Love and Slavery.

Chapter 20.

Silver Heart slammed his hoof down on the table. His eyes glaring at Flash who was pretty injured.

"Those pesky dragons!" Silver yelled tossing his table across the room with his magic. He was huffing and glaring at Flash "You have failed to capture the Empire, now we have the Empire heading towards us with dragons!"

"I-It wasn't my fault, I-I was shocked when fire rained from the sky." Flash said stuttering "O-Once the dragons came they had more numbers then us."

Silver tossed Flash towards the wall "You have one last chance, you will keep our border from enmies hoofs." Flash fell to the ground "Fail me again and I promise you, You'll be killed."

Flash quickly took off running leaving Silver Heart to look at his apprentice "We have the heart of stone to keep the ponies at bay." He looked out the window "Yet those dragons will fly over the border and wipe out my army."

"Can't we use our magic on them?" She asked.

"Some dragons have scales that deflect magic." Silver Heart said towards the moon "I need you to follow a magic trail, I need Celestia back here." Silver Heart said looking at the mare "Used this." He used his magic to give her a amulet "Follow the trail."

"As you wish master." She said taking the amulet and leaving the room.

Matthew stood in front of the armor. His hand reached out and touched the golden armor. He pulled his hand back as he felt something wasn't right with the armor, he slowly stepped back "What's wrong?" Luna asked.

"S-Something about this armor, it's not right." He said looking over at Luna "I-I can't explain it but it feels." He looked back at the armor "Dark."

Luna stood next to Matthew as she looked over the armor "You can sense something I cannot." Luna used her magic to try and scan for anything wrong with the armor, Luna was flung backwards as she was zapped by the dark magic.

Matthew felt his mind darken "The armor you see before you is cursed Luna."

Luna slowly sat up to see Matthew standing in front of her yet his eyes were glowing a white light "M-Matthew?"

"I'm using his body to speak with you Luna." He said "That armor was made by an evil king who tried to take over the Crystal Empire."

Luna stood looking at the armor "Why is it made for a human?"

"It was a gift from the king to try and keep me from freeing his people from the darkness." He said "The armor couldn't be destroyed and when I sense the curse within it I made sure to seal it away within the magical barrier that you removed."

"I can seal it back u-" Luna saw Matthew's hands glowing a bright red as the armor was resealed in the bookshelf.

"I've sealed it back up, this time I made sure to make sure you or anypony else messes with this armor again." Matthew said looking back at Luna "Armor, shields, Swords and other items are within the armory within the mountain."

"H-How did you do that?" Luna asked trying to wrap her head around what just happened.
"I used the magic flowing within Matthew's veins." He said "The magic within him is even stronger then mine was."

"How is that possible?" Luna asked.

She heard him chuckle "Blood is blood." Matthew's eyes went back to normal as he fell to his knee "What happened?"

"I'll explain to you later." Luna said "Why don't you go explore."

Matthew and Luna both turned their heads as they felt someone was watching and standing before the two was Dash "I need to talk to you Matthew."

Luna slowly stepped away from Matthew as Dash walked towards him "I-Is everything a-alright?"
"Applejack told us about you two." Dash said getting in his face "You listen good Matthew, make her cry, hurt her in any way I will make sure you won't ever walk again."

"Wait, your dating Applejack?" Luna asked raising an eyebrow.

"Y-Yes." Matthew felt his heart race as he hoped Luna would enforce the law.

"Wonderful!" Luna said with a big smile "I knew you two would make such a perfect couple."
"You were hoping they would get together?" Dash asked.

"I was indeed hoping they would get together, I did everything in my power to try and get Matthew to Sweet Apple Acres." Luna said looking at Matthew "I knew Applejack would be the right mare for him, they both work hard, Applejack has a thing for painters from what Twilight told me, I wanted both of them to at least meet. I knew Applejack would at least be there for him if they didn't get together."

"So you played match maker!?" Dash was pissed.

