Author's Notes:

I tried to make this chapter shorter. I failed.

Oops, my bad!

Thanks to LadyUmbra for helping with the pre-reading!

Cadance, Shining, Corona and Discord were left to wait out in the hall, anxiously pacing or staring at the walls. As the minutes ticked by, staff ponies moved amongst the group, offering hot drinks or food for the shock.

Cadance noticed Discord was ignoring everything around him, staring stonily at the door, unmoving. A staff pony turned away from him with a shrug to her fellows, he just wouldn’t respond. Her worried gaze met the Princesses' and she trotted over.

“Princess, I’m concerned that he's not responding at all.” she whispered. She'd seen Discord around the palace plenty of times, but she'd never seen be him this distant and silent.

“He gets like this when he's worried.” Cadance said smoothly “I’ll talk to him.”

The staff pony nodded, casting a sympathetic look at Discord once more as she turned to go.

“He must be very close to his majesty.” she said softly.

--VERY…-- Cadance thought, wondering if the maid had guessed the truth? Ignoring that thought for now, she walked over to the Draconequus.

"Discord?” she asked, her voice soft.

He didn't answer.

"Discord." She said a little more sharply and he at last snapped out of his rigid stance and glanced at her, tension written all over his face. He took in the pink Princess peering up at him, seeing his worry echoed in her expression.

"It's over now, he's going to be OK." she tried to reassure him.

Discord tried to speak, but could only shake his head subtly.

“He isn’t in a crystal-coma, that's good, right-” Cadance began, but Discord intercepted her.

"I stopped him falling into stasis, so he wouldn’t be lost in that lonely, empty realm."

Cadance blinked, seeing Discord sigh. Wasn’t that a good thing?

“Then he'll be able to recover here in the normal world with us. That’s good, isn’t it? You did a wonderful thing for him..”

Discord flinched guiltily, shutting his eyes as he spoke "I kept him from stasis, but I couldn’t keep him awake. What if he doesn’t wake up, what if I left him stuck in limbo?!”

“Discord, don’t do this to yourself!” Cadance said with real concern, why was he blaming himself?

“If I’d been more careful when I attacked the hive I might have had more power left to give him.” Discord opened his eyes, recalling his fury “I was so furious that bug dared take him away like she did, I didn’t think beyond just reclaiming him. Celestia was right when she referred to me as selfish all that time ago, I didn’t even think about everypony else Sombra cared for-”

Cadance cut into his rant, shaking her head emphatically. “I don’t know all of what happened, by the time I got here the fight was already underway, but I know this much; what you did saved not just Sombra, but everypony. I’ve seen how happy you two are together since I first seen Sombra alive again. I’ve also seen how content you’ve been since you started looking after the Umbrums while Sombra was away. They adore you, they trust you without hesitation and so do many others in Ponyville, Canterlot and my home. I don’t know if you’ve realised it, but you have a pretty good reputation with a LOT of ponies across Equestria now.”

Discord felt his heart ache a little less, these words did make him happy. He HAD been trying and looking after Sombra's ponies back at the start of thier return by teaching them about himself as well as the outside world, had been a lot of fun. He'd gotten to do something for the Umbrums as well as express his own unique brand of silliness in helping them learn.

“I wasn't able to restore the sheer power he expended. I tried my best but..." he looked angry at himself, hands clenched at his sides as if he should have been able to stop this somehow.

Cadance shook her head once again.

"You saved him, Discord, don’t ever doubt that. I've never felt magic like that, or love like that. It will take awhile, but his magic will regrow and he will waken once he's strong enough.”

"He saved an entire kingdom and I couldn't help him at all!" Discord glanced away from her "I failed him Princess, at a time when I should've been able to help him."

"You're wrong." Cadance insisted and Discord looked at her, practically on the verge of tears.

"How can you be so sure?" the Draconequus croaked miserably.

"He wouldn't abandon you. I can't explain how I know, save that love is my cutie mark I know it when I see it. Love was what fuelled that blast, cleared the skies of those bugs. I was able to feel just how strong your bond was within that energy surge. He wouldn't do something like that only to abandon those he fought for. He knew you'd be able to help him, for you know him best after all."

Discord hesitated, but finally nodded sadly but he looked a bit more hopeful then before their talk.

"I just hope he wakes up soon." he said softly, some of the tension leeching from his body. He slumped to the floor, still looking pretty downcast.

"We'll help run the kingdom until he's well, won't we dear?" Cadance looked over her shoulder at Shining Armor, who was hovering nearby, half listening to them and half staring at the door.

"Of course, no problem." he nodded, seeing how worried sick Discord looked. Knowing now that it was because of the Draconequus' love for Sombra, he understood how much harder this was for the chaos lord. He'd feel exactly the same way if it was his Cadie in Sombra's position.

"Thank you, both of you, I’m sure he'll feel better when he hears that." Discord said weakly.

"Discord!" they all turned as they heard a mare's voice approaching and Umbra came racing up out of breath, with a flustered and worried Page Assist close behind her.

“My son-?” she blurted.

“The doc's checking him out, ma'am.” Shining Armor assured her “hopefully it won't be long now.”

“That child, he saved us all.” Umbra sighed worriedly “I've never felt power like that before! Gave me chills.”

“He's sleeping.” Discord said softly and Umbra felt a surge of sympathy as she looked at him. Poor Discord, he had to be as scared as she was, he certainly looked pretty bereft.

She trotted over and hugged Discord tightly. He returned the gesture, the hug making him feel a little better as he let her go.

"I seen that spell, the tremendous Infinitum vision. I don’t know how that child did it, how he knew what to do, nothing like that has turned up in any of my visions!” she shook her head in amazement “is he in stasis now?”

"No, but he's used up every last scrap of magic that he had." Discord sighed, heart tearing at his chest "I stopped the stasis so he wouldn't be alone again, but I wasn't able to to do anything more. He barely had the strength to speak a few words before he fell unconscious."

--Nevermind that those words were….'I love you'.-- Discord thought silently.

"Then I have you to thank for saving him.” Umbra said firmly and Cadance smiled gently in agreement.

"He knew you'd find a way,” Umbra continued “he spoke a lot about how you and Celestia revived him all that time ago. If he's in any stable state, I know that it is thanks to you."

Discord looked at the floor, then at Umbra. She raised a hoof to pat his shoulder, her eyes meeting his despondent ones.

“So please don't blame yourself. Even if we'd all been present I doubt we could've done anything to stop that child doing what he does best, protecting his world.”

The door clicked open at last and a hush fell over the group and they all held their breath as the doctor trotted over, shutting the door behind him.

"Is he-?" Discords heart was in his stomach, he felt sick with worry.

"He’s magically and physically exhausted," the doctor said with a sigh "he's going to need some serious R&R for a couple of days once he wakes, then at least two to three weeks off. No work, no nothing, save for rest and proper meals. I have given him an emergency drip to help his body recover, but he'll be in a severely weakened state for awhile."

"But he..?" the Draconequus said impatiently.

"He'll be fine," the doctor assured them all and they sighed in unanimous relief "it's likely going to be a long recovery based on the circumstances, but he's strong. I haven’t seen a case like this before so I am somewhat in the dark here, all I can do is guess for his majesty is quite complex in a medical sense. He'll fight back to health, I have faith."

Discord looked about to collapse with relief.

“He's not comatose then?” the chaos being squeaked.

“Far from it,” the doctor told him “all tests show the correct responses to outside stimuli and his breathing isn't as slow as it would be. I'm aware there was a previous incident in Canterlot where he slept for three days straight?”

“That's right!” Cadance recalled it now “after the Scorpan fight, he was freed from stasis and slept for ages.”

Discord nodded, he hadn't thought about that incident in well over a year. Sombra had slept then, too. He began to feel a little better...

"Can I see him?" he asked at last.

“Yes, of course.” the doctor caught Lady Umbra's subtle nod.

Cadance and Shining stood in the doorway as Sombra's mother and Discord went to stand beside the bed. Umbra stroked Sombra's mane away from his face, whispering a few words to him in the Umbrum language.

"Your beloved is here, he's waiting. I love you my child and I know you'll be back with us soon."

She stepped back, motioning a very stressed Discord to settle himself by the side of the bed.

Umbra opened the windows to let in some fresh air, then she moved over to Cadance and Shining, the doctor along with her.

"Let's leave them in peace," she said simply.

“But-” the doctor frowned, only for Umbra to cut him off.

“I said, let's go.”

The doctor was baffled but didn't argue with the mare, she was the King's mother after all.

"We need to implement emergency measures." Page Assist began as the group shut the door behind them.

"Relax, Page-" Umbra began, then spotted a face peeping out from a big plant pot.

Feather squeaked as the mare looked at him, busted!

"Changeling!" Page Assist shrieked, prompting Corona to shoot over and grab the critter by the scruff of its neck. Cadance and Shining Armor instantly tensed up, readying their magic-

"Wait, please!" Feather cried "I’m not an enemy-"

"Likely story!" Corona snarled.

The door to Sombra's room opened and Discord swooped out, looking for the cause of the racket.

"Feather?” he blurted, as he recognised the skinny bug, he'd honestly forgotten about him in the chaos of making sure Sombra was going to be alright.

"Who?" Umbra asked, blinking at Feather.

Discord sighed.

"That's Feather. He did the unthinkable and tackled the bitch Queen to help Sombra. She tried to stamp him out for it and Sombra asked that I protect him from the blast, in gratitude for his help."

"The nice King gave me a name, I never had a name." Feather whimpered, sacred he was going to get blasted by the angry figure gripping the scruff of his neck like an iron vice.

“I've got names for you.” his captor snarled.

"I didn’t like what the Queen was doing to him, taking him away from his home, from his loved one!”

“So you tried to take a chunk out of her.” Corona said coldly, arching one eyebrow.

Cadance and Shining shared glances, then shut their magic off. If Discord was willing to defend this stray changeling, they should reserve judgement for now.

“Yes, I had to delay her so the magic in that necklace could work. It was glowing...”

“What necklace?” Page asked, he couldn't recall seeing one.

“I gave it to him,” Discord said softly “it was a gift on Hearts and Hooves Day.”

Corona glanced at him then, putting the pieces together with what he'd heard the apparition say; 'my loved one'.

--Go figure,-- he thought –his majesty’s best friend, makes sense. Those two have always been close.--

“I gave him his necklace back in the hopes it'd help him remember who he was,” Feather elaborated “The Queen had rendered him blank and mute. He wouldn't eat, wouldn't talk, he barely seemed to function. I just wanted to make things less horrible." he stared at the floor, feeling himself blush "I wanted to help him."

Umbra realised this little changeling likely had developed a crush on her son after being shown such kindness and took pity on him.

"Let him go, Captain." she asked. Corona gave the changeling a glare and dropped him onto the carpet, face-first.

"What are we to do with him?" he muttered to Umbra "we will require his majesty's approval and backing before anyone outside knows about this."

"I'm not too keen either, or at least I wasn't." Discord sighed "but the magic Feather absorbed from the blast Sombra set off played a big part in stopping him from ending up stuck in stasis. I seen Sombra protecting him from the Queen during the recapture, I trust he knew what he was doing." he shot Feather a look.

Feather nodded, wincing as his cheek stung "the others called me a runt, said I was worthless. I didn't like my hive much, I envied the warmth and friends the pony King had when I first seen him. The hive is cold and lonely."

"Bit of an outcast aren't you, little one?" Umbra asked.

Feather nodded, staring at this kind pony as she spoke so gently to him.

"You look like him!" he blurted curiously.

"I'm his mother, Umbra." she approached Feather as she spoke, sitting herself down to peer at the changeling's injuries and wincing at the sight of his swollen face "your Queen did this?"

Feather nodded "I knew she'd hurt me or have me hunted by the rest of the hive for defying her, but I didn't like what she was doing, it felt wrong. I want love as much as every other in the hive, but not like that.."

Umbra felt sorry for the little guy.

"Where do I go?" Feather whispered to her "I can't go home."

He sniffled and began crying softly as it sunk in. He was stranded, saved by the King's mercy but with the monarch now being trapped in slumber, Sombra was unable to convince the fluffy creature (he later found out he was a Gargoyle), not to make a kebab out of him.

Corona rolled his eyes, he wasn't buying it.

Discord spotted this and walked over to the Gargoyle. Corona was a good captain and a loyal supporter of the King, he had been ever since the early days. But he was generally very cynical, preferring clear cut proof before trusting anything.

"I know it seems unlikely, but I seen it for myself and Sombra wouldn't have asked me to save him if he didn't have good reason. The little squirt threw it all away in your King's defence." the chaos being pointed out.

"Yeah, I get it, the bug's a good guy." Corona realised he was outvoted and if Discord of all beings was telling him this, it had to be worth trusting. "I trust his majesty's choices, but it's going to take some explaining to persuade the rest of the kingdom to buy this."

"I'm sure once my son is well, he will do what the matter calls for." Umbra pointed out "for now, let's find a room so this poor thing can get some peace and quiet. I will look after him for the time being."

Feather looked about to cry with relief at these words. He stuck like glue to Umbra as she shepherded him down the hall, her soft voice asking questions and Feather stammering responses.

"He's a weird one, even for a changeling." Shining Armor muttered.

"I get the feeling he found the kindness that the Queen never showed him in Sombra and that's why he's so enamoured with him. He sees Sombra as a direct opposite to the harshness of the Queen. That's probably why he broke protocol to try and help him." Cadance guessed.

"So, he's got a crush on Sombra too? How does he DO that?" Shining was weirdly impressed. Sombra knew how to get the, well, guys in this case! That pony had to be a smooth talker...

Cadance rolled her eyes at her goof-ball husband.

Feather quickly became very fond of Sombra's mother that first evening. She was kind and patched him up, even finding a nice warm bed for him to sleep in. The changeling was in love with the mere idea of cosy blankets.

Feather talked to Umbra about her son, talking about how Sombra had been so kind and Umbra in turn asked how changelings fed?

"Well, we can eat food, but we do still need to feed off love or lust to keep us going."

"I'm not sure how we're going to do that, it wouldn't be right to interrupt someone's relationship for feeding. We'll find something, don’t fret."

Feather nodded, reassured.

Umbra left him to sleep and he happily curled up and passed out not long after.

News soon reached the rest of the empire that Sombra's miraculous defeat of Chrysalis and her cronies had come at a price, he was very ill. The populace feared their King was at deaths door and panic began to spread.

With this in mind, Umbra made the decision to hold a press conference the very next morning at the Rainboom Stadium. They needed to put the public’s mind at rest about Sombra's condition and assure them he wouldn’t be out of action forever.

The place was packed as Umbra ascended the stage with Page Assist, Discord, Cadance and Shining Armor alongside her.

“Ladies and Gentlecolts!” She spoke clearly into the microphone “I know this has been a trying time for you all and I understand you’re all worried about my son, your King. But I’m here to tell you not to worry.

When he set off that spell, it required all of his magic be used up in one massive blast. Those of you who know about the battle of Canterlot will recognise this condition. As it was then, my son used up every last scrap of magic he had in the fight against Chrysalis and as a result his body shut down to protect him. He will sleep for a few days, but he WILL regain consciousness.”

A sigh of relief whipped around the stadium, many ponies looking about to cry from relief as they processed this. Their monarch would recover, thank Celestia...

“As it was, he was saved from being trapped in a far deeper crystal stasis with far worse magic loss, by the actions of his friend.” Umbra smiled and through the magnification spell on the stage, the crowd seen her eyes brighten.

“My son would've been in a much worse condition had Discord not given him what little power he had left, this after rescuing him from Chrysalis-”

The crowds cheered loudly on hearing of this noble sacrifice. Discord actually blushed quite deeply, he wasn't used to this much praise and thus found himself twiddling his fingers the way he had when Sombra had called him an absolute marvel and he hadn’t known how to express his thanks.

“Not only did he rescue my child from his prison, he kept him awake long enough for him to lapse into a natural sleep to repair his lost magic. My son was spared a longer stasis by his hands.”

More happy cheering and when Discord stopped staring at his mismatched feet long enough to glance at the crowd, he seen them waving and hollering at him. They were looking at him with such kindness it was almost overwhelming.

Umbra smiled happily up at him, then turned back to the mic.

“I know you're all curious about what that spell was, but unfortunately I do not know, nothing like that has been seen before. I'm sure my son will explain once he is well and I ask you to remain strong while the city is repaired. The empire's affairs will be managed by myself, Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor.”

The two royals stepped forward to outline their plan for supporting the clean up, where to go if you needed help and so on.

“I thought you deserved their praise for saving my son.” Umbra said softly to Discord.

“He wants me to tell everyone.” Discord whispered back.

“Tell- oh! You mean about the two of you?” Umbra asked and Discord nodded.

“This would be the biggest possible gathering, I’m just not sure I can. What if- what if it ends up hurting him?”

Umbra thought a moment before speaking. “If he wants you to do it, then you shouldn’t worry, he won't get cross. But it's up to you, do it when it feels right.”

Discord nodded, sighing softly as Umbra took the mic once more. This was a golden opportunity, he owed it to his beloved...

“Can the members of the press please gather in front of the stage please? It's time for questions.” Umbra asked.

The reporters, hailing from Umbrum papers, Canterlot Gazettes and the Crystal Empire Times arranged themselves in front of the stage, sharing curious looks. Was Lady umbra going to give a speech? Pose for pictures?

Umbra nodded to the first reporter, indicating she could ask her question.

“That vision of his majesty, he said “that one I love”, everypony wants to know who it was-?” her eyes were filled with curiosity, cheeks blushing faintly.

“That's good-” Discord piped up, stepping up next to Umbra before his courage failed him “because he was hoping I would deal with that for him.”

“Why would he ask YOU to do that?” the clueless reporter asked, then an idea sparked in her head as Discord promptly face-palmed.

“Oh for- do I need to draw you a diagram? Because according to Princess Luna, I have a very unusual imagination-”

“Then you two-?”

“YES, I LOVE HIM! Sheesh...” Discord cried nervously, flinging his arms in the air. This caused a ripple of laughter to fly around the stadium, one mixed with coos and smiles of admiration.

“How long have you two been dating?” The reporter asked, staring enviously at the chaos lord. So the rumours were true in this case; his majesty's best friend was way more than just a friend.

“Since Hearts and Hooves Day.” Discord said softly, remembering that cloud clone incident. “That necklace the vision was holding? That was a gift I gave him.”

A series of “d'awwws” raced around the stadium as they all seen how Discord flushed subtly, but didn’t look away from the reporters. He was a little defensive, but it was clear he was telling the truth.

“So then the changelings kidnapped him because-” the reporter was filling in the blanks from what she was hearing from Discord.

“Because he was exuding the sort of emotion Chrysalis could take advantage of to feed her hive.” Discord confirmed. He thought about the spell Sombra had cast to remove the changelings, maybe he could explain it?

“That’s what he used to fuel that spell. He gave them love they couldn’t ignore, thus luring them into his trap. Then he blasted them away!”

The gathered reporters shared curious murmurs, love was what had fuelled that spell? Sombra's feelings for this being?

“How long until he wakes up, you helped save him, do you have any clue?”

Discord sighed “I don’t, I’m sorry. I did everything I could, all we can do now is wait. But don’t worry, he'll be back to fussing over his empire soon.” he managed a reassuring smile.

The reporters clamoured for his attention, asking all sorts of questions, from “do you have plans to make a commitment?” to “are there others like you?”

Discord ignored the questions, he had one more titbit to impart.

“Originally, he wanted an advert put in the paper, but with so many papers represented here now, I figure his wish will be fulfilled much faster and with further reach.” Discord said to the reporters, who were taking notes as fast as they could.

“So make a note: I. Love. Sombra. Put that in big letters,” Discord advised “I want to tell him I kept my promise when he wakes.”

The stadium EXPLODED with cheering once he finished talking. Some in the crowds had already guessed it from the way Sombra had been smiling to Discord over the course of the festival and in general just how close Discord and the King were known to be.

The reporters were back to asking a million questions as the noise died down. How had he first approached the King? What had made his majesty suddenly decide to reveal his feelings to all of them?

“After Chrysalis kidnapped him and tried to brainwash him, he said he was sick of hiding behind his silence. Chrysalis targeted him for the strength of his love and I think that shocked him into realising he doesn’t need to keep his cards quite so close to his chest.” The Draconequus chuckled “he also said and I quote “and if anypony doesn’t like it, they can kiss my-” he cut off there, prompting laughter from the press.

“His majesty doesn’t give a flying toss then?” one reporter chuckled.

“Not even one.” Discord surmised “he's faced worse things in the last few years than differing opinions.”

He listened to their questions and nodded.

“Yes, I do love him. More than you can imagine. He gave me a chance, first to be a proper friend to him and then to be even more. He was the first to see me as someone worthy of affection, especially his. In short he's the most amazing thing I’ve ever been given.” he recalled Sombra calling him a marvel and smiled softly.

More clapping and loud cheering from the crowd. Some were startled, some didn’t know what to think, but most of them were excited to hear such news!

“That's enough details!” Umbra beamed and hugged Discord so tightly he squeaked “we will keep you updated on my son's recovery!”

The next day:

"All jokes aside," Corona sat back in his chair "his highness is still asleep?"

Cadance nodded. "I'm aware he slept for close to three days after emerging from stasis, it seems to be another facet of his unusual biology. Umbra has mentioned the Infinitums from legends supposedly displayed similar traits. Information is still being added on a daily basis, even this far on.”

"I still wanna know how he pulled off that giant crystal illusion thing!" Shining Armor raised his eyebrows "I didn't think things like that even existed!"

"This kingdom would be a bugs feeding ground were it not for his majesty and while I am eternally grateful, I just hope his wish to protect his home can someday be countered with some sense of self-preservation, as currently he appears to lack any!" Page Assist sighed.

"He did pick a lot of fights during the construction phase. Timberwolves, wraiths." Corona shrugged and Page Assist shuddered.

"Running around with sharp implements, cement dust, grout." the Gargoyle continued.

Corona knew Page Assist was a fastidious pony and had been baffled by the King's enthusiasm about getting dirty while working on the site. Any time he was forced to get his hooves dirty following his majesty around, Corona had seen Page Assist look utterly revolted.

"Ugh, stop it you brutish creature!" Page Assist shuddered and glowered at Corona, who smirked. This was a regular occurrence and the rest of the staff usually just watched in amusement, including the King himself.

"Anyway." Cadance stepped in before a full scale sarcasta-war could begin "the damage reports are in. Good news, your empire fared better than Canterlot. The crystal appears better at weathering the damage then just brick and mortar alone."

"His majesty made it a specific point that the buildings be toughened wherever possible. I think he was still having flashbacks to the battle of Canterlot." Corona piped up.

"Well it was certainly a good idea," Shining Armor nodded "damage was minimized thanks to the tough outer shells of the buildings. Clean up crews are making pretty good headway with the broken windows and other ornaments."

"So who’s looking after your Empire while you’re here?" Umbra enquired of Cadance and Shining Armor "we're not inconveniencing you at all, are we?"

"Not to worry," Cadance assured him "We have advisors plus Twilight Sparkle. If anypony can balance the books while we're gone, Shining's sister can!"

"Go Twily!" Shining Armor grinned proudly.

The doctor unlocked the room and trotted in, carrying a fresh drip bag. The King was still asleep, it had been over three days already. He was looking a bit better though, more colour had returned to his face as his body painstakingly recovered. But if he didn't wake up soon, his body would become even weaker, the Alicorn needed decent food to help his body recuperate.

He looked over at the couch that sat opposite the bed as he set the drip in its stand, spotting a familiar figure curled up on it. Discord had spent almost all of his time by the King's bedside since the fight and any attempts to shoo him away and make him sleep in his own bed had been met with refusal. Given he could teleport through the doors, they soon gave up trying to turf him out. The only one he would listen to was Lady Umbra.

The whole kingdom knew about these two by now, it’d been all over the papers. There’d been a few outcry’s of “doesn’t he care about producing an heir?”, but they were few and far between, mostly from places and ponies unfamiliar with the Umbrums very open views on sex and marriage.

Today's paper had been full of supportive letters, including one from the King and Queen of the Gargoyle/Centaur empire. Not only them, but Princesses Luna and Celestia amongst many others. Lady Umbra was sending detailed letters to the papers outside of her kingdom, to give them the opportunity to base their articles on facts taken from Umbrum history.

The doctor wondered how the King would react to this nationwide publicity, would he care?

Unlikely, as he'd gone all-bets-are-off to defeat Chrysalis over his feelings for the being he loved. Feelings that invading Queen had tried to capitalize on.

"Mmeh?" Discord heard movement and sat up "who's there?"

“Just me." the doctor said calmly.

Discord slithered off the couch, staggering to the side of his King's bed. He looked tired out and had bags under his eyes.

"Anything?" he asked, but the doc shook his head.

"I'm sorry, he's still in a very deep sleep, but I'm sure it wont be long now. Have you eaten at all today?"

Discord shook his head. "He seemed to be making sounds in his sleep earlier, I didn’t..." he trailed off, looking stressed and close to tears.

"Go, I’ll remain here to keep an eye on him, since I know you wont leave him alone."

Discord looked torn between eating and keeping a protective watch over his beloved. The devotion he showed had captured the imaginations of many of the female staff in the palace and they fussed over the worried chaos being, trying to make him feel better.

"Trust me, he'll be OK. He'll be cross if he finds out I let you just sit there for hours at a time without eating." the doctor added.

Discord chuckled faintly, imagining Sombra telling him off with that sexy smile of his. So he let himself be pushed out the door and drifted languidly off towards the kitchen.

"Oh, hello!" the head cook looked at Discord as the yawning Draconequus rifted in "get kicked outta bed again?"

Discord managed a faint smile "by the doctor." he said heavily.

The cook nodded and switched on the stove to begin making a decent meal for his guest.

"He wont sleep forever, I’m sure of it." he said decisively as the kitchen filled with delicious smells. Discord's stomach made the traditional gurgling noise along with several other bumps and bangs.

“You must be starving, your guts inventing noises to make!” the Cook chuckled.

“Sombra always laughed when it did that, you should've seen his face the first time. I suggested it was something I ate.”

Sombra had stared at him in abject horror, then asked did he eat a whole live gaggle of geese by chance? So Discord had pulled off an illusion of coughing up feathers, which had severely alarmed the Umbrum King.

He chuckled now as he remembered it.

"What did he say to that?” the Cook asked, so Discord described the whole scene.

When Sombra had realised it was a joke he'd been cross, at least until Discord exploited the weakness of his ears...

“I wonder was that why he looked so melancholy?” Grapevine piped up, setting a tray down on the counter beside his partner.

“When was this?” Discord asked.

“When you two came in for food on his birthday. I introduced him to my snuggle-bun here,” the Cook winked at Grapevine, who face-hoofed but blushed happily.

“Anyway,” Grapevine took up the tale, “I seen him watching us with an almost sad look. I think he was watching how open we were. Makes sense now, he must've been thinking of a way to do the same.”

“Did he really ask you to announce it to the papers?” The Cook asked.

“He certainly did.” Discord chuckled “as we were flying back, he honestly said he wants the whole world to know. I just hope he wont get mad I said it to an entire stadium full of reporters.”

“He'll be OK, I’m sure of it. Far as I can see, his decision hasn't just caught the worlds attention, it's inspired many to come out themselves. We announced it to our families just yesterday.”

“How'd it go?” Discord asked.

“My mother was kinda shocked,” Grapevine sighed “but my dad says she'll come round once she has time to think about it. He said he's surprised but if I’m happy, he'll back my choices.”

“My parents have known since I was a kid that I was secretive and I think they were relieved to finally find out why. Once they finished squealing and asking where we'd met, they pretty much just accepted it.”

“That’s wonderful,” Discord smiled.

“Do you have family?” the Cook asked. Discord winced, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I do, but saying we don't get along wins the understatement of the century award.” Discord snorted “I don't need them, I have Sombra and Umbra's a dear, she was grinning ear to ear when she found out.”

The doctor was starting to nod off, it had been a long day at work already, so he was feeling more than a bit dozy.

That was how he missed the first muffled grunt the King made and the faint cough that followed was muffled by sounds drifting in from outside.

He didn't even stir from his stupor until he seen the blankets falling halfway off the bed. He reached for them automatically, then looked up properly.

King Sombra was sat up, staring fuzzily into space, but he was AWAKE.

"Eyah!" The doctor was so startled when this finally sunk in that he shrieked in an ungainly manner and fell off his chair by the bed. Sombra blinked at him slowly.

"Hm-? Doctor?"

"Y-yes your majesty! Oh thank Celestia you're awake, we've all been worried sick, it's been three days-"

"We? Wait," Sombra blinked fuzzily "was I-?"

"Asleep, yes. For three days, sire." the doc stressed "you defeated that Queen-"

"Discord...w-where is he?" Sombra stammered, mind scrambling and grasping for the most immediate thing he could recall.

"He’s not here at present. I need you to hold still sire, I must check you over- sire, PLEASE!!"

He blurted this in a panic as Sombra tried to get down from the bed, but his legs were trembling heavily and the Alicorn almost fell face-first into the carpet. The doc pushed back against him, nudging him safely back onto the bed.

"What are you doing, sire?! You can't move-"

"I want to see Discord." Sombra said stubbornly, glowering sleepily at the young doctor.

"I simply cannot let you leave your bed sire, I need to do my job and give you a check-up- oh for, your majesty!!" he ended with a frustrated yelp as Sombra glowered at him and simply began making an escape attempt from the other side of the bed.

"If you will not assist me, I will locate him myself!" Sombra mumbled "I can't- what happened to him and Feather?"

"Who?" the doctor couldn't remember who on Equestria Feather was and right that second he honestly didn't care. His duty lay with this stubborn, powerful monarch and his inability to listen!

"Alright, your majesty! Enough." the doctor cried at last.

Sombra stopped, one hoof raised to dismount from the bed.

"Please, sire, if it's your wish, I’ll send a guard to fetch him, but you simply MUST stay put!"

Sombra seemed dazed and shaky and it was obviously hard for him to focus, but he nodded.

The doctor summoned a guard and told him to fetch Discord asap, he was likely still in the kitchen!

The guard did a double take as this sunk in and annoyed the doc by sticking his head past him to catch a glimpse of the King. If the doc needed Discord fetched so urgently, chances were-!

He grinned as he got a brief glimpse of the ruler sat up on the bed, sleepily preening one wing, eyes half closed. The sunlight caught his mane, making it shimmer subtly, reminding him of the massive illusion that'd chased the changelings out.

Then he was shoved out and told to go fetch the Draconequus. The guard trotted down the hall, relieved his highness was up, everypony was going to be so relieved!

Discord sat back, feeling pretty full. He had to admit, it felt good to eat.

The door was flung open and both he and the Cook nearly jumped out of their skin.

"Ahem, Discord? The doctor sent me to find you, his highness is-MEEP." for the poor messenger was almost run over by a blur of Draconequus as Discord shot by him.

Left behind, the guard blinked, somewhat stunned.

"So his majesty woke up, that's a relief." the Cook smiled "I’ll prepare some soup, he'll need decent food."

"How can you tell, I didn't even finish the sentence?" the guard blinked.

The cook chuckled "only one thing could make that mopey Draconequus brighten up that much and that's news the King is awake."

Discord could barely think straight as he pelted along the halls, scattering guards and staff like skittles.

"Well, I’m guessing his majesty is awake!" One maid said, straightening her cap.

"Thank Celestia," her work partner sighed in relief as she extracted herself from a potted plant "I was worried about them both. Oh, I bet it's going to be such a sweet reunion!"

They both sighed dreamily at the sheer romantic power of the King's love story. Five seconds later a guard passed and seen them staring moonily into space.

Wisely, he kept on walking.

The doctor checked Sombra over, noting he'd lost a bit of weight and his magic seemed non-existent. He recommended the King have something to eat, just a small amount to start-

The door was flung open with a thump. Both turned and the doctor seen the King's tired eyes light up.

There was a heavy pause, laden with so much unsaid and Sombra looked likely to make a bid for the door and the one standing in it, regardless of his condition.

The doctor face-hoofed at Discord's timing, telling himself he should've done the check-up BEFORE sending for Discord, because it was obvious he'd never stand a chance with the King's beloved here.

"I'll uh, I have to fetch- oh, who am I kidding. Just come find me when you're finished!" the doctor threw his hooves in the air and strode out, barging past the motionless Draconequus.

Discord didn't make a sarcastic comment, didn't even seem to see him. All he seen was a finally conscious pony, looking at him over his shoulder with tired eyes and a sweet smile.

The door clicked shut as Discord shot over and around the bed to land face to face with his Sombra. He gently cradled the pony's face with his hands, taking in the details of the stallion he adored, the warmth of him and that soft scent.

"You're awake, I can't believe it, I was so scared." he said at last, not even bothering to disguise how much his voice stumbled over itself.

"I'm sorry." Sombra croaked, as he took in the emotions on Discord's face. He reached a hoof up to rest it on Discord's chest, feeling his familiar warm coat and the beat of his heart.

"Don't apologise," The Draconequus shook his head "you saved us all by doing what you did. Just warn me next time you're gonna be the hero and I’ll help you."

Sombra didn’t know what to say, so Discord wrapped his arms around the pony's body and held him tightly. He felt the pony's forelegs wrap around him in as tight a hug as the weakened stallion could manage. It was such an overwhelming relief to feel the heat of Sombra's body so close to his own, he couldn't keep a lid on how he was feeling.

Sombra felt something splash onto his fur and drew back, nudging Discord's muzzle worriedly with his own.

"Gave me the fright of my life, you big doofus." Discord said sulkily, trying to appear nonchalant.

Sombra lifted a neatly folded napkin from the bedside table with one hoof and used it to brush away the Draconequus' tears, just like how Discord had always done for him.

Their eyes met and Sombra smiled, the importance of the gesture not needing words and the napkin fluttered to the bed between them as Discord kissed Sombra gently.

"My Sombra." he murmured as they parted and he wrapped him in his arms again. Sombra nestled against him, resting his head on Discord's shoulder.

"The kingdom?" Sombra croaked as he took in the blue sky showing through the open windows behind the couch "is everypony-?"

"They're fine, everypony's fine." Discord assured him, gently rubbing his back "you booted the changelings out at Mach 5 and created a myth in the process. That thing you turned into, it was beautiful. I've seen a lot in my line of crazy work, but I’ve never seen anything so breathtaking."

Sombra nuzzled into his neck, feeling his heart ache in gratitude. His kingdom was safe and his lover was right here with him. Relief hit like a tidal wave and he felt himself start to shake as he realised the battle was over for good.

"Sombra?" Discord felt the gentle tremors and tilted his lover's face up to get a look at him "it's alright, it's over."

"I know, I’m just so relieved." Sombra croaked, joy battling with exhaustion "I don’t know how I did that spell, I just knew it had to be done. I had to evolve what I was to be strong enough to beat her."

"And did it in style!" Discord massaged the base of his ears, making Sombra smile gently.

"Oh, I am going to give you the most mind blowing night of your life soon as you are well. And we can lock your physician in a storage closet so he cant tell us not to!" Discord teased, making Sombra flush happily.

The Draconequus' hands came to rest on Sombra's shoulders and he toyed absently with the stallion's mane.

"I'm sorry I made you wait, again." Sombra whispered, nuzzling Discord's nose with his "it was you that saved me from stasis, wasn't it?"

"With a little help from Feather. I only wish I could've given you more."

"You've given me everything," Sombra shushed him with a gentle smile "more than I thought I could ever have. So stop feeling guilty."

"I meant what I said, my precious Sombra," Discord said seriously, studying his lover's face "I’ve never been more sure my whole long life, that I love you."

The doctor had gone to the bathroom, thus wasn't there to deter Page Assist as he nudged at the door, to check in on his highness.

The aide stopped short, the door was only open a few inches, but it was enough for him to take in the scene. The King was awake, that fact sunk in first and was followed by the observation that he was currently sitting very close to Discord.

As Page Assist watched them, Discord said something that made a look of such contentment settle on the King's face that Page was struck by the fact he'd never seen Sombra smile this way, not before now. Sombra said something to Discord that the aide was able to catch, it sounded like "I love you."

Then the Draconequus pulled the King into his arms and kissed him deeply. Sombra gave a little shiver, his wings fluffing up a little as he returned the kiss, pressing close to Discord's body.

They eventually pulled apart, the King flushing softly at something Discord said, then another kiss was shared. Sombra nestled against Discord, his head facing at an angle that allowed Page to catch a glimpse of his expression. His Majesty looked so very content..

Page Assist stepped back from the door, mind awhirl. Discord truly did love his majesty didn't he? Sombra clearly felt the same with equal passion, for his feelings had triggered the mating desires the Infinitum's were notable for.

Back in the room, the unaware Sombra was starting to get sleepy again. He yawned softly and Discord chuckled gently.

"Sleeping all this time, yet you yawn, my love?"

"Shush you, you know that there is a recovery sleep and a normal sleep." Sombra grumbled half-assedly, laughing softly. Discord laid him down on the bed, wrapping him up in the covers.

"You like sleeping so much you invented a new variety. I am in awe of your weirdness, my King!" Discord chuckled as Sombra gave him a sarcastic look, so he kissed him gently in apology.

"Stay?" Sombra asked, those beautiful red eyes looking hopefully up at him.

"Your doctor-"

"I don't care," Sombra grumbled, untangling one hoof from the blankets to place it over Discord's hand "stay with me."

"As you wish, my King." Discord couldn't deny his lover and wouldn't have even tried. He settled down atop the covers so Sombra's back was pressed to his stomach, his long tail curling around the pony.

Sombra relaxed, feeling the security and warmth of Discord's presence. He drifted asleep, hearing the reassuring sound of Discord's breathing.

"What are you doing?" the doctor's voice startled Page Assist, who jumped and spun round to confront him.

"I uh.."

“His majesty is awake, but he cannot handle any work at present-"

"I know, I just came by to see how he was doing!" Page Assist stayed blocking the doorway.

"What are you doing?" the doctor shook his head "I need to check on his highness, this little lovers reunion has gone on long enough."

With an annoyed sigh, Page Assist grabbed him by the collar of his coat and towed him away. In hushed whispers he explained Sombra had requested Discord stay with him alone until he could fall asleep, for bad memories of the fight were troubling him.

The doctor sighed, thwarted again.

"Fine, but I’m going to need to tend to his majesty sooner or later, tell him he has an hour!"

Then he strode off down the hall. Page sighed in relief, then moved back to the door and raised a hoof to knock.

"Come in, but be quiet.” the Draconequus' voice spoke up. Page Assist crept in as silently as he could. Discord was curled protectively around the King, but he sat up enough to look over at the aide.

"I assume you heard-" Page Assist began and Discord nodded.

"He is fast asleep already, but it is a regular sleep with far better dreams. I could at least give him that much."

Page Assist nodded, understanding a little of Discord's powers involved hypnotism and dream planting. Sombra looked better, his expression was one of peace as he slept.

"Thank Celestia he's awake..." Page Assist sighed at last "it's been days."

"It's similar to what happened after the battle of Canterlot. I thought I’d lost him then too, but Celestia and I were able to waken him." Discord recalled the relief of freeing Sombra from that crystal.

"He'll be alright, wont he?" Page Assist asked.

Discord nodded "his magic will regrow, and he'll be back to booting you out of his office in no time."

Page Assist gave a quiet, ironic laugh.

"I don't know how I didn't see it. He's always talked about you, always cheered up when you visited. It was arrogant of me to assume it was a pony that'd made him fall in love."

Discord smiled softly, but his expression was mostly unreadable.

"Whatever keeps his majesty happy." Page Assist said "that's my job, to make sure he has what he needs. Clearly that's YOU."

Sombra shifted in his sleep, making a faint, uneasy sound. Discord gently settled a hand on the pony's shoulder and Sombra relaxed a second later, expression softening.

"I'll leave you be." the King's aide said, he was in awe of just how close these two were, he sort of envied them.

Discord stayed with Sombra until the doctor returned, at which point he finally decided to go see Cadance and Shining Armor.

But first, Umbra.

Umbra jumped as Discord suddenly appeared in her office, his face flushed.

“Discord, what's-?”

“He's awake!” Discord blurted in a rush and Umbra opened and shut her mouth a few times, then sat down in the middle of the room with a choked cry.

“He's awake, he's OK.” she looked up as Discord's voice wobbled. She seen how he was hunched up on the couch, eyes full of tears. He blinked and they splashed to the floor where they became bouncy balls, boinging around the office.

“It's OK,” Umbra sat down beside him, wrapping a hoof around him and pulling him against her.

“I was scared he'd sleep forever,” Discord choked out “that I’d never get to hold him again or kiss him.”

“Well, you two will be back to snuggling in no time, because I’m counting on you to make sure he rests and doesn't try to work.”

“Count on it!” Discord wiped his eyes, causing more bouncy balls to ping off the floor and roll around the room.

“This is different.” Umbra giggled as she watched him.

“Sorry, crazy biology right here.” Discord thumped his chest proudly and this made Umbra hug him once more.

“Thank you,” she said softly “for taking care of my son. He's deserved this happiness all his life.”

As she sorted that days mail with Shining Armor, Cadance heard footsteps and looked up, spotting Discord hovering in the doorway.

"Hay," she said "any news?"

Discord nodded, relief written all over his face as he spoke "He's awake."

"Awake-? Oh thank Celestia." Cadance whispered, feeling a dizzy surge of relief.

"I'll say," Shining Armor looked relieved "how is he?"

“His magic’s not back yet, but he's awake at least. The doctor said he'll make sure he eats properly and recovers-”

The Draconequus yawned abruptly, curling up on top of the couch. He toyed with the end of his tail as he talked.

"He woke up about an hour ago, a guard came to find me. I'm pretty sure I ran over several servants on my way back."

Cadance smiled at the mental image this conjured. It didn't surprise her one bit that hearing his beloved King was awake was the best news Discord had heard all week.

"He's in a lighter, normal sleep." the chaos being continued “He's pretty weak, so he's gonna be sleeping a lot and staying in bed.”

"Like when he came out of stasis last time?" Shining Armor guessed.

Discord nodded, then chuckled. "I teased him about being so fond of sleeping that he'd invented a whole new kind. He told me to shut up."

Cadance couldn't help laughing, imagining the withering look Sombra wore as he spoke.

"Yup, he's back!" Shining Armor declared, grinning at Discord who actually smiled back.

"You must be so relieved." Cadance said softly to Discord.

Discord pulled a piece of paper from thin air, on which was written; "Things that are huge understatements." He pretended to read it, nodded and went "definitely" before throwing the list over his shoulder where it vanished with a pop.

"Hopefully we can speak with him once he's strong enough." Shining Armor said to Cadance, who nodded.

“We can update him on the kingdom, plus there’s that trade meeting coming up we need to discuss.”

Discord felt a yawn sneak up on him as he listened to them confer, his eyes were growing so heavy...

The two royals blinked in surprise as Discord abruptly flopped onto the couch face-first and promptly fell asleep.

"Wow. He must've been more tired then he thought." Cadance mused, smiling softly.

"All this waiting has been hard on him," Shining Armor said "I can only imagine how awful it must've felt not knowing if Sombra would be alright, day after day."

"Let's let him sleep, we can take a break." Cadance smiled as she stood up. Shining nodded and they crept quietly out of the room, closing the door behind them so Discord could get some rest.

Thus they left the fast asleep Draconequus to snooze in peace.

Discord was persuaded to sleep in his own bed that night, now that Sombra was recovering properly.

He had noticed how much it had seemed to tire Sombra to speak of how he'd felt, but surely that was just because of that spell he'd unleashed. It'd held so much power in it that it was no surprise if Sombra was a little dazed...

So he decided he wouldn't do anything to get his lover too excited, or anxious. His job was to make sure his King rested.

He was still thinking of ways to help his beloved relax when he went to see him the next day. He knocked on the door and heard the King's voice asking him to enter.

“Hay handsome!” Discord shut the door behind him with a grin.

“Discord!” Sombra sat up in bed with a momentary wince, tired red eyes meeting his. Discord noticed, with a worried flip-flop of his stomach, that Sombra's normally vibrant red eyes looked more a washed out reddish grey now. He couldn’t remember if they seemed that way yesterday, he'd been too busy celebrating his beloveds return. All he could recall was the softness of Sombra's coat, the warmth of his lips...

“How are you feeling?” The chaos lord asked as he stroked Sombra's face gently with one hand. He seen a brief flicker over Sombra's face, the stallion tilting his muzzle to rub against his hand for a moment, then the dulled look was back and the most the pony could muster was a wan smile.

“I am alright.” Sombra said softly, but as with yesterday, he seemed kind of distant.

“You sure, cutie?” Discord asked, anxiety clawing at his gut as he studied Sombra's expression closely. Sombra just nodded again, then patted the bed beside him, hopeful eyes locked on Discord.

The chaos lord snuggled up next to him, letting the King's body rest against his side as he wrapped an arm around the pony. Sombra nuzzled into his hold, eyes closing with a soft, content sigh. He'd missed the feel of Discord's embrace.

Discord attempted to start up conversations as they lay there, but the King seemed very slow to respond, like any emotion he possessed had been used up in their reunion the day before.

Half the time Sombra just drifted off mid-sentence and closed his eyes again, sighing softly as he snuggled deeper into his lover's embrace, his words forgotten.

--He's just tired from his sleep.-- Discord thought over and over. But even last time after escaping stasis, Sombra hadn’t been THIS out of it.

The Draconequus asked the doctor about it when he came to check on the King. The stallion was deeply asleep again and thus oblivious to his love's concern.

“Unresponsive?” the doctor frowned “yes, he did seem a little sluggish, but I reasoned it was just after effects of stasis sleep.”

“This wasn’t stasis sleep, this was the lighter stage. I remember last time even with all his fear and pain, he was still responsive, even if all he did was fret. Something is wrong.” the Draconequus insisted.

“Look, I know you two are close, but I think you’re overreacting.” the doctor sighed, Discord really was very overprotective.

Discord glared at him, but said nothing more.

Umbra came by to see her son later on and she too noticed that Sombra seemed spacey.

“Are you feeling alright, child?” she asked, patting his hoof gently.

“What? Yes.” Sombra forced his attention span to respond “I’m fine mother, truly.”

But in truth he felt...off. The world was moving as if it was in slow motion. He'd found himself staring absently into the sink in the bathroom just that very morning, unable to recall what he had been thinking, if anything at all.

And his magic hadn’t returned either, it worried him but…..well.

His focus drifted and he felt himself disconnecting again, yet made no move to stop it, it was so easy to just drift.

Umbra tapped his hoof again and her son blinked, then after a seconds delay, looked at her again.

“Have you been eating?” she asked.

Sombra nodded, he was getting his appetite back more and more every day but he didn’t taste the food as much as he thought he should. He just ate because he had to.

Umbra hugged him gently, then left him to sleep.

She took her concerns to the doctor, where she found Discord already arguing with him.

She told the doctor what she'd seen and he sighed, recalling Discord's lecture.

“See? I told you!” Discord snapped.

The doctor set his notes down and sighed, rubbing his forehead with one hoof.

“Look, I don’t know what to tell you two. This could be for any number of reasons, he could’ve endured trauma in that brief time he was gone. He hasn’t spoken a word about the ordeal and I dare say you two haven’t brought it up either?”

“I didn’t want him to get stressed,” Discord said curtly “but, maybe we should.”

“Right, we'll talk to him together this evening.” Umbra said to the chaos lord.

They left the doctor's office, whereupon he sighed loudly in relief. Those two were scary when they were mad!

“Child, can we come in?” Umbra asked as she stuck her head around the door to Sombra's bedroom.

“Yes, of course.” Sombra smiled languidly but his eyes brightened a little as he seen not just his mother but his lover walk in.

Discord greeted him with a quick smooch and Sombra felt his heart start to pound, but all too rapidly the same emotional fatigue seeped in. Discord watched him with barely concealed worry as he and Umbra sat on chairs by the bedside.

“I know it's a lot to ask cutie,” Discord spoke at last “but what happened in the cave that you can remember?”

“I...” Sombra tried to think back to that day when he'd been rescued and reunited with his love and his kingdom, but his memories slipped out of his grasp like they were made of silly putty “I do not know.”

“Think, child.” Umbra patted his hoof encouragingly, but her son just shook his head sadly, he seemed to be struggling to dredge up the energy to respond properly.

“I am sorry mother, Discord,” his eyes dropped to the bed-covers beneath his hooves “I cannot remember anything.”

“It's alright child,” Umbra soothed, but she and Discord shared worried looks for a moment before she spoke again “how about your magic?”

Another mute shake of the head, that same dulled look in his eyes.

“I am sorry.” he repeated.

“Nothing to be sorry for, my King. Please don't push yourself,” Discord rubbed behind Sombra's ear. This gesture raised a soft smile from the monarch, but it soon faded and Sombra looked sleepy once again.

“Get some rest.” his mother began, but Sombra seemed to recover a moment-.

“The empire?” Sombra blurted, as if he'd just had a burst of energy “is everything alright?”

“Yes, it's fine handsome.” Discord assured him “Cadance and her husband are here, remember? They're helping your mother run things.”

“Ah.” Sombra nodded, settling back into the dull comfort of his fugue “I’m glad.”

Discord urged him to rest, he'd be back in a bit to see him. Sombra smiled again, thanked them both then curled up and drifted asleep.

“Something is very wrong.” Umbra said as they traversed the halls.

“Tell me about it,” Discord sighed “that ear thing? Normally makes him turn to jelly. He loves having his ears petted!”

Umbra smiled at how cute Discord looked when he spoke of her son, the way he blushed softly and smiled so brightly. Such a sweet pair, they’d been friends so long that the transition to lovers didn’t seem unusual at all.

“We'll help him, somehow.” she promised and Discord nodded, determination in his eyes.

But as the days passed, Sombra showed no more signs of snapping out of his daze. The doctor tried getting the King's aide to bring up something that would normally annoy the King, but Sombra barely reacted save for a perplexed frown.

“What's wrong with him?” Page Assist asked urgently as they left, but the doctor only shook his head and sighed.

“I have no idea. Physically he's fine, but it's as if he's missing something, some key part of him.”

They had to fix this and fast, the kingdom needed it's ruler!

Alone in his room, Sombra sighed and stared out the window. What had those two been so up in arms about, he was fine, wasn't he?

Yet something felt missing, something vital.

He drifted asleep before he could ponder it any further.

Discord was starting to get really scared as the third day of Sombra's space-case syndrome dragged on. Even when he kissed the stallion, Sombra seemed worryingly slow to respond. Yet he seen small bursts of emotion, as if his beloved was locked away within his own mind.

The stallion seemed to want comfort, as he spent most of their time encased in Discord's embrace, drifting in and out of sleep.

After making sure his beloved was asleep and had everything he needed should he wake, the Draconequus went to find Cadance.

She was in the King's office and Shining Armor was out at the barracks checking on the guard.

“What’s the matter?” she asked as soon as she seen him.

“Is it that obvious?” Discord sighed.

“You've turned grey all over.” Cadance motioned him to take the seat next to her “what's wrong?”

“Something's wrong with Sombra.” Discord said at last.

“Wrong, how?” Cadance queried. She and Shining had been up to see him and aside from appearing very tired he seemed to be recovering well. Albeit a bit slow to respond, but who knew what side effects he'd suffer from what he'd been through?

Discord described the things he seen, the little facets of his beloved King that seemed missing.

Cadance frowned “that is odd. But now you mention it, he should be a lot more responsive by this point, I’ve been busy so it didn’t cross my mind. But of course you and Umbra would see it.”

Discord nodded, looking about to start crying from worry.

“What if this is my fault? Did I cause this?” he whispered in a hushed tone.

“What? No, you can't think that.” Cadance was worried by how the Draconequus still blamed himself.

“Maybe if I’d done things differently, he'd be his usual self?” Discord whispered.

“You did everything right, Discord, I know it. We'll find an answer somehow, but please don’t place the blame on yourself, Discord.”

“I don’t know how to help him.” Discord sniffled.

Silence rang a moment, with Cadance patting Discord's back as she floundered for something to say to make him feel better. But what could she say without sounding insincere? It was a tricky situation.

“What're those letters?” Discord asked suddenly, pointing at a stack of unopened ones.

“Oh, today’s mail. Ponies have taken to addressing them to us in the hopes we'll let Sombra know they support him. It's very sweet how proud they are of him, I wonder if he realises it?”

“I hope so.” Discord sighed.

Cadance gave him some of the letters, asking did he want to help her?

Grateful for the distraction, Discord opened each letter, reading them and alternating between smiling or chuckling at the contents.

“This one just says “hey Discord dude, you're lucky. I'd so hit that. Signed, a fan.”” the Draconequus laughed, shaking his head in amusement.

Cadance shook her head and chuckled.

“Oh my sanity-” Discord cracked up giggling “listen to this; its from his majesty's fanclub- for his REAR.”

“Oh, I have one of those. It's weird.” Cadance shook her head. “my face is up here, you know!”

Discord opened the last one, which was directly addressed to him and soon found himself absorbed in its contents.

–

Dear Mr. Discord.

You showed us just how strong your love was for our King, and we're grateful to you. We hope he will come to the next pride festival when we host it. In the meantime, all of us here at Pride have put together a tribute to the both of you. We don’t know if his majesty is well enough to come down and see it, but we'll be hosting a party in his honour tomorrow evening at sunset.

Bets wishes,

Umbrum Pride group.”

Discord felt touched they thought so kindly of himself and Sombra. Then he had an idea, one so brilliant it just had to work-!

“I gotta go, I have an idea!” Cadance blinked as Discord gave her a thank you hug and ruffled her mane before he sped off at a hundred miles an hour.

Straightening her mane, Cadance wondered what had gotten into him?

The leader of the pride group was about to start the “party planning” meeting when there was a rapid knock at the front door.

“Excuse me a moment,” she told the group. She trotted into the foyer of their meeting place, opening the double doors as she wondered who needed their attention so urgently?

“Yes-oh, hello Discord!” she said brightly.

“Hi, I got your letter!” Discord showed it to her “and I think you can help me, all of you!”

Seeing the urgency in his eyes, she nodded and beckoned him in.

They went to the meeting room, where Discord explained his situation and asked for their help.

“Come on cutie!” Discord grinned as he appeared in his kings room the next evening “we're taking a trip!”

“What? Ah, I don’t feel so well.” Sombra shook his head. Discord sat on the bed in front of him, pulling the saddest face he could.

“Please, my King?” the Draconequus begged.

Sombra took in his anxious expression and stirred enough from his stupor to realise this was important and nodded. Discord kissed him gently, which made his heart ache before the malaise that'd ensnared him since waking crept back in like a malignant shadow. He felt as if he was broken somehow, like something was unplugged, but he couldn’t find the words to identify it.

His aide and doctor had kept asking did he recall what Chrysalis had done to him, but he couldn’t reach the memories, they slipped away like fish in a pond..

Discord watched as Sombra put on his cloak, ignoring his usual regalia, save for his crown.

“I'll just leave a little note in case your staff come looking.” he set a folded note atop the bed, then snapped his fingers and they appeared outside in a flash, far away from the guards patrol.

Discord dropped to all fours to walk alongside his love, who studied the quiet streets they walked down with a blank expression.

Discord watched him worriedly, genuinely saddened by the state of his beloved. Sombra had always been so vibrant, so lively, yet now that all seemed lost. What had that Queen done to him? What might he, Discord, have done with his efforts to reverse Sombra's stasis?

“Where are we going?” Sombra asked Discord after a few minutes.

“Not far now.” Discord assured him.

“Why the back streets, are we avoiding the press?”

“You could say that, it’ll make sense soon, my love.” the chaos lord vowed. Sombra nodded silently, emotions short circuiting again and leaving him feeling empty.

As they got closer, Discord asked his love to close his eyes now.

“Discord?” the dazed pony said softly, tilting his head to one side.

“Trust me, my love.” Discord asked and Sombra accepted it. Even through the strange fog occupying his mind, he knew this kind, loving chaos being was trying to help him. Maybe he could fix the broken part?

The stallion felt a kiss brush his lips as he closed his eyes, then Discord took his left fore-hoof in his hand and began guiding him.

Sombra heard his footsteps echo, meaning they were in a wide open place. But just where were they and what was Discord planning?

“OK, you can open them now, my King.” Discord said softly.

Sombra opened his eyes and stared as the world came into focus.

They were in the part of town that housed the sculpture of him, the one Discord usually stuck a moustache on, built to commemorate his rule. It showed him rearing on his hind legs, head raised proudly, wings outspread as if to take flight. But that wasn’t what his eyes were drawn to.

Resting at the base of the statue was a massive floral arrangement. Lovingly wrought from wire with hundreds of flowers woven into it, it was simply stunning.

It was in the shape of his cutie mark, but where his mark had two Alicorn wings, this one bore one equine wing and one bat wing either side of the horn. The crown around the base of the three symbols was made of pure white roses. The rest of it started red at the centre, then flooded out into every colour of the rainbow, with violet and black flowers at the outer edges. Around the base were more flowers, again in all colours of the rainbow.

“Do you remember the festival I took you to? Where we disguised ourselves and kissed by the fountain?” Discord asked.

He seen Sombra struggle to think, but eventually the pony tore his eyes away from the statue to look at Discord, nodding once.

“I got a letter from the group that organises that festival.” the Draconequus continued “In it, they told me how touched they were by your request that I let the world know about us. They admire your bravery in taking that big step and wanted to show it, so they put a notice in the paper asking the ponies in the kingdom to donate a rose to this display in support of you, in support of US. They love you so much and they're happy because you're happy. You're free my love, WE'RE free, just like those girls said to us that day. Free to love and-”

“-love being free.” Sombra spoke, his voice catching in his throat as he stared back at the display.

Discord was right, he realised. They loved him for choosing to love someone he picked, regardless of gender and his strict upbringing. This whole time he'd been fearing a backlash when in fact the citizens had been celebrating him finding the love he desired.

Discord's heart cramped anxiously when he seen tears well up in Sombra's eyes, but this was soon forgotten as he seen a wash of light seem to run across his King's eyes, their colour deepening to crimson as the spark returned to them.

Sombra made a choked noise of relief and the tears overspilled as he finally felt able to move, to feel. The tears balanced on his lashes a moment before splashing to the sun-warmed stone beneath his hooves.

“Sombra?”

He turned as he heard a familiar voice, one that had been trying to get through to him over and over without ends. A voice who's owner had held him in his arms without a word, even when he had barely seemed to respond.

The pony turned his whole body to face Discord now, so many backlogged sensations and emotions fighting for attention he didn't know where to start thanking his precious Draconequus.

“Sombra, love?” Discord asked “are you alright?”

Sombra nodded, tears blurring his vision in lieu of words. He didn't know what to say, but at least his head felt clear, for the first time since waking.

“Don’t cry,” Discord said softly, framing the pony's face with his hands, thumbs brushing the tears away tenderly “I’m here.”

“I know,” Sombra whispered huskily “you have been here all this time. I am so sorry, Discord, I was far away for far too long and I left you all alone.”

“Hush, it's forgotten.” Discord whispered, drawing the monarch's face closer to his.

Sombra closed his eyes as Discord's lips met his and it was like their first kiss all over again. Jolts ran down his spine and his wings pomf'd out with a fwoosh of air.

Discord released him, not wanting to go too fast for the recovered pony but Sombra looped a foreleg around his neck and pulled him close to return the kiss regardless, a hoof coming to rest on his lover's chest.

At last Discord let him go, looking adoringly at him with relief in his eyes as he spoke;

“I'm so glad you’re alright, my King. I don’t want to think what I’d do without you. Well, probably just mas-”

Sombra nuzzled him softly, laughing as he cut the Draconequus off mid-innuendo “neither do I, so let us not dwell on that. We're here, you and I, we're free.”

“I'm under orders from your mother to keep watch over you to make sure you rest up. So no sneaking off to work, okay?”

Sombra laughed, opening his mouth to respond when he felt a sudden stabbing pain in his head. He put a hoof to his head, uttering a soft gasp. He closed his eyes and drew in a few shaky deep breaths.

“Sombra-?! What's wrong?” Discord asked, his eyes roaming over the pony, searching for physical injury.

“I- my head just felt like an ice pick stabbed it.” Sombra cautiously opened his eyes as his heart rate steadied at last. The world looked fuzzy for a moment, then it sharpened into focus.

Discord seen the familiar glow of magic swirl up around Sombra's horn, eyes radiating the familiar green glow.

“It's back! You're all better.” Discord realised what this meant and grinned at his stallion.

“I can feel it.” Sombra looked relieved, if a little shaken. He looked over at the display of flowers once more and his voice shook a little “I'M back, my dear Discord. I don’t know where I was, but it was as if I could not reach my own heart.”

Hearing those words, Discord realised in a surge of brilliance what had happened.

“That blast.” he whispered, clasping the pony's fore-hooves in his hands.

“What about it?” Sombra asked, blinking at him.

“That’s why you felt distant! You gave so much love that your mind believed that it had none left. That was why you felt so empty and couldn't respond, you just needed a spark to reignite it and what’s more powerful than the love of an entire empire?”

“Thank you.” Sombra whispered, kissing Discord softly and nuzzling his nose “you knew this would snap me out of it. I truly could not be luckier to have you with me.”

Discord didn’t know what to say, so he just nuzzled the stallion's cheek, mimicking the way Sombra did it.

Sombra's ears perked up as he heard a sound halfway between a squee and a sob.

“What was that?” he asked, glancing around him.

“Ah, yes.” Discord coughed “this is going to be the site of a party, dear Sombra. For us.”

“A party?” Sombra blinked, looking at the empty plaza “by whom and where is everypony?”

“Hiding.” Discord cleared his throat and spoke loudly “OK, the jigs up!”

Sombra did a double take as ponies poured out of every nook and cranny as Discord called out, trotting out of hiding from behind corners, statues and large potted plants. Had they been watching all this time?!

He felt himself flush as the crowds streamed over to gather around the royal couple, there were so many ponies waving and smiling at him. But he seen kindness and their acceptance reflected in all the faces around him.

“Your majesty.” a mare's voice caught his ear and he looked over in its direction, seeing it belonged to a blue mare with green and pink striped mane who bowed to him now.

“You made that wreath?” he asked the pony as she straightened up from her bow.

“Yes, your majesty. I'm Fairchild, the leader of Pride here in the Umbrum kingdom. We wanted to celebrate your act of bravery in giving everything you had to protect your home, to protect your special someone. You didn’t care who knew, you told your love it was what you wanted.”

“Ah!” Sombra recalled his request to Discord and looked at the chaos lord now “the paper-?”

“Every paper. That I could get hold of.” Discord said “I told them to put in it big capital letters that I. Love. YOU.” he tapped Sombra's nose at the end, making the King go cross-eyed.

The crowd cheered and Sombra heard the squee-squeak sound again. Why did it sound so familiar?

“Who is that?” Discord asked in bewilderment and a mare stepped sheepishly forward, one hoof raised.

“Sorry, I can't help myself.”

“Who?” like the King, Discord thought she seemed familiar. Something about her mannerisms?

He got his answer a second later when the mare, with a whoosh of magic, revealed herself as Princess Cadance. She scratched at her cheek, blushing as the crowds did double takes.

“Sorry, I sensed so much love in that letter you left on the bed when I came by to see Sombra, I couldn't resist following my instincts.”

Sombra blushed, but figured Cadance was the Princess of love, she'd have seen it a mile away anyway. His eyes met the Princess' and she gave him a supportive wink. He smiled, buoyed by her presence.

“Shall we start the party?” Discord asked the crowd and they cheered in unison.

“Ready to party, my King?” the Draconequus winked to the King.

Sombra smiled, nodding to the crowd who cheered even louder.

The ponies brought out cosy chairs for the royals and chaos lord and began setting up stalls and cooking snack foods.

Ponies came to talk to the King and his lover, mostly to congratulate him, but also to say just how cute they thought it was!

“See?” Discord murmured as he rubbed behind Sombra's ear, making the pony sigh happily “they're cool with it. So now you can indeed kiss me whenever you feel like and tell everyone to kiss your flank.”

Sombra chuckled “That is true, I confess I am looking forward to surprise-kissing you when you least expect it!”

Discord grinned and planted a kiss on his lovers cheek as reward. A squee noise issued from Cadance and when the duo looked at her, she had a hoof clapped over her mouth.

“Sorry,” she apologised “I have a compulsion to do that whenever I see something genuinely loving. I swear I can't control it.”

Sombra chuckled, assuring her it was fine.

The group put on a show for the honoured guests, including a song performance!

Shining Armor went looking for his wife, couldn't find her. Went looking for Sombra, couldn't find him either. But at least Sombra or possibly Discord had left a note, saying he'd gone down to the plaza where his statue was.

Shining grabbed Captain Corona and Page Assist and the trio went in search of the missing royals.

The closer they got to the plaza, the louder the noise became.

“Is this a party?” Shining Armor wondered, as they tried to edge their way through the crowd to the front.

Coronas ears twitched as he heard a song

“The King is back, dark Queen is gone,
Our eternal shadow has come home...”

Breaching the front of the huge crowd, they seen ponies dancing to a song being performed live by a group of mare's and stallion's atop a makeshift stage.

At the centre of all the dancing was the empire's ruler, currently enjoying a dance with his beloved chaos lord.

As they watched, the song drew to a close and Discord spun his partner round, hooking an arm around his back and dipping him backward towards the floor. Sombra's face was flushed, eyes sparkling. He laughed happily and nuzzled his muzzle against Discord's as he was set upright.

The crowds around them cheered and clapped.

“Well, there goes his majesty's reservation!” Page Assist huffed, rolling his eyes “first he's keeping it state-secret, now he's showing off.”

“Oh, quit griping,” Corona gave him a noogie, making Page Assist glare daggers at him “you need to go out, meet somepony. RELAX already!”

Page Assist gave a loud huff “well I never-!” he harrumphed. He backed off to escape Corona, but so was fixated on keeping an eye on the Gargoyle that he tripped over his own hooves and bumped into somepony else as he righted himself.

“You OK?” he seen the mare talking to him was a pretty pegasus, with sky blue eyes. He nodded. “Yes, sorry for barging into you.”

“No worries, hon.” She smiled warmly and nodded towards where the King was chattering to some ponies, no doubt about the relationship they celebrated.

“It's wonderful, isn’t it? We've all hoped for his majesty to find happiness, he's been working so hard for all of us that it's about time he had a break."

“That's true, I’ve seen him do nothing but work since day one.” Page Assist realised she had a point, Sombra did deserve the time to fall in love, he himself shouldn’t be so critical.

“Do you know him?” his conversation partner asked.

“Yes, I’m his aide.” Page Assist said proudly, puffing his chest out.

“Wow, that must be interesting.” her nose crinkled adorably as she whispered “does he ever do anything goofy? Like, really silly?”

Her cheeky manners made Page actually chuckle and he couldn’t resist letting one titbit slip “he opens doors with his face when he's caffeine-deprived.”

She let out a snort of laughter and Page found himself laughing too.

“I'm a genius.” Corona grinned smugly as he observed the pompous aide being made to laugh by the pony he'd tripped into.

Shining Armor rolled his eyes, looking at the crowds “where’s Cadie-?”

“Shining!” she popped up behind him as the words left his mouth, calling his name loud enough to make him shriek and fall over.

“Sorry honey.” She giggled, helping him up.

“Well, that answers that question.” Corona chuckled.

“Corona?” He and Shining Armor looked up as they heard Sombra's voice. He'd spotted them and was making his way through the crowd to their position. When he reached them Shining noticed how animated Sombra was, a drastic improvement over his near vegetative state from earlier.

“Hay, your majesty!” the Gargoyle grinned “enjoying yourself?”

Sombra nodded, stepping back to gesture at the floral tribute “the ponies donated flowers to build this!”

Shining's eyebrows rose and he gave an impressed whistle.

“Nice,” he said, understanding what it symbolised “everypony read the papers then!”

“So I have heard.” Sombra flushed a little, but honestly looked so happy that his nerves didn’t seem as obvious.

“Excellent news, sire!” Corona clapped him on the back “glad to see you looking back to normal, you've been asleep on and off for a while.”

“Yes I, I think that spell I pulled off scrambled my head a little, I couldn’t process anything fully. I just needed to be reminded of who I was. A task Discord has always known how to do.”

“Where is he?” Corona asked.

Sombra glanced about, then spotted him over by the stalls.

“Ah, food. He is a stomach on legs.”

“You’re one to talk!” Shining Armor snorted “according to the cook you metabolise like there’s no tomorrow!”

Sombra tried and failed to look innocent, further ruining the façade by sniggering.

“Join the party!” he said to Shining and Corona, then spotted Page Assist walking alongside a mare as they headed to the drinks tables “is that my aide?”

“Eyup,” Corona grinned “somepony's got a marefriend~!”

“Ah,” Sombra nodded wisely “I shall not intrude then, we can talk another time.”

They stayed at the party until late into the night, until Sombra finally had to leave. He walked up onto the stage to thank the crowds for coming, for donating the flowers and most importantly, for throwing this party in his honour.

They walked back to the palace, Sombra and Discord striding ahead of the others, heads close together as they talked.

Discord said something that made the King laugh softly and Page Assist seen how happy he looked.

“I've never seen such a drastic change in him,” he muttered “he was always so reserved before.”

“He's been keeping himself away from these feelings in order to work on the kingdom from what I heard,” Cadance piped up “this is new to him.”

Page Assist nodded, he figured Sombra would settle down once he was back at work…

Sombra and Discord walked off together, just enjoying the freedom to stick as close to each other as they could. Discord seen many a guard casting envious glances his way and grinned to himself.

“Ooh...” Sombra made a funny noise, coming to a sudden stop in the middle of the hallway, one hoof pressed to his stomach.

“What's wrong?” Discord asked “tummy ache?”

“No, it is not my stomach, this is originating-” he shivered again, flushing slightly.

--Oh no, it cannot be..-- Sombra groaned as his stomach ached as if in longing for something. He felt a familiar urge budding in the back of his mind and took off in a moment of panic, throwing himself into the bathroom down the hall. He locked the door with his magic and flung up a shield around the room.

He closed his eyes, working hurriedly to put a stopgap spell in place, anything to calm himself down-

“Cutie, what are you doing?”

“Your majesty?”

The two voices made Sombra yelp loudly and spin around to look at them, almost tripping on the long cloak as he did.

“W-what?” he stammered. Discord folded his arms and frowned sceptically.

“You’re not fooling me, my King, I know when something is wrong. Now what's so wrong you felt the need to lock yourself in here?”

“N-nothing, you two can wait outside, I am fine!” Sombra waved a hoof at them, forcing a smile.

“You’re a crap liar, silly Sombra.” Discord dead-panned, but then he vanished abruptly and Sombra blinked, had he actually left?

Then he felt familiar hands begin to massage the base of his ears.

“Ah-” he blushed, ears twitching. That felt so good...

“Spit it out, what's the matter!” Discord's disembodied voice said as he continued to massage Sombra's ears. He made his body reappear so Page wouldn’t get the wrong idea, but kept rubbing the pony's ears even as Sombra tried to object.

“Alright- let me go then-!” Sombra blurted and Discord released his ears, settling down in front of the pony and peering at him.

“OK then, out with it.” he ordered.

“Must you play dirty?” Sombra flushed.

“Dirty is practically my middle name, you know that!” Discord joked, winking at the King.

Page Assist went red as he observed Discord's technique for getting the King to answer, there was something very intimate about the scene and he felt like he was intruding.

“It is-” Sombra sighed “it is the heat Discord. It's back.”

“Back?” Discord frowned “how?”

Page Assist heard this and put it together with the return of Sombra's magic and emotions.

“I think it is more a case of it never finished, sire.”

“How do you mean?” Discord asked “he hasn’t exactly been in the mood lately, or didn’t you notice?”

“How would I notice, you filthy minded cretin!” Page Assist blushed at the insinuation and Discord sniggered.

“Because you wouldn’t be able to get in the door to Sombra's room if he had!” Discord teased, riling Page up even more.

“That’s enough you two, play nice!” Sombra cried in exasperation.

“As I was saying,” Page continued snootily, ignoring Discord “my guess is your urges were suppressed by the incident in the cave. You were pretty shook up, but with your magic and cognisance now restored, your heat must have finally reinstated itself since it wasn’t finished before you were abducted.”

Sombra thought about it, coming to the realisation his aide was right.

“Oh dear.” he whispered softly “will it never stop?”

“Have you not made the choice?” Page Assist asked.

“What choice?” Sombra asked.

Page blinked “the choice in the report I gave you.”

Receiving only two blank stares as he talked, he face-hoofed and sighed.

“Did you two even read any of it? Besides the one bit you alluded to in your apology, sire?”

The lovers shared guilty glances, Sombra going red and Discord looking amused.

“That’s a no, then.” Page deduced.

He sighed, running a hoof through his mane “well, I'll give you the short version. The heat is designed to further the Infinitum race by mating. This period only occurs at a certain point, when the Infinitum is most potent.”

Sombra blushed.

“Anyway,” Page continued unflappably “as I said, the main goal is to mate.”

“I gathered that, but I think you’re missing one vital point, neither of us is female.” Discord pointed out patiently.

“You don’t have to be!” Page Assist groaned “his majesty is the Infinitum. Infinitum are capable of generating one of our kind, much like how his mother had him.”

“I understand that,” Sombra stammered “b-but, what does that have to do with-?”

“If you wished to have a child, your body can do so much more accurately if it absorbs genetic data from your partner, be it female or MALE. As the child is born from crystal, gender makes no difference.”

Silence rang as this sunk in.

“So that’s why you wanted such a ploughing.” Discord whispered to Sombra, who went beet red.

“Not just that!” the King objected in hushed tones “as I mentioned, I rather enjoy-”

“Ahem,” Page Assist cleared his throat to get them to stop whispering. “my point remains valid, your majesty. Your body is actively looking for source material and it wont stop until you either choose to let the process go ahead or deny it.”

Sombra closed his eyes, feeling Discord nuzzling his cheek.

“I am in no way ready for kids.” Sombra said, laughing at just how crazy the phrase sounded. Discord chuckled and kissed his nose softly.

“Me neither, I only just told you I love you!”

This made Sombra smile and he leant against Discord's side, his heat temporarily forgotten.

“So all you need to do your majesty, is focus on making the process stop and it'll end.” Page finished.

“So, that first night triggered it by accident after all?” Discord looked at Sombra.

“Seems that way, my body must have misconstrued my desires. Mistook one thing for another...”

“It was still fun~” Discord winked, making the King chuckle again.

“Well, we'll take care of this, don’t you fret!” Discord grinned at Page, who face-hoofed and groaned.

“I'll see you tomorrow, your majesty.” he said resignedly.

As they turned to go, Sombra asked “how did you two get in here anyway?”

Discord spoke up with a grin “This isn’t the first time I’ve unpicked your shields, remember?”

“Heh, I do indeed.” the King chuckled as they stood in the hallway.

Page Assist left them to it, walking off down the hall- Then he stopped, remembering the reason he'd chased after the King and run into Discord to begin with.

“Sire, the trade agreement meeting is tomorrow. The Prince and Princess want to know if you're well enough to attend, or shall they go?”

“That’s the one with that old blow-hard, Lord Shield, isn’t it?”

“Yes, sire.”

“Crap,” Sombra sighed “he always insists on seeing me personally. I had better attend alongside the Prince and Princess.”

“Very well, sire.” Page Assist trotted away.

“Great.” Sombra sighed.

“Can't you just blow him off?” Discord asked and giggled when Sombra glared at him “for once that WASNT a sexual innuendo. I'm serious, can't you just delegate?”

“Sadly no,” Sombra sighed “Lord Shield is very old fashioned, he insists on only dealing with me, as the highest ranking individual. It is easier to just go along and get it over with.”

“OK, fine, but I’m holding you prisoner after that. You’re not doing any work, okay?” Discord said sternly.

“Agreed.” Sombra smiled softly.

They teleported back to Sombra's bedroom, where Discord immediately summoned a shield to block the noise. Sombra smiled, his lover had read his signals.

“Lie down, cutie.” Discord said softly. Sombra blinked, wondering what the chaos lord had planned?

But he clambered onto the bed, lying on his back with the pillows propping him up. Discord leaned over him, kissing him softly while his hands rubbed Sombra's belly. The pony groaned happily, arching his back against the soft hands caressing him.

Discord snapped his fingers and Sombra let out a surprised yelp as his forelegs were suddenly bound above his head. Blinking up, he seen dark green vines securing them in place. He blushed even more as he felt one slither up the inside of his thigh, then the other side.

“S-so this is what you meant!" he groaned.

“Mm-hmm~” Discord grinned “these ones are very soft, they’ll just keep you from fidgeting while I take care of you.”

The vines wound around Sombra's hind legs, keeping them apart while others roamed across his chest like teasing fingertips.

“Mmmm,” Sombra moaned softly “that tickles..”

He felt the bed shift and opened his eyes, seeing his precious Discord leaning over him, nuzzling and kissing him gently. As he did so, one of the vines wrapped around the trussed-up stallion's shaft and squeezed firmly. Sombra tried to buck his hips but the vines holding his legs and midsection meant he couldn’t budge an inch.

“Drop the spell cutie,” Discord whispered and Sombra nodded. He'd set the same spell he'd used at the party, to try dampen his desires while Page talked with him and Discord. Now, without the spell, the teasing touch of both the vines and his lover had him fully aroused and hard in seconds.

Discord brushed a finger over his stallion's tip, mopping up a thick drop of pre-cum. With a wave of his hand the vines squeezed again, making more thick creamy fluid bead up and trickle down the pony's shaft. Discord lapped it up with his tongue, hearing Sombra panting eagerly.

“I have a special treat for you, love.” he grinned to the pony.

Sombra tried to assemble the words needed to enquire what this new surprise was, when he felt Discord's talented tongue probing a most intimate spot. It sent a bolt of pleasure up Sombra's spine, and he moaned loudly, trying to wriggle. But the vines just tightened, keeping him in place.

He closed his eyes, breathing rapidly as Discord's agile tongue pushed into him, teasing the inside of his entrance. It was playful but very pleasurable.

The vines around his legs kept a firm grip on his hips while the one wrapped around his member moved in a languid stroke. Another traced a line down his belly, then back up, roaming across his chest as it rose and fell rapidly.

Discord groaned softly when Sombra clenched his body tightly as the Draconequus' tongue explored him. Discord squeezed and rubbed the stallions firm bottom as he picked up speed, ears twitching as Sombra moaned his name.

--I promised I’d ravish you senseless my King and I aim to keep it!-- Discord thought as he continued to work the stallion's firm ass.

“Discord- sweet sanity I cannot hold back-” Sombra gasped, as he wriggled futilely within his restraints. His wings flapped eagerly and brushed the scent of pheromones around the area within the shield.

Seconds later Sombra could keep going no longer, gasping Discord's name sharply as he felt himself hit orgasm. Globs of fluid splashed onto his chest and he felt the teasing tongue withdraw from him.

Discord sat up, looking at the pony before him. Sombra looked beyond tempting as he lay there, bound and spattered with cum, spread-eagled by the vines hold. He began cleaning his partner up, using fingers and tongue to clean up every glob while the pony groaned his name urgently.

“Delicious,” Discord spoke at last, snapping his fingers to summon a glass of water. Once he'd chugged it down he tossed the glass over his shoulder where it disappeared.

“That’s just the start..” he teased as he caressed Sombra's still-hard member. “Mm, you look good.”

The way Discord was crouching over him, Sombra could guess what was next and he caught Discord's eyes, grinning.

“Great minds think alike, my King. I cannot let a second load go to waste….”

As he spoke, he slowly lowered himself onto his majesty’s cock, making the pony groan urgently. Discord was so hot and tight it drove Sombra crazy.

Bracing his arms either side of Sombra's chest, the Draconequus began manoeuvring his curvy elegant form to lift himself up and down on the stallion's member.

“Mmm, yes-” the chaos lord groaned eagerly, licking his lips as he met Sombra's eyes “you feel amazing my dear Sombra.” He tensed the muscles in his rear, squeezing the pony’s shaft, which made Sombra moan loudly, licking his lips.

Sombra closed his eyes, revelling in the feeling of the chaos being riding him. Discord was moving hard and fast, taking it every last inch of his lover's shaft with every push downwards.

“Yes, that’s the spot-” Discord purred, swishing his tail as he felt the climax begin to build. Sombra moved one wing, brushing it along his lover's member, which made Discord gasp lustily.

The chaos being came first and the way he tensed his body brought Sombra over the edge too. His wing was mid-stroke as they came, so it was soon spattered with most of the Draconequus' load, the rest splattering onto Sombra's chest.

“Whew,” Discord looked down at the pony, blushing when he seen he'd made a bit of a mess of the pony’s wing.

“Okay, time to release you, my captive~” he teased, snapping his fingers, which made the vines release Sombra at last. The stallion sat up, pulling the wing towards him. Discord stared in aroused curiosity as he watched Sombra preen the wings, tongue mopping up the sticky liquid mussing them up.

“Mmm, all clean~” the King smiled, folding his wings down.

“How are you feeling cutie?” Discord asked.

“Good.” Sombra purred “but I have one task left.”

“What’s that?” Discord asked. Sombra grinned evilly and with a swirl of his magic he was suddenly in control of the vines and had them pin Discord in place, belly down on the bed. Other vines were used to keep the Draconequus' legs and tail in a position that gave the King full access.

“Ooh, what’re you up to, my King?” Discord groaned.

“Remember our conversation? Wherein I promised I would do something involving the shadow tendrils if you brought those seeds? Well, it is time for my end of the deal.”

“Oh I like your end, very much so.” Discord groaned in excitement. He couldn’t see Sombra from this position and it was pretty hot that he couldn't anticipate what his King had planned.

Sombra formed the shadow tendrils, teasing them around his lovers entrance, withdrawing then moving them back in. Discord squirmed in his bonds, begging the stallion to do more..

“As you wish.” Sombra said with a smirk. He began as he usually did, using the tendrils to stretch and tease his lover, getting him worked up pretty fast. Discord moaned deeply, relishing in the thrust of the shadow tendrils.

“Mm, ready.” Sombra grinned. He'd been idly toying with himself as he watched the shadow tendrils. For now he moved them and his hoof, he had other plans.

Discord squeaked in surprise as the tendrils moved under him, twining around his member and rubbing it gently. As they squeezed his tip he was aware of Sombra entering him, the familiar heat of his lovers endowment filling him..

“Mm, yes! Work it, my King.” the chaos being said breathily.

“I intend to.” Sombra grinned, then began. Every time he pushed all the way into his lover, the tendrils squeezed the Draconequus' shaft. They moved from the top to the base, keeping him from coming too early yet driving him crazy at the same time. All the while Sombra was unrelentingly pounding him from behind, hitting that sweet spot with each thrust.

The tendrils were wrapped around his entire shaft by this point, the faint thrum of the magic used to create them sending constant pulses of pleasure along the organ.

With one final, hard thrust he felt his King come inside him, the thick sticky seed coating him inside.

He was so close to coming but the tendrils were keeping it in check, just as it was on the verge..

Sombra pulled out and instructed the vines to lift his lovers body up enough from the bed for the tendrils to freely move and stroke the member they'd been playing with. It wasn’t long before Discord came, body shivering from the force of his orgasm for several long seconds until it finally tailed off…

Sombra let the chaos lord go from the vines and Discord sat himself up, facing his King.

“That was outstanding, my dear Sombra. You learn fast!” The Draconequus kissed the stallion, then they looked at the mess they’d made of the bed.

“Whoops.” Sombra said absently.

“Easily fixed.” Discord snapped his fingers and it was all swept away, the vines disappearing too.

“Those were quite stimulating, I must admit.” Sombra grinned as Discord pulled him into his arms.

“I thought I'd make this time extra special. After all, when you’re in heat, you seem to quite enjoy the domination.”

“What is to say I wont when I am off heat?” Sombra teased “forget not, I told you it is quite a thrill being at somepony else's mercy, if that one is special. And you have me at your mercy in that regard.”

Discord kissed him hotly, then ushered the sexy pony to the bathroom, they both needed to bathe!

The next morning, Sombra felt something was a bit off when he woke. Then he came to the realisation it wasn't something wrong, it was something right.

“Discord!” he shook the Draconequus' shoulder gently.

“What is it, love?” Discord asked.

“My heats stopped!” Sombra was flush with relief.

“Ah, that's good news. Now we know how to control it, simply satisfy every urge you have as many times as your body can take!”

Sombra flushed, biting his lip and smiling.

“You are so damn cute.” Discord growled, pulling the stallion down for a round of deep kisses. They spent as much time as they could making out until it was time to wash…

“I'll be around the palace if you need me, my King. Just use your magic.” Discord said as they walked down to the foyer where Sombra was going to met the dignitary.

“Of course,” Sombra smiled “have fun.”

“I will, my King.” Discord said softly. As they reached the corridor where Discord would separate from his love, Sombra pulled him in for a kiss. He smiled knowingly as he released his precious Draconequus.

“Until later." he purred. Then he was gone, tail swishing over his rear as he vanished around the corner.

“Boing.” Discord said out loud.

“I'll say.” the closest guard remarked.

Sombra sighed softly as the guards announced the arrival of Lord Shield and his son. This part caught Sombra by surprise, for Shield never usually brought his kid along. Although technically he was an adult now, a grown up colt who looked more like his mother than his father.

“King Sombra.” Shield said stiffly. Sombra blinked, wondering was something amiss? He greeted the Lord politely and his son too, setting these doubts aside.

The son, named Fracture, stared at the King as he spoke to him. He couldn’t help blush a little, the stallion was pretty good looking in the photos, but even better up close.

Then his father's hoof clipped his ear.

“Stop staring like a buffoon!” his father snapped. Sombra frowned, it seemed a bit harsh, but it wasn’t his place to intrude.

“This is Fracture, correct?” he said, distracting the Lord.

“Yes, your majesty.” the colt said, bowing deeply.

“I thought it best he accompany me, to learn about situations like this if he is ever to make something of himself and stop fooling around.” Shield said bluntly as he stared at Sombra.

“I see.” Sombra couldn’t put his hoof on it, but something was off about Lord Shield. Dismissing it for now, he motioned them to follow him to the rooms they'd be staying in.

Dinner was a fancy affair, but Sombra noted that Fracture didn't say much, didn't eat much either, but Shield didn't seem to care.

Sombra tried repeatedly to talk to the colt, but Shield always answered for him and the answers he gave made the colt wince. As if they weren’t what he'd truly like to say if the choice were in his hooves.

Shield retired to bed after dinner, saying he felt tired and needed to rest. He icily told his son not to be a nuisance and not to leave the palace. After bidding him goodnight, Sombra realised he had left his book in the lounge where he greeted guests for tea. He trotted down there, drifting over to beside the fireplace and scooping the misplaced tome up.

He heard a cough and whipped round, relaxing when he seen Fracture trying to sneak out of the room.

“Are you alright?” he asked, walking over to the pony “you seem very quiet.”

“I-it's nothing,” Fracture mumbled “father will only scold me if I talk.”

“Your father is in bed now, you can relax.” Sombra gestured to the seats by the fire “would you like to sit and talk awhile?”

Fracture looked scared, then tired, then he nodded gratefully. Sombra had the staff bring them some drinks and asked the kid what was on his mind.

“Is it your father?” he asked and Fracture winced.

“Yeah, it is,” he sighed “he's so upset with me.”

“For what reason, if I may be so bold as to enquire?” Sombra asked. Fracture bit his lip, as if weighing the pro's and con's.

“I seen the papers about you and your partner!” he blurted and Sombra flushed lightly but kept his composure “and I foolishly decided to come out to my family. My mother was a little shocked, but my father, he-”

“Did not take it well?” Sombra finished this sentence, seeing Fracture nod in acknowledgement.

“He hit the roof.” he said heavily “said I was a disgrace, that he was going to train me out of such behaviour.”

Sombra frowned “it is not a behaviour, it is a way of life.”

“That's what I tried to tell him!” Fracture cried “but he wont believe it. His family, my granddad and grandma, they’re so strict. They’re from super-rich super-old fashioned stock, so they don’t approve of a lot of modern practises.”

“Is there no way he would hear you out?” Sombra asked.

“No, I tried.” Fracture sighed “I’ll never be allowed to have a colt-friend, he'll no doubt force me to marry for money or for the business empire. It's not fair, why don’t my choices matter? Am I a mistake-”

“Stop right there.” Sombra said sternly “you are not a mistake of any sort. You have every right to choose your own life, but proving this to your father is the hard part. Maybe there is some way I can help-?”

But Fracture only shook his head rapidly “that's nice, your majesty, but he wont listen. You know why he smacked me earlier?”

Sombra shook his head and Fracture ducked his head, blushing softly.

“I was admiring you and he seen it. He clipped me across the head so I'd know he knew. That’s why he answered for me at dinner, he did not want me disgracing him any further.”

Sombra flushed a little at the compliment, but he was still very concerned for the colt.

“I doubt I could ever find somepony as good looking as your Discord has. He's lucky..” Fracture sighed “I wish I had someone like you, somepony who understood and would love me for who I am.”

“There is no telling where you may find that pony, but I am confident you will.” Sombra said “there'll be a way to sway your father's opinion somewhere. Are you sure I could not try my hoof at a mediation?”

“That'd be awesome, but he wont listen. I'm sorry for how he's acting.” Fracture sighed and set his empty mug down “thanks for the hot chocolate, your majesty. I'm going to go to bed.”

“Goodnight, sleep well.” Sombra said softly and the other stallion nodded before trotting out of the room, head bowed and ears drooping.

--Poor kid-- Sombra thought as he finished his drink –will his father really not see how much things have changed?--

The next day he met Shining Armor and Cadance in the office, where they set out the paperwork while they waited for Shield to turn up.

When the two arrived, Sombra noticed Fracture wouldn't meet his eyes, instead wincing and avoiding looking at the King. Sombra wondered if Lord Shield had found out about the colt spilling the beans in their chat last night.

“Shall we begin?” Cadance said, but Shield held up a hoof and all three royals paused, looking confused.

“I confess I had an ulterior motive in coming here, your majesty.” he directed this at Sombra “put away that paperwork, I will not be requiring it.”

“What do you mean?” Sombra asked, frowning softly.

“I came here to make a point. My son needs to learn what will happen if he doesn’t stop this charade!” he stared levelly at the King “I cannot continue trade relations with you or your empire after reading that débâcle in the papers.”

“Débâcle?” Shining Armor asked, unease growing in his gut.

“Yes. If you will persist in this cross-species dalliance you flaunt so readily, then contact will cease permanently. I have overlooked your kingdom's lax sexual ethics out of respect for your work, King Sombra, but you yourself should be above such things.”

Sombra honestly felt like he'd been punched in the gut. He caught sight of Fracture looking about to cry and the pieces all fell into place. Shield was doing this to show his son what would happen to him if he didn’t change his tune. This made a cold anger settle in his stomach yet he felt oddly calm, keeping his face unreadable.

“Is this some sort of joke?” Shining Armor spoke up. He honestly couldn’t believe it. Beside him, Cadance looked just as appalled.

Lord Shield ignored them, looking at Sombra “so you do not defend your decision, King?”

Sombra chuckled softly, then burst out laughing in full for several seconds.

“W-what? How dare you laugh?” Shield fumed, thumping a hoof down onto the table, this wasn’t going to plan at all!

“My amusement is at two things Lord Shield; your ignorance and your disrespect. That you can be so oblivious is strange. All this time we have worked together, I can assure you I have not changed. I was so inclined when I first met you and I will remain that way regardless. But let me ask this; is treating those trying to live their lives, well within their right I might add, really the best way to teach your son how to take your place someday? Do you wish him to trample on a pony's rights also?”

Shield was speechless, Sombra didn't seem deterred at all and Fracture was looking at the stallion as if hoping he would rescue him.

“I will not sit here and be insulted!” Shield snapped, getting to his hooves. “I will be leaving tomorrow once my other matters in this kingdom are settled. It's a shame you would place your bedroom politics above genuine ones.”

Then he stormed out of the room, barking for Fracture to follow.

Fracture cast a look at Sombra, mouthing “I’m so sorry.” then he ran after his dad. Sombra could hear him barking orders at the young stallion as they faded away out of earshot.

“What the buck just happened?” Shining Armor bleated, looking at Sombra, who was frowning softly.

“He used me as an example to his son. It seems he could not tolerate his son's sexuality being otherwise inclined.”

“He's gay.” Cadance realised the motive Shield had alluded to and Sombra nodded.

“I had the chance to speak with Fracture last night, he was miserable. He said his father was bringing him along to teach him. I see now he was trying to tell me what his father had planned for him, and for this meeting.”

The Alicorn sighed hevaily, walking over to the window “Fracture said his father's family was very strict on such matters, thus his father has inherited their way of thinking. He will not see his son's right to have a life of his choice.”

“I can't believe he would be so insulting,” Shining Armor shook his head “using everything you’ve been through as a battering ram and making bravery out to be abhorrent cowardice.”

“It is alright,” Sombra smiled sadly “I expect there will be those with such views and that is their right. What concerns me is Fracture, that kid deserves to feel free to choose, but with his father being stuck in his mindset, such hope seems slim. I wish that I could do more.”

“I don’t think there's much you can do.” Cadance tried to make him feel better.

Sombra sighed “I am fortunate, my kingdom and many outside of it have been accepting of my choice. Fracture does not have that luxury or support it seems.”

They decided to just deal with other matters since Shield had called the meeting off so abruptly.

Sombra went to Discord, who was curled up in Sombra's room. The chaos lord took one look at his lover’s depressed expression and asked what had happened?

When Sombra told him, he nearly exploded.

“That disrespectful little-” the Draconequus growled “I’d like to kick his ass-!”

“Discord!” Sombra cried “please calm down.”

“But he insulted you, my love.” Discord frowned. Sombra looked up from his desk where he was writing out an account of the kidnapping incident. With his memories back and his heat disabled, he was able to concentrate on what he could recall. He set his pen down and crossed the room to snuggle up to the angry Draconequus on the bed.

“It is fine, I am not insulted. Just worried about the son.”

“Yeah, the kids got it rough with his father having such a rod up his butt!” Discord snorted and Sombra kissed him gently.

“I just want to spend this evening with you..” the stallion whispered. They were about to kiss when there was a thumping on the door.

“Oh for-” Sombra sighed, getting off the bed and walking over to the door. Opening it, he was confronted by a very anxious guard.

“Sire, you're needed downstairs, right away!”

Sombra sighed, dismissed the guard then looked back at Discord.

“I will be back swiftly as I can, my lord.”

“You'd better~” Discord teased and Sombra cast him a brief smile as he ran out the door.

“What was that about?” Discord pondered as he settled on the bed to await his lover's return.

Sombra raced downstairs, emerging in the main foyer.

“What is going on?” he said sharply.

Guards turned to face him and Sombra seen Lord Shield was with them. What was he planning now, the King thought with a barely suppressed sigh.

“My son is missing!!” Shield yelled “where is he?”

“I do not know.” Sombra said “I have been in my private quarters drafting a report since you called off the meeting. I am sure he is within the palace walls-”

“I already looked!” Shield snapped “I asked your guards here to comb it top to bottom but they found only THIS:” he stomped over to Sombra and held up a note he'd found in his son's room.

“Dad-

I don't like what you did and said to King Sombra. You treat him like you do me and i'm sick of it. I'm not coming back-

Fracture.”

“He ran away?” Sombra frowned.

“Of course he did and it's all because of you!” Shield yelled. Sombra set the note aside and regarded Shield coolly.

“Because I dared show him respect, or because he took the courage to reveal his true self and you demeaned him for it? Yes, I can see why that would unnerve you. Soon as he realised he had rights that you so easily deny him, his anger was more than justified.”

“Justified-” Shield began but Sombra cut him off, he'd had enough now.

“Yes,” he barked “FULLY justified. I am aware you were raised with ideals that might conflict with the way the world is now and while it is your right to live by those rules, you have no right to force it upon your own son!”

He advanced on Shield now, snarling angrily

“Look across Equestria, being homosexual is no longer a shock nor a disgrace in a majority of cities and cultures. Even if it IS in your mind, there is no reason you cannot tolerate those who do not do what you do. A pony's sexuality makes no difference to who they are.”

Lord Shield backed up a step as Sombra raised his voice even higher. His own servants looked at each other, unsure how to act in an argument between two high-ranking forces.

“I am not a father, but even I understand how a child's biggest source of approval is from their parents. Your son no doubt looks up to you in one way or another and to have what should be his hero rip apart who he is, it was one more insult than he could take. THAT is why he ran. Do you love your son?”

“O-of course I do!” Shield stammered.

“Really? Yet you would demean me to teach him a lesson. That lesson being that his being gay makes him a disgrace? That is no love I have ever seen.” Sombra said coldly.

Shield panicked, Sombra's tirade had shaken him a little and he was torn between rage and panic. He did not want his son to disappear, he just-

“I just wanted him to make his family proud.” he said dully.

“And I am sure that with the right help, he can do just that. But you have to give him freedom and respect his choices. If he makes mistakes then so be it, they are his to make, he will learn about himself and what he wants from life from those mistakes and in turn successes. You have seen how the world can view those of a homosexual persuasion. You said you had read the papers about me, therefore you must have seen the letters printed within. I read them all and I have copies preserved to remind me of the true decency of not just my ponies, but those all across the land.”

Sombra's guards nodded and made sounds to signify their agreement. Sombra smiled kindly at them, bowing his head in respect. Shield watched this, how the King's servants still adored him after his public display of such wanton sexuality. Would the world really be so kind to his son? He didn’t believe it, Sombra was a King and a hero to many, of course they loved him! His prestige afforded him that safety.

“I have to find my son!” he said sharply, which made Sombra look back over at him.

“Then follow me, we need to have a talk.”

Sombra led Lord Shield to the same room where he'd had his conversation with Fracture, he displayed the memories of their talk, showing flashes of how miserable Fracture truly was. Shield was silent as Sombra finished.

“I hope he will forgive my telling you this, but I feel it vital you see his side of this affair.” Sombra said calmly “now, what hobbies or interests does your son have at home? Think of anything you would likely scold him for?”

Shield thought it over, then sighed “the clubs.”

“Clubs? Like dancing?” Sombra asked, a thought occurring.

“Yes, he likes to sneak out and go to these underground clubs. Ones that cater to..” he trailed off.

“Gay ponies.” Sombra said it bluntly, gaze unflinching as Shield grimaced “I would start adjusting fast. Once we get your son back, you owe him a good talk.”

Shield didn’t argue there, he just nodded to the King.

“That will be the best place to start,” Sombra gave it some thought “I know from the guards that there are several clubs in the kingdom, but of those that cater more to those of a stallions sway, I am unsure. I will need to talk to them.”

His mind instantly went to those two guards he'd busted for having sex in his private storage closet. He motioned Shield to follow him and they went to check the rota.

Luckily for them, the two in question were on break and didn’t mind stepping into a private room to talk to the King.

“What can we help you with your majesty?” the first asked. Sombra explained the situation and asked about the most likely club for a newly openly-gay pony to visit.

“Hmm, what about-” the first guard gave a name Sombra recognised to the second, who nodded.

“That’s where we met.” The other guard explained to Shield, who did a double take. Sombra allowed guards to date? One glance at the King made him shut up before he voiced the thought however. He was already worried enough about his son without adding Sombra's temper to the mix!

“Right, I shall go track him down-” Sombra began but Shield interrupted.

“You? With all due respect-” he paused as Sombra snorted in amusement “your majesty, you're not the most subtle of ponies, they'll see a big Alicorn nosing around and if anything has happened to my son they may clam up!”

“Do not worry, I know how to disguise myself and I am not going alone!”

Sombra closed his eyes and used a quick spell. In a puff of magic Discord appeared next to the King, scratching behind his ear.

“You rang, my King?” he said casually.

Sombra smiled softly “I need your help locating Lord Shield's missing son.”

“Shield-?” Discord spotted the older pony and glowered “was he the one with his head stuck up his-”

“Discord!” Sombra barked “that can wait, we have an urgent matter on our hooves.”

“Of course. So what's the plan?” the Draconequus asked.

“We are going to need to disguise ourselves again, go to this club and start our search there.” Sombra stated.

With a flash of magic he selected the memory of when he'd been to that club and met that pony he'd first slept with. Discord followed suit, donning the same cover as when they'd been at the festival.

“Let's go.” Sombra stated. He told Shield to stay with the guards and he'd be back asap.

Seeing Lord Shield looking so utterly depressed, one of the two guards spoke to him.

“Don’t worry, if anypony can find him, his majesty can.”

“I hope so.” Shield whispered.

“So let me get this straight,” Discord said as they headed down-town “were helping the same guy that treated you like dirt because of your sexuality?”

“Yes, Discord. I cannot stand by and see Fracture get hurt, I want to help him. To that end, we must find him first!”

They headed into the club, the noise and crowds surrounding them in an instant. Sombra went up to the bar, getting the bartender ponies attention.

When the stallion turned round, Sombra did a double take.

“Well, hello you!” it was the same pony Sombra had slept with, in this SAME disguise all that time ago.

“Hello again.” Sombra cleared his throat and smiled.

The bartender looked at the disguised Discord “you finally met the guy of your dreams, eh?”

Sombra felt himself flush “mm-hmm.” he said.

“Nice, told you so, eh!” the pony grinned “so what can I do you for?”

“I'm looking for- a friend of mine.” Sombra corrected himself before he gave his identity away, he held out a photo generated by his magic from his memory of Fracture.

“Oh yeah, I seen that kid.” The bartender nodded “he was drinking quite a lot.”

Sombra winced “where did he go?”

“Upstairs with a guy,” the bartender bobbed his head at the stairs “room three, but you didn’t hear it from me.”

“Thank you.” Sombra said in relief and the bartender winked at him before returning to serving drinks.

“Spill.” Discord said as they headed upstairs.

“Remember that night at the bar we talked about?”

“Yeah?”

“That was him.” Sombra said and Discord's eyes widened.

“Seriously? Wow, wasn’t expecting to meet the guy you boned before me.”

Sombra chuckled “well now you have, so hush.”

They approached the door, the riot of the club below muffled by the thick carpeting. Sombra noticed the door to the room the Bartender had told them Fracture had rented was slightly ajar. There was no sound coming from within. Taking the chance Sombra crept up to the door, peeking in. What he seen made him draw back in a panic.

“What?” Discord asked him “they bumping uglies?”

Sombra gave him a look that said “what in-?” then pushed the door open as Discord joined him in the doorway.

The room was a shambles, the night-stand overturned and there was a smidge of blood on the floor.

“Oh no.” Discord winced.

“Something very bad happened here.” Sombra swallowed nervously as he ventured in. Something gleaming caught his eye and he lifted it up with his magic.

It was a crudely made necklace in the shape of dagger.

“That looks hand-made.” Discord remarked.

“Yes, but I do not think it is Fracture's. He was wearing nothing of this sort when I seen him. It is possible that this belongs to whomever caused this mess.” Sombra put it in his saddlebags and turned to go.

The Bartender looked up as Sombra approached him again, this time asking to speak to him quietly, alone.

“I'm on break handsome, better make it swift. What do you have in mind?” He flashed the duo a wink as he shut the office door behind them.

“I am afraid this is not a matter of any sexual nature.” Sombra fell back into his natural speech pattern and the other pony cocked his head at him.

“Since when did you speak so formally? You knew some far more common-use words when I met you!”

“Ah, my apologies,” Sombra sighed “this is very urgent business, from...”

“From his majesty!” Discord put in, flashing a grin “he asked us to find this guy.”

“Oh so you finally met him, huh??” The Bartender chuckled “so, was he a jackass?”

Sombra went red as his foolish ramblings from back then returned to nip him in the butt. He made a noise that could’ve been agreement, then held up the necklace he'd recovered.

Discord sniggered at Sombra's face, that silly King! Sombra gave him a dirty look so he stopped giggling and paid attention.

“Where did you get this?” the Bartender asked Sombra.

“It was in the room you said my missing friend was last seen in.” the pony stated. The bartender shook his head, looking grave.

“Then I’m afraid your friend is in big doo-doo. That's the Crimson Dagger gang, they operate a LOT in these parts.”

"Gangs?” Sombra was floored “in my city-ack!” he shut up, but it was too late.

“What did you just say?” the Bartender blinked, he must’ve heard wrong.

“Crap.” Sombra groaned. Beside him, the disguised Discord shrugged.

“We may as well be honest.” he said casually.

“Honest with what?” the Bartender asked.

Discord used his magic to lock and shield the room and before the bewildered Bartender could object, there was a flash.

His jaw about hit the floor at the sight of the majestic Alicorn in front of him.

“Sweet merciful crap- your majesty?!” he blurted, then put two and tow together “no. bucking. WAY.”

“Yes, yes,” Sombra huffed theatrically “it was me all that time ago. I was curious to see what the kingdom was like when everypony wasn’t constantly bowing and offering me things.”

The bartender thought about it. He'd been boned by a disguised King Sombra, he'd done the horizontal tango with his fantasy fuck.

“Oh heck yes,” he grinned. “wait until the guys hear about-”

He trailed off as Sombra fixed a stern glare on him.

“The pony I am searching for is the son of a noble, I would prefer this not be blown out of proportion. So, please?”

“Right, of course.” the bartender coughed, realising the down side. You didn’t mess with his majesty, that much was clear.

“So, who're you then?” he asked the other pony and was startled when Discord appeared.

“Who do you think?” the Draconequus grinned “I’m not letting him get into any trouble~”

Sombra rolled his eyes when the Bartender held a hoof up for a high five.

“Dude, you're lucky, you’re dating the hottest piece of ass in-”

“I am right here, the both of you!!” Sombra barked, making them both jump. They sheepishly faced the irate King again.

“What do you know about this “gang”?” Sombra asked.

“Just that they're a fairly recent thing, moved in from Canterlot I think.”

“Well they wont be staying long, if I can help it!” Sombra fumed.

“Cool your jets, boss man,” the Bartender said “you cant go running off half-cocked. I'll tell you what little I know, but you need to be careful and for pity's sake don’t let on who you really are, because they will go for you. What bigger ransom than a Kings?”

Sombra swore, but changed back into his disguised self along with Discord.

The Bartender told them where the gang were rumoured to frequent, as he'd listened in on enough conversations to have a pretty good clue.

Bartender looked at the way the King kept glancing at him, his body posture so stiff and uptight. He could guess why, too. He'd read the papers, seen how his majesty had given everything to protect the relationship he had with this Discord guy, now he undoubtedly feared Bartender's history with him would be flaunted all over the papers.

“Look man, you can relax. I'm not going to the press about...you know, that thing.” he shrugged, grinning “I can be smug by myself, knowing I was boinked by a disguised King.”

Sombra went beet red and looked slightly less annoyed, but still uneasy.

“Hay, we all experiment out of curiosity. Don’t sweat it,” Bartender shrugged “it's obvious you got the thing you dreamed of right here, I’m not such a dick I’d ruin that, so we're cool. Just drop by every now and again with that disguise and I’ll give you both a discount!” he winked at the King, who actually smiled a little.

Sombra thanked him for his time and his consideration. He was grateful..

“Like I said, no sweat. I'll let you know if I ever find the guy I'm looking for.” Bartender chuckled “I’m not giving up hope yet!”

Sombra felt a bit dizzy as they exited the club and Discord asked was he alright?

“It was strange, rehashing the past like that. I am grateful he was so accommodating.”

“I know, decent feller. We must go out drinking sometime,” Discord smiled at him “We can talk about it later, for now we have to catch up to those guys.”

Sombra nodded, kissed him softly then they set off towards the place Bartender had mentioned. As they walked down an empty street, Sombra got a funny feeling up his spine. He stopped, looking round.

“What is it?” Discord asked.

“I thought I- nevermind.” Sombra sighed “let us carry on.”

From the shadows, a pony watched them silently, then he spoke into a radio and waited for orders.

Sombra's ears pricked up as he heard a sound ahead of them. Crouching down, he crept closer-

A rat sprang out from behind a bin and he back-peddled with a yelp. Discord caught him in his hooves and chuckled. “it's a rat, my precious. Calm down.”

“Hush you.” Sombra grumbled. But he could see a street sign at the alleys other end and headed towards it. He could heard Discord's hoof-steps behind him as they made their way in silence.

Behind Discord, something melted out of the shadows and sneaked up behind the chaos lord. Discord was so focused on guarding his King he didn't hear the approach. The pegasus was able to float up behind Discord and clamp a rag soaked in knock-out drugs over his muzzle.

The last thing Discord seen was Sombra turning back and another shadow looming behind him, then nothing.

“Where is his majesty?! How long can this take?!” Shield paced back and forth. The guards shrugged, unsure what to say…

They hoped his majesty was alright.

Sombra opened his eyes to see a familiar muzzle close to his. It wasn't Discord, but Fracture.

“Ah-” Sombra sat up, only for his head to pound. He winced, putting a hoof to his head.

“Careful, that stuff packs a punch.”

“Oww, w-where am I?” Sombra stammered, relieved his spell had kept his disguise in check.

“No idea, so we're in the same boat. I'm Fracture.”

“I know I-” Sombra coughed “I was tasked to find you by your father.”

“Great, so even if I get out I’m going to get yelled at.” Fracture sighed “why can't the old coot just leave me be?”

“He's worried-” Sombra began.

“He was NEVER worried. He brought me all the way here just to insult his majesty, King Sombra. All to teach me it's not fitting for any son of his to be gay!”

Fracture shook his head, tears welling up “I just wanted freedom, so I came to that club, had a few drinks. I'm guessing these guys recognised me from some publication, because soon as one of them invited me to take him to a private room I was jumped and knocked out. I punched one of them pretty hard though.”

--That explains the blood.-- Sombra thought, but more urgently he had to get them out and find Discord.

“They hauled another pony off to a different cell, was he your partner?” Fracture asked.

“Yes, I hope he's unhurt.” Sombra sighed.

“They said they were going to hold me for ransom. They’re preparing some camera to take a photo as proof I’m alive and it's not a fake.”

“Scumbags.” Sombra growled.

Just then there was the sound of a key rattling in the lock. Sombra instinctively placed himself between Fracture and the door. The goons standing in the doorway laughed to each other as they watched this.

“How cute, you two are already hot for each other, maybe your dad'll pay ransom for your friend too? Bring both of them.”

Sombra gritted his teeth as he was frogmarched down a blank empty hallway to a sparsely painted but big room. By the looks of it this place was a warehouse, converted into a hiding place of sorts. He counted multiple guards, it was well guarded.

--What can I do..?-- he wondered.

Then the boss stepped forward and Sombra steeled himself for whatever threats this guy made.

“What’s this?” the boss demanded.

“This is his “friend”” one of the goons cackled “figure we can demand extra for the both, unless his father wants more blood on his hooves.”

“Not bad.” the leader accepted this deviation to his plan and snickered as he stepped up to Sombra.

“You little fool. You shouldn’t stick your nose anywhere but between your colt-friends legs!”

The goons all burst out laughing and Sombra seethed silently. He was past furious, these fools would pay, one way or another.

“Wondering where your other friend is? He's still out cold, seems my boys used a little too much knock out serum..” the boss answered Sombra's glare with a smug smirk, then ordered the goons to drag both stallions in front of the camera.

They were made to stand still under threat of severe injury while the gang took pictures to send to Lord Shield.

“Can we take some better pictures, boss?” one cackled. He grabbed Fracture and forced a kiss on the stallion, laughing when Fracture pushed him away. Sombra's blood rose and he threw his weight at the goon as he made to grope Fracture again, standing protectively over the scared nobles son as he curled up in a ball n the floor.

“Did you just hit me, you worthless punk?!” the goon wiped blood off his muzzle and looked at the boss.

“Let me take him out boss, wont matter as long as we keep the cash pony alive!”

“Fine, I could use some entertainment.”

The goon lunged for Sombra, who realised this had to end here.

The group all looked away instinctively as there was a blinding flash of light.

“Who are you calling worthless, you scum?”

The boss stared as he seen who was now standing over Fracture. It was his majesty, magic in full gear, wings raised to attack.

“You-?!” he blurted, then laughed “well well, looks like it's pay day boys. You made a big mistake coming here, your majesty. You see, I've dealt with unicorns before-do it!”

One of the goons flicked a switch and Sombra felt a familiar pain in head. A Suppressor field.

--No. I will NOT be put through this again.-- His determination made him raise his head against the pain, glaring at the boss.

“Now we have the biggest prize of all, his majesty! Imagine what his own empire will pay for his safe return..” the boss laughed.

Sombra closed his eyes, letting the make-up of the suppression field wash over him, picking up on the loopholes in the spell.

--A controlled blast should knock it out.-- he thought. His mind flashed back to the fight against Chrysalis. That blast he had emitted but on a smaller scale, specially to target the field generator.

He opened his eyes, slowly building his magic inside his body as he snapped at the boss.

“You really think it’ll be that easy?” he laughed.

“From where I’m standing, yes. You're trapped in there and my boys are fetching the dart gun. Soon you’ll be as helpless as the fool you tried to rescue. And don’t think well go easy on your friend either, you’ll be minus one guard if you try anything!”

--Okay, he thinks Discord is a guard, that may protect him for now..-- Sombra thought. He was struggling to not let his magic show, he had to keep it hidden.

“What makes you think I brought just one?” he smirked.

“You upper class types are so blind. You think you’re unbeatable because you’re an Alicorn. Well they can fall to, you’re going to make us very rich, your majesty!” he laughed loudly as did the goons nearby.

--NOW!-- Sombra thought, and let his magic show around his horn now.

“You’re wasting your time, it wont work, this baby is built to take just about anything-”

He cut off as Sombra fired the spell, the purple light seeming to pulse out from his entire body. The generator next to him sputtered and exploded with enough force to leave a hole in the floor. Ears ringing, the boss was helped to his hooves by one of the goons.

He seen the destroyed generator and stared at it in shock, then at his majesty.

“You left a loophole in it.” Sombra laughed.

“Get him!” The boss decided to take him by force “knock him out!!”

Sombra glanced to either side of him as the stallions charged. He could feel something else, a new power welling up inside. He closed his eyes, dropping the magic he'd been using to hold it at bay. Bright light obscured his vision and he had a sense of deja vu..

The ponies aiming for him were suddenly thrown back against the wall. There was a pulse of white light and they were all frozen in place.

“How?!” the boss snarled, but no matter how he fidgeted, the spell was not wearing off. He stared at the King and almost went into shock.

He'd seen the papers, seen pictures of the giant illusion the King had turned into to repel the changelings. This was the same sparkling illusion, only on a more normal scale. Sombra's mane shifted and sparkled like thousands of tiny crystals. The only splash of colour was his eyes and that signature magic.

“You have committed crimes against me and my empire. Stay here and reflect on the failure of your operation. I will return with the means to your destruction.” The King's voice boomed around the room.

Then with a flash of magic he was gone, taking Fracture with him.

Fracture stared at Sombra as they reappeared in the same empty hallway again.

“Your majesty?” he croaked. Sombra helped him to stand, asking was he OK?

“Yes, I’m alright. Just scared.” Fracture hiccuped.

“Relax, it is going to be alright.” Sombra smiled softly. Fracture stared at how stunning this version of Sombra looked and blushed uncontrollably.

“Come on we must find Discord.” the King looked around him, frowning.

“He's with you? Then-”

“That is correct, he is the other pony.” Sombra went from cell to cell, ripping each one off its hinges with the sheer force of his magic. At least he located the out cold Discord. He leaned down and kissed the sleeping pony, transferring a dose of his power as he did. Fracture blushed as he witnessed this intimate moment first-hoof.

The Discord-pony stirred, seen the glimmery Sombra and sat up fast.

“You’re doing that again!” he blurted. Sombra looked down at himself.

“Seems that way, although I have no idea how, it just went off. Anyway-”

“Oh good, you found him!” Discord waved a hoof at Fracture “home to daddy now?”

“I need you to go to the guard and bring them down here, pronto. That spell wont last forever and I will be powering it remotely...”

“Got it, I'll get the cavalry and you take this poor guy home. On it!” Discord changed back to himself, pausing only to kiss his beloved on the lips before vanishing, flying directly for the closest guard/police station.

“Let us get you home.” Sombra wrapped a wing around the shivering Fracture.

Lord Shield was close to wearing tracks in the carpeting in the foyer, about ready to run out and look for the missing Royal and his son, when there was a flash.

He opened his mouth but nothing came out. He didn’t know how to process what he was seeing. It was King Sombra, but he looked like a fully crystallized spectre.

Sombra looked over at Shield, then silently raised his wing. Shield seen Fracture pressing close to the King's side, looking dishevelled and shocked. He started over towards him but got a shock when Fracture ducked behind Sombra's wing and held it between himself and his approaching father like a shield.

Both Sombra and Shield looked surprised.

“Fracture?” Shield asked.

“NO.” Fracture sounded about ready to break down “just leave me alone!”

“I'm not-”

“You’re right, you’re not- not there, not caring, not willing to trust me at all!” Fracture shouted angrily. “You pulled this stunt to try and convince me his majesty is wrong somehow, yet all you’ve done is shown how cold hearted you really are. At least his majesty didn’t laugh at me, didn’t make me feel like I was worthless-”

“Fracture.” Sombra said softly, angling his head to meet the young stallions eyes “he's your father, you should give him a chance.”

“No!” Fracture hiccuped “I gave him every chance I had and I'm sick of him treating me like I’m a mistake. I don’t care what anypony says, I’m never going home. I will be on the run for the rest of my life, but at least I'll be living it!!”

Tears splashed onto Sombra's delicate shimmering wing and fell to the floor.

“You’re right, I should be ashamed.” Shield realised after seeing this display, that some things were more important than societal standing. Part of him had wished he'd rebelled when he was Fracture's age, but his parents had punished him mercilessly if he put a hoof out of line. His son didn’t deserve that, times had changed as the King had pointed out.

“You’re not a business commodity, you’re my flesh and blood. I’ve missed a lot of times when you undoubtedly needed me and I just hope I’m not too late. I thought teaching you to take over would be my grand legacy, but you're already that just by being born.”

Fracture squeezed the wing closer to his body, glancing up very briefly at his father. He was surprised to see tears in his father's eyes.

“Your mother always said I should think of you as a son first and partner second, but I didn’t listen. I hope you'll give me another chance. Let me try make it up to you and if you still want to lead your own life, I will give you your inheritance and whatever you need to start out on your own. You can make whatever choice you want, whether you stay or leave the money is yours. But you'll always have your home, your mother and me.”

Sombra looked at Fracture, then at Shield. He seen the tiredness in the older pony's eyes, seen a very genuine regret there. This was all new to Shield, he'd never given anypony else such consideration, but that he was willing to get down off his high podium for his son gave Sombra hope.

Fracture looked up at Sombra, as if asking what he thought.

“He's telling the truth,” Sombra said softly “what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know when I'll forgive you, dad. Right now I don't know what to think. But do you promise to hear me out?”

“I'll sign a contract in front of his majesty if that's what it takes.” Shield promised but Fracture shook his head.

“I don’t want a contract, I want you to treat me as a son, not a business asset. I want you to take a day off work and just LOOK at me, see what I’ve been showing you for years.”

“I promise.” Shield said softly “that’s the least you deserve. I cant promise I’ll understand straight away, but I’ll do my best.”

“That’s all I wanted.” Fracture released Sombra's wing and the Alicorn folded it down, motioning the shaken young stallion to go to his father.

Fracture staggered unsteadily across the floor, he had always wished his father would show more affection- would he?

Shield seen the look in his son's eyes, the way he reached out a hoof, asking soundlessly for a simple embrace. He stepped forward and enveloped his son in his forelegs, hugging him to his chest. He felt Fracture tense up, and couldn't blame him for it.

“I'm sorry.” he said softly and Fracture hesitantly raised a hoof to brush his father's back, patting it uncertainly. The longer Shield held him and the more he apologised, the firmer Fracture’s grip became, until he was almost returning the hug.

They were interrupted by a soft thud and the guards calling out in dismay.

“Your majesty!”

The father and son parted, turning to look over at Sombra. He had crumpled to the plush carpeting, reverting to his normal form, mane spilling like ink across the carpet around his face. He was very pale, breathing raggedly-

“Your majesty- fetch the doctor!” The first guard ordered the second. He crouched beside his majesty, checking him over.

“Oh no.” Fracture felt sick “what’s wrong?”

“I don’t know.” Lord Shield said shakily “he was fine a minute ago...”

Just then, Sombra stirred, uttering a low groan.

“Your majesty, thank goodness!” the guard stepped back as Sombra's eyes slowly opened and the King sat himself up with a wince.

“What happened, your majesty?” the guard asked “were you attacked?”

“No, I-” Sombra felt woolly headed “I think that spell somewhat burned me out. I am alright.”

He got to his hooves, but he looked pale still, with strands of mane sticking to his forehead. He looked over at Fracture and Lord Shield, looking relieved to see them closer then when they’d arrived. He walked over to them, smiling at the younger of the two.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“I'm...I’m not sure.” Fracture looked at his father, then Sombra “but I’m going to give him another chance. You did when that mayor yelled at you when you tried to save them, I read your book.”

“That was a tough scenario, but if you hang onto your anger, it'll only hurt you more. I hope you two can reunite in time. If you wish to return home Lord Shield, I shall call the carriage now-”

“No, your majesty.” Lord Shield looked at the monarch, seen how tired Sombra was and what he'd done to help him and his son “You must rest. I will stay here awhile longer. I have a promise to keep. And I offer my most sincere apologies for how I acted towards you. I have no right to ask, but I hope we can renew a link between our kingdoms someday in the future.”

“It is a relief to hear you say that,” Sombra said kindly as Shield bowed deeply before him “it would be a lamentable loss if the good standing we have accrued were to go to waste. We will discuss the matter tomorrow once you are free.”

“Thank you, your majesty.” Shield stood up, looking ready to faint from relief “your kindness is vastly appreciated.”

“Rest,” Sombra told them both “It has been a long day for us all-” he broke off with a cough as his head pounded and he winced, pressing a hoof to his head, ears flattening down.

“Your majesty!” the concerned guard stepped up beside the King “you must lie down.”

“Y-yes I, I am sorry but I must take my leave.” Sombra said to the two before him.

“Thank you,” Fracture said “for saving me.”

“It's not a problem, I am glad you are safe and sound, I will see you both tomorrow.” he bowed his head politely, but it was obvious he was extremely tired. As he headed for the stairs there was a poof of magic and the Draconequus appeared directly in front of the Alicorn.

“They’re all locked up in the most secure jail in the city! Your guards are there too, keeping watch-” he spotted Sombra's pale, exhausted state and frowned, brushing his nose against the pony's and frowning at how cold he was.

“Sombra-?” he pressed a hand to the King's forehead and pulled it away with a frown “you’re burning up!”

“I am quite alright, it is just a little dizziness from that transformation. That spell is untested still-”

“Yes, yes, enough scientific guff. You, bed. Now.” Discord dropped down onto all fours and fell in beside his King as Sombra started up the stairs…