Love and Slavery.

Chapter 18.

Applejack was alone in her and Matthew's room. She didn't truly understand what was going on. She notices the mirror and walked towards it. She saw a ring wrapped around what looked like a shoelace, she lifted the ring with her hoof and notices it was a bit ruff.

The ring looked old, she looked back up into the mirror, she felt herself smile "A-Ah wonder how the weddin' was?"

Applejack looked at the bed, this was their room, her's and his. Matthew would be coming to the room soon, they would have to share the bed. She felt her cheeks heat up as thoughts of Matthew's arms wrapped around her holding her close.

Her mind started to wonder as her thoughts turned to Matthew kissing her neck and his fingers running through her mane. She quickly shook her head as the door opened up.

She turned her head to see Matthew walking in "He looks tired." Applejack thought as she made her way over towards him "Did the meetin' go well?"

"It went alright." Matthew said rubbing the back of his neck "I'm not use to all this stuff."

"You'll get used to it sooner or later Matt." Applejack said placing a hoof on his shoulders "Ya doin' good so far, ya already told me about the first trial ya went through, I'm sure ya can handle whatever this second trial is."

Matthew gave her a light smile "Thank you Applejack."

Applejack gave him a smile back "Why don't we get ready for bed? I'm sure ya very tired."
Matthew nodded "Yeah, I'll sleep on the couch over there and you can take the bed." Matthew said.

"We can share the bed Matt, Ah won't let ya sleep on that couch.' Applejack said "Besides, the bed is big enough for two."

Matthew looked at the bed and back at Applejack, he felt his cheeks heat up "A-Are you sure?"
"Ah'm sure Matt." Applejack made her way towards the bed "Why don't ya change and we can get some sleep."

Matthew walked over towards the dresser and found a set of clothes to wear to bed. He made his way into the bathroom to change.

Applejack sat on the bed, her mind was back in deep thought about the trail, and she didn't know what was truly going on. All she knew was Matthew needed her right now, she had to make sure Matthew was alright and safe through this tail.

The door to the bathroom opened and she saw Matthew walking out in a shirt and joggers.

Applejack watched as Matthew nervously make his way towards the bed.

Celestia felt her mind being attacked. Silver Hearts magic was stronger than anything she has ever seen.

Silver Heart was flung across the room by an unknown force knocking him out "I'm sorry I'm late to the party Celestia, hopefully I can help you recover from your his attacks."

Celestia's looked up to see Discord standing there. With a snap of his fingers the two were gone leaving Silver Heart alone in the room.

Celestia felt a warmth wash over her, the wounds started to heal as she felt a hand touch her cheek and a female voice spoke to her "You tried for so long to be there for the humans, now, it's time someone is there for you." Celestia felt at peace and felt her mind fade and her dreams came alive.

Discord looked at Celestia laying in the field of sunflowers "When she awakes I'll take her to the castle where Luna is." Discord said hovering in the air.

"It will be awhile before she awakes." Lucy said looking at Discord "I'm surprised this is the favor you wanted from me."

"I couldn't let her rot in that place, she may have placed me in stone but that was mercy, I've changed a lot since my days in stone, all I want now is to help the ponies and humans in this coming war."

"This might reopen the doorway to the Gods." Lucy said.

"Me back with those wimps? They are all stuck up." Discord said rolling his eyes at the thought of returning to the other Gods.

"So I was a wimp?" Lucy asked raising an eyebrow and slightly grinning.

"N-No! You were better than any other God." Discord said rubbing the back of his neck.
Lucy chuckled "You might want to make a trail for Silver Heart to follow, we don't want him thinking you took Celestia to Avalon now."

Discord snapped his fingers and was gone. Lucy looked at Celestia sound asleep "Out of all the ponies, I was hoping you would unite the kingdoms and bring forth a new hope." Lucy got onto her knees and placed her hand on her neck and it began to lightly glowing softly "You have great love for the humans, after all, you fell in love with one and had a beautiful child with him." A single tear ran down Lucy's cheek "If I could I would give you Mark and your son to you, I would allow you three to be a family like I wanted too. Sadly, I couldn't and I've failed so many, my only hope lies within Matthew. I hope he can save the world from what's to come."

Matthew slowly started to awake from his slumber as he saw the sun slowly rising. He felt something warm against his chest. He looked down to see Applejack's head lying in his chest and his arms were wrapped around her. His heart started to race as he felt her warm breath on his chest. He could feel her soft fur between his fingers, he could smell the apple scent coming from her fur and it made him smile. It reminded him of her farm, the fresh smell of the apples being picked right off the trees. His heart started to calm down as he relaxed.

He kept her close as he thought about everything that's going on. Ever since he met her, his life became turned upside down, he was treated with trust by Applejack, she made him feel worth something. Ever since the train accident, he just wanted to be there for her, keep her safe. She lost her home, her family is stuck without a home.

He closed his eyes "I promise here and now, I will never let nothing happen to her, I will get back her farm and I will help her keep her farm." He slowly opened his eyes to see a pair of emerald green eyes staring at him and his heart began to race very fast.

"M-Mornin'" Applejack said nervously "D-Did ya sleep well?"

Matthew nodded, he could feel Applejack's warm breath, his arms were still wrapped around her and their lips were very close to each other. There came a knock at the door and the two jumped away from each other.

The door opened and a young woman walked in "I hope I'm not interrupting anything but Princess Luna is here to see you, she said it's an emergency."

"L-Let me get dressed, I-I'll be there in a minute." Matthew stuttered trying to get his wits back together again.

"Ah'll go get cleaned up and join ya." Applejack said quickly rushing to the bathroom leaving Matthew sitting on the bed.

Applejack looked into the mirror, she could see her cheeks were bright red, her heart was still racing a mile a minute.

"W-We were cuddling..... Ah... Ah liked it." She slightly smiled as she quickly got herself cleaned up.

Matthew put on his shirt "I wonder what's going on, I hope everything is alright."

The bathroom door opened up and Applejack came walking out "Alright, lets get goin' Matt." She said with a smile.

The two made their way down the hall as they followed the young woman. They walked into the dining hall and Luna was sitting in a chair waiting for the two to walk in.

Luna stood up and smiled "It is good to see you two again!"

"It is good to see you too Princess Luna." Matthew said with a smile.
"Is everythin' alright Luna?" Applejack asked.

"Changelings are heading towards Canterlot, we need help defending our borders from them." Luna said.

"Why would they attack? Ah thought they couldn't return with the spell in place?" Applejack asked.

"The spell is broken after the war, we need all of your help." Luna said.

Matthew felt something was off with Luna. He could feel a strange feeling coming off her
"Applejack, get behind me." Matthew said staring Luna down.

"Matt what's wrong?" Applejack asked.

"Who are you? You're not Luna." The guards in the room started to surrounded her.

Luna looked around her "What gave me away?" She asked as a green flame lifted around her body showing a bug like form.

"Q-Queen Chrysalis?" Applejack stuttered.

"You can lower your weapons, I don't mean you any harm." Chrysalis said remaining in her chair "I was hoping to speak with you King Matthew alone in hopes we could work something out."
Matthew took a step forwards "Lower your weapons, if she wanted to harm us she would have already."

"A-Are ya sure Matt?" Applejack asked.

"I'm sure Applejack." Matthew said "You wanted me to march to Canterlot just to talk with me? Sounded more like you wanted me to go to war."

"Honestly that wasn't to get you to go to war." Chrysalis said "It was to kinda get most of the guards away from you so we could talk, I've heard a lot about your kindness, you've spared the slavers and even patched relationships with Luna and Celestia."

"And you want some of my kindness?" Matthew asked.

"I want to prove my kind isn't evil." She said looking at Matthew "We may feed off of love but it won't truly harm any pony."

Matthew looked at Applejack and then back at Chrysalis "Is there a way to bottle the love? If the people are willing to help bottle the love for your kind I'll be the first one to step up and give some love." He said shocking Applejack and Chrysalis.

"Matt, are ya sure you wanna do this?" Applejack asked.

"If it keeps the peace between everyone, I'll do what I can to help." Matthew said looking at her.
"There is a way to bottle it, you'll need Luna and Celestia's help in order to do that but I doubt they will be on board with this."

"I'll speak with them. If you are truly wanting to keep the peace then this will work for all of us." Matthew said "You can stay here, I'll send word to Canterlot and ask if they can come down and speak with me about a few issues."

"I need to stay with my kind, I'll give you where I'm at for when they show up." Chrysalis said getting up "Thank you King Matthew, for giving me a chance."

"Next time, don't hide behind a face, if you wish to speak with me speak with me." He said as Chrysalis placed a peice of paper on the table and left the room.

"Matt, Ah don't understand why ya wanna help her?" Applejack asked.

Matthew looked at Applejack "Everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves."

The earth began to shake and the two were taken from the castle and were now standing in front of a knight "You passed the second trial Matthew, wisdom." Applejack looked at the knight before her and was confused on what's going on "I see you brought her into this." He placed his hand to her forehead and the vision of what Matthew saw after the first trial happened flooded into her mind "You are now caught up with what Matthew knows."

Applejack blinked "Woah." Was all she could say.
The world around them changed as they stood in front of the entranceway to the mountain. They followed the knight as they made their way inside.

"The young woman faced her fears and met the keeper of the mountain. A dragon." The dragon remain hidden within the smoke as the young woman stood before the dragon "Why have you come here human?" The dragon asked. The voice made the woman shiver.

"I've come to make a deal, I will give myself to you if you save my people." The woman said.
"I'm afraid she cannot help." The woman looked to see a Alicorn standing near the entrance way "The unicorn that has taken your village is too powerful then any dragon."

"H-How can I stop him?" She asked.

"There is one way." An egg appeared in front of the two "Using a blood magic spell we three can bring forth a new life, a life with the power of an Alicorn, the power of a dragon and a soul of a human." The Alicorn looked at the woman. The dragon emerged from the smoke and stood before the two "Together we can train him to be a true leader."

The woman looked at the dragon "I'm in." The Alicorn and the woman said together.

The ground moved around Applejack and Matthew "The three females banded together to bring forth a new life to this world."

The knight removed his helmet and looked at the two "That child grew up a king."

The world around them changed as they were now seeing a young man standing with a dragon a Alicorn and a woman "You've come along way, you're ready to lead the other humans into battle and free this world."

"I will do everything I can to save them." He said giving them all a hug.

"With my armor and sword I set off into the lands and went to fight the unicorn." The knight said. The world changed as they saw the humans in chains mining and carving out the world, tree's were being cut down and mines were being forged into the earth.

"This is where the story ends for now." Applejack and Matthew found themselves being taken away from the scene "Your final test will show you the outcome and you both shall learn why this is happening."

Applejack saw herself sitting at the table with Matthew sitting across from her.

"Before you two is a golden cup, only one may drink from the cup." The knight said "However, the cup holds poison in it. In order one of you return to the real world you must drink from the cup, only one may drink from the cup."

Matthew looked at Applejack and he quickly grabbed the cup before Applejack could "Matt, ya give that ta me, ya got bigger things ta do."

"I-I'm not gonna let you die." Matthew looked at the cup "B-Besides, y-your f-family needs you." Applejack felt tears start to form in her eyes.

"Why are ya doin' this!?" Applejack yelled at the knight.

The knight looked at Applejack "It's his choice who lives and who dies Applejack, he has chosen to save you."

"Applejack, stay safe." Matthew gulped down the drink. He felt his mind fog as he collapsed onto the ground.

Applejack rushed to his side as he laid on the ground "His love for you is strong." The knight said making her look at the knight.

"What are ya talkin' about?" Applejack asked as the tears were running down her cheeks.

"His three trials he has passed, first being kindness, second wisdom, third is love. He would rather keep you alive and keep the promise he made you." She watched as the knight placed his hands onto his forehead "He's still alive Applejack, the Matthew you knew is being truly awaken."
"W-What are ya talkin' about?" Applejack asked wiping the tears away.

"Matthew has a power that needed to be awaken, the wall within his mind will unlock his powers once he leaves this dream state and you two return to the real world." The knight stood up "However, you two must finish this vision of the past before you can truly see why this is happening."

Matthew eyes slowly opened and he saw Applejack looking down at him "I-I'm alive?" Matthew asked.

"No one was ever gonna die Matthew, it was a test and you passed it." Matthew felt something pull him into a hug.

"Ya never do that again!" Applejack said nearly crying into his shoulder.

"I promise you I won't do that again." Matthew said hugging her back.
"Alright, time for you two to see what happened." The knight said as the world faded around the three.

Before the three stood a stallion locked in battle with the knight, their swords and magic shaking the earth.

Matthew looked in awe as he saw the battle "The two fought, light vs darkness. However, I was more powerful than he was."

The scene before them showed the knight holding the sword towards the stallion's throat "I curse you to roam the earth as a human." The stallion let out a scream as his body transformed into a human "I hope you learn something from this."

"Sadly, his anger only grew." The knight said "From that day forwards humans lived in peace. I lived for 200 years before my son took his place on the throne and his son and his daughter and so on." The knight now stood before Matthew and Applejack "You Matthew, you know who you are, your dream on the train, that was my doing, I showed you what you needed to know."
Matthew looked away at the knight as he remembered the dream, the dream of his mother dying in the barn.

"There is one more thing you should know, the unicorn, he's my brother, the Alicorn you saw, she wanted to stop her son once and for all."

Matthew looked at the knight in shock "When you awake more shall be told and you will be given a chance to fix the wrong I've done."

Matthew and Applejack eyes shot open as they awoke on cots.

"You're awake!" Matthew saw a rainbow rush right past him. He sat up to see Rainbow Dash hugging Applejack "Are you alright? What happened?"

"I-It's a long story Dash, right now Ah wanna get something ta eat." Applejack felt something odd as she notices her hoof was no longer broken. She then heard a voice "I healed your leg, you will need it healed to help in this coming battle."

"Ya hoof, it's better." Dash said.

Matthew stood up and placed his hands around the sword and pulled it out of the ground making Dash jump "Woah, how did you move that?" Dash asked.

"Dash, Matthew's the king of Avalon." Applejack said looking at Matthew as he held the sword.

"You're awake, I'm so happy." A male voice said making the three turn around.
"W-Who are you?" Matthew asked.

"My name is Night Shimmer, I'm your brother."

To Be Continued.