"I wanted to get Matthew somewhere I knew he would be safe with Applejack." Luna said hoping to defuse the bomb before her "I searched everywhere and only pony I found who truly would care for Matthew was Applejack."

"Matthew can you leave the princess and myself alone for a bit?" Dash asked still glaring at the princess.

"S-Sure." He quickly took off running. He did not want to get his ass kicked by Dash.

With Matthew gone Dash unleashed "You ruined my chance at love! I've loved Aj for so long and ever since Matthew came into her life you made her love him instead of me!"

"Her heart didn't feel that way towards you Dash." Luna said looking into her eyes "Applejack loves you as a friend, nothing more, nothing less."

"You know nothing!" Dash took off leaving her alone.

Luna was sitting by the fire as everyone was sitting and relaxing. Each one enjoying some s'mores. She was happy to see everypony enjoying their night.

There was a boom and everypony looked to see a dragon standing near them "Luna!" Luna felt the dragon hug her "I'm so glad your alright."

"B-Blaze? What's wrong?" Luna asked as Blaze pulled away.

"A lot is wrong, Celestia has been captured and war is coming." Blaze said.
"What!? Where is my sister!?" Luna was now panicking.

"She's locked up but we will free her." Blaze said "My sister is setting up an army, they should have already made their way through."

"I need to get to my sister." Luna walked past him. She felt Blaze's claws stop her "Let me go Blaze."

"You can't get her alone, you'll need an army." Blaze said.
Tears ran down her cheeks "I'm going to get her, I don't care if I have a army or not! I will wipe them out!"
"Now now, Luna, you can't go charging in and getting yourself killed." Everyone looked to see Discord sitting by the fire "Your sister is safe, she's recovering with a friend and once she's strong enough I'll bring her here."

"What?" Luna asked wiping the tears away.

"I went and saved your sister, she's safe and sound right now." He said fading away and turning up near Matthew "I've come to help the king fight."

There came a bright light and standing in front of them was Celestia "She could have told me she was teleporting me." Celestia said as she notices she wasn't in the field of flowers.

"Sister!" Luna rushed to her sister and hugged her.

"Luna, I'm so glad your alright." Celestia said hugging her back "I was so worried."

"I see Lucy brought you here." Discord said "I guess you're fully healed."

Celestia looked over at Discord "I can't believe you rescued me like that."

"Couldn't let him harm you." Discord said "After all, you spared my life and gave me a second chance to redeem myself."

Celestia saw Blaze standing there "What have I missed?"

After what felt like hours Celestia just sat there in utter shock. Her son was here along with her grandkids, Matthew is going to fight and free everyone and to top it off war was coming.

Celestia looked over at Matthew as he was looking at the fire "Sister, we need to know something." Celestia looked to see Luna and Midnight standing there.

"What is it you need to know?" Celestia asked.

"How did you keep me hidden after what happened?" Midnight asked.

Celestia looked away and sighed "Sit down and I'll tell you." Luna and Midnight took a seat "After one night of passion with Mark I ended up with child, I was so happy and yet I had to figure out how to hide you from my father and anyone else." Celestia looked back at the two "I hide my pregnancy with magic spells to make it look like I was still skinny." Celestia looked towards Midnight "The day came, I gave birth to such a beautiful colt, with those I trusted I hid the child in hopes he would live on and have a normal life." She then looked to Luna "Then you took the children and formed your night children, now were here."

"Silver Heart has been playing us, controlling and harming those we care for." Midnight said "First your father then Luna then he tried to harms me and my wife."

"Silver Heart made a mistake in messing with my family." Celestia said looking over at Matthew "I will make sure Matthew is ready for this war, I will make sure he wins."

"I need to send a letter to my sister." Blaze said "She should already be at the Crystal Empire."
"I'll send Cadance a letter." Celestia said "In the morning I'm going to aid Cadance and the other humans."

"You'll be back in harm's way