoky grey fur as he closed his eyes, the heat of his coat...even the soft scent of whatever was in the water Sombra bathed in. So many details, the missing puzzle pieces from his dreams and fantasies.

Discord at last ensnared Sombra's lips with his own, and they finally completed the all-important first kiss. Saying it was worth the madness they'd just put up with was an understatement.

For Discord, it was like a tantalizing shock down his back, a real heart-stopper, he could swear he felt it slam into his ribcage as the taste of those lips sunk in. His tail swished eagerly, brushing against the pony’s cutie mark as it did. His ears caught a soft "pomf!" noise, muffled by the thud of his pulse thundering in his ears, but he ignored it in favour of enjoying the moment he'd been dreaming of for so long now.

Sombra pressed into the kiss, feeling that delicious shiver race up his spine again. Oh, he liked this. He was dimly aware of his wings flexing and stretching, adding to the tingly feelings in his nerves. He felt a freedom deep down he hadn’t known before. So much he'd never anticipated, never known...so much he wanted MORE of.

Discord heard a contented murmur, a gentle rumble through the body so close to his. It seemed to demand more as their lips parted for just a moment. Sombra's eyes met his and Discord eagerly kissed him a second time, even deeper then the first. His fingers tangled in that soft, flowing mane, caressing the back of the pony’s neck and drawing Sombra to a sitting position against his chest. Sombra groaned eagerly, feeling the warm body of his best friend pressing against his own.

They parted quite a few kisses later, both breathing a little rapidly. Lips numb and tingly, they caught their breath..

Discord realised what the "pomf" sound had been now. In hindsight he should recognised it.

Sombra had extraordinarily sensitive wings that displayed a variety of motions and fluffiness that corresponded to his emotions like a type of body language! Both of Sombra's wings had fluffed up, but there was something new. They seemed to shiver softly, like a subtle vibration was running through them.

It was obvious this new wing-emotion corresponded to what a normal pegasi referred to as "involuntary wing arousal", or to be more crude a "wing-boner".

Sombra looked at the wings, came to same conclusion and flushed a little, but somehow continued to look moderately unruffled. the way his eyes caught the light showed how much was going on behind the mask however. The way he licked his lips- oh sweet Celestia, it was tempting.

"How in the name of chaos did I ever concentrate around you?" Discord murmured out loud as he blatantly stared at Sombra.

"I'm not sure you did, if recent events have said anything." Sombra responded with a smile.

Discord brushed his thumb along Sombra's lower lip, then chanced placing another kiss on him, rubbing under the pony's chin as he did so. Sombra gave an involuntary moan, a soft, brief sound. but Discord heard it clear as crystal. It was as sensitive as his ears and Discord knew it.

"Do you see my point now?" Discord asked a little breathlessly as he let him go. "I never intended to anger you, I just wanted to get this right."

"Well you nailed it!" Sombra chuckled softly.

Discord snapped his fingers and confetti blasted out of nowhere. Sombra laughed and shook his head to dislodge bits of confetti from his mane, letting them drift to the clouds underneath. Discord smiled warmly and plucked a stray piece from Sombra's nose.

A thought occurred to Sombra as Discord placed a brief kiss on his nose and he suddenly winced guiltily "Discord, I’m sorry-"

"Hush." Discord kissed him quickly, cutting him off "it's nothing for you to be concerned over."

"You didn’t let me finish!" Sombra objected, and Discord chuckled.

"Don’t need to, my dear Sombra." Discord said with a grin. "I know what you’re talking about!"

"But I acted so childishly-mmh!" Sombra was cut off, and flushed again at the passion in the kiss. He blinked mutely as he was released.

Discord smiled "I said hush and I mean it. I think I’d be mad if I seen what you did. It's all just context, my dear Sombra. You didn’t have any to work with and I don’t blame you for getting angry, it looked insulting."

"Even so-" Sombra booped Discord's muzzle as the Draconequus closed the distance between them, briefly preventing them from kissing again "I jumped to conclusions about the one who's been supporting my my whole second life. I’m sorry, Discord."

The sincere look in his eyes more than ensured Discord couldn't have stayed mad even if he'd wanted to!

"Ish fine Shombwa." Discord said, eyes twinkling in amusement. Sombra flushed, lowering his hoof.

"Good pony," Discord smiled "now, your reward.." he pulled Sombra into a slow, leisurely kiss, one hand sneaking up to scratch behind Sombra's right ear again. This combined with kisses sent jolts down Sombra's wings, causing them to pomf again just as they had started to relax.

"I think they like you." Sombra said, making the wings twitch and curving them inwards to encase the Draconequus in their feathery embrace.

Sombra rubbed his cheek against Discord's, something ponies did to show affection to a cherished one. This gentle gesture made Discord grin inside, this was really happening! No dream, not even the sauna one, could compare with this!

As his hand slid down to rest along Sombra's neck, Discord recalled something else. The reason he'd returned to his house in the first place.

"Blast it, I forgot!" he he blurted.

"Forgot what?" Sombra blinked, startled by the sudden interruption.

"I had something I wanted to give you, something special-"

"Oh you already did~" Sombra purred, stealing a quick kiss of his own. They parted and Sombra was startled to hear a loud clang from inside discords chest. "What in-?"

"Sorry, that’d be my heart exploding, you have that kind of effect on me, gorgeous"~ Discord joked. Truth was, he was prone to such oddities of biology, he just got used to it as a being of sheer chaos.

Sombra tilted his head to one side, letting one hoof gently massage the spot where he'd heard the thud. "Maybe it can be jump started?" he said, in an almost teasing voice, before placing a gentle kiss in that same spot. This netted him another deep kiss on the lips from Discord soon as he lifted his head.

"Stop. Being. So. Cute." Discord scolded "I’m trying to be serious here. There was another thing I wanted to give you! Wait right here!"

Sombra chuckled softly, but nodded. He sat patiently as Discord vanished, pondering what had just happened. Things had gone from angry to heart-racing in the blink of an eye. He'd felt angry and betrayed on seeing that cloud clone, but it made sense now, Discord had been trying to work up the courage to tell him how he felt.

And, Sombra reflected, who else could possibly know him so well then the one who'd done the most in saving Sombra from himself. The PTSD, shock and his psychological damage had almost been the end of him, had it not been for Discord's constant reassurance. His refusal to listen to Sombra talk about himself as if he was still a monster. He'd believed since the discovery of Sombra's heritage that the pony could be a good ruler. He'd adamantly repeated "yet", every time Sombra had pointed out he wasn’t a fit ruler.

"Here.." Sombra snapped out of his daze as Discord sat back down before him and held a pouch out. He opened it with his magic and withdrew a chain. Hanging from it was a pair of crossed wings. One like a pony’s, the other different. Sombra smiled as he realised it almost resembled Discord's bat-like wing.

"Did you make this?" he asked. Discord shook his head.

"Aeris gave it to me while we were out shopping with Flutters. I think she KNEW. She said not to delay. In other words let you know. Undoubtedly she knew it was you, maybe she seen me staring, who knows?"

He frowned as Sombra ducked his head slightly, face reddening "what is it?"

"I uh.." Sombra chuckled as he met Discord's eyes, deciding to be honest as he owed him that much "don’t look so worried. I was just remembering how, when I seen you giving Fluttershy a present I...I was slightly jealous of her."

"You were?" Discord tried not to laugh. Sombra jabbed him in the chest lightly, blushing furiously.

"Don’t you laugh!" he complained, then calmed down "a-anyway, I was feeling depressed over the thought if you and she...got closer, that’d I would see less of you. I may have..."

"Been in denial?" Discord asked. Sombra blinked, he hadn’t sounded teasing or amused. More...curious? He nodded.

"You’re so cute, Sombra. And a crap liar to the end!" Discord chuckled. He'd always teased Sombra for being rubbish at lying, to him anyway.

"A book with-" Sombra began.

"Pictures and curse words." Discord finished the familiar phrase.

"The large print edition" Sombra quoted his friend.

"Ultra rare hardback." Discord added and they burst out laughing.

He gestured to the necklace and Sombra nodded. Discord draped it around the pony’s neck, doing the clasp up. It fell nicely against the curve of the pony's throat and the jewelled wings caught the light and glittered.

"Its gorgeous.." Sombra murmured, looking down at it. He felt a kiss press to his forehead, just at the base of his horn. The gentle intimacy of this action made him feel the same wonderful shiver down his back. He tilted his head up, nudging Discord's muzzle with his own. He made a soft harrumph noise, and Discord chuckled before he pulled Sombra into his arms again and kissed him.

The Draconequus wondered if the stallion knew just how close to bursting from happiness he truly was?

As he pressed the kiss deeper, running his tongue along the pony's lips, his hands wandered down Sombra's back to rest at the base of his wings. Gently massaging the flight appendages elicited another, louder groan from Sombra and they broke apart a moment later, the pony breathing rapidly. He clearly liked it, he'd made no move to fold them down since first pomf.

"Too much?" Discord wondered. Sombra flushed, feeling slightly self-conscious about the wings. He knew what a wing-boner was, Rainbow had given him a book on wings and that term had been covered in there, albeit with its proper name alongside. But wing-boner seemed to be a popular slang term commonly used by pegasi…

Sombra told his mind to get back on track and cleared his throat.

"No. Mistake it not, I enjoy it.." he said truthfully as he flexed one wing, enjoying the sensation of tension running down them. "Never have I felt this sensation before."

"Oh? well, I'm sure we can get you used to it.." Discord teased, grinning mischievously at now knowing his friends weak spot. Seeing this gleeful smugness written all over his friends face, Sombra gave him a mock-warning look.

"Don’t you dare-ahh!"

Another swift, unexpected cheeky petting of the wings made Sombra shiver and press instinctively against Discord's chest.

Seeing the King flush at being caught off guard, Discord kissed the curve of his jaw, murmuring; "it's rather adorable..."

"Shut up.." Sombra grumbled lightly.

"Hmm, fret not my precious Umbrum. I'll keep this secret, I don’t want anyone else knowing~!" the Draconequus caught the pony's eye and grinned. Sombra couldn’t refrain from letting a smile spread across his face too. Just THIER secret, hm?

Sombra's stomach gurgled and Discord raised an eyebrow as the pony face-hoofed.

"First clones, now your stomach, dear Sombra. Today is a day of nonsensical interruptions." he poked the pony’s belly, making him laugh briefly. Sombra opened his mouth to retort, then recalled the reason why he'd come here..

"Dinner!" he blurted, eyes wide.

"If you want, maybe a movie-?" Discord joked lightly. Sombra blinked, shook his head and tried to make sense;

"No, dinner! I came to find you because it's dinner time. Fluttershy will be wondering where we are!!"

"Whoops.." Discord chuckled "lets go then, I can postpone kissing you senseless to another time!"

Sombra laughed softly, but there was a faint flush to his face, hidden by his grey fur.

They disentangled themselves, Discord helping Sombra to his hooves. As they stood there, dusting cloud off themselves, Discord cocked his head to one side.

"Sombra?"

"Hm?"

"Why is there a perfect imprint of your ass in that cloud?"

"...how do you know it's mine?" Sombra said stupidly, then seen Discord's smug expression.

"Because I have admired your arse enough times to recognise its signature anywhere!" Discord snorted.

Sombra groaned "well it wasn’t intentional. Some of those clouds are secretly trampolines!"

"Well, at least I have a use for this sign, after all this!" Discord grabbed a piece of cardboard jutting out of a second cloud, turning it the right way round and wedging it in the side of the cloud bearing the imprint of a certain pony’s butt.

Sombra seen the sign read "nice arse", and would later swear he initially wanted to strangle Discord and would have too, had the urge to laugh not won that fight first!

Discord floated back, seeing the King just shaking his head and laughing his (shapely) ass off.

"You’d better get rid of that next time I come here.." Sombra snorted "if anypony else sees it, I am going to clobber you!"

"...It'll be worth it." Discord grinned at last and Sombra nudged him in the side.

Discord reopened the portal and they stepped out, emerging in the hallway outside the dining room. Sombra checked his reflection in the nearest window, he didn’t look too ruffled. Nothing to give away how close to hot and heavy things had nearly gotten. Just a faint smile on his face.

Discord noticed something though. The shift in Sombra's eyes, the worry haunting him had vanished, replaced by a faint gleam.

Sombra arranged his expression into its usual calm and pushed the dining room door open.

Fluttershy was on the balcony feeding some birds, and the cook looked up at their entrance.

"Ah, your majesty. You’re here!" he had asked the shy pegasus where Sombra was and she said he'd gone to find that chaos creature, Discord.

Everypony in the Umbrum empire knew who Discord was. Both his previous history and his role in their beloved King's return. He was King Sombra's best friend, his closest advisor. Sombra had repeated many times how without Discord’s help, he'd have given up on himself back at the start. So even though Discord did have an unfortunate habit of playing pranks on the palace staff, everypony was used to him. Any being that had earned so much of their monarchs favour had earned their respect.

Fluttershy heard the well-known voices of her friends and darted back inside, giving Discord a hug.

"You were gone awhile, is everything alright?" she asked curiously. Discord chuckled, booping her on the nose.

"I was dealing with a crisis involving sentient clouds gone homicidal when Sombra showed up. Took us awhile to destroy them all."

"Oh my.." Fluttershy blanched "what made them go crazy?"

Discord shrugged causally "Its chaos magic, in a crazy realm. Par for the course to be honest. Although it will be remembered as one of the more...unusual outcomes. Clouds utterly out the ass!"

Sombra barely bit back a snort of laughter at the reminder. Discord winked knowingly as they took their places.

But the thought did occur to Sombra later on; shouldn’t they tell Fluttershy? She was Discord’s closest friend after all, besides Sombra himself. She'd find out sooner or later...

--Lets just adjust ourselves to all this first!-- he decided in the end. His heart pounded as he recalled that kiss. Oh sweet Celestia, it was delicious..

Author's Notes:

Fun fact; this story has been in development for almost a year! I started it a LONG time ago, but sidelined it until I felt I could do it justice, write it properly. I'd like to thank Hail-King-

Sombra for letting me ramble about this over Skype, offering suggestions in some cases! Along with the support I needed to finish such an obscure project. Thanks~ *hug*

Also, here's a song i feel nicely encapsulates this whole story: Miracle by Shinedown. Its an awesome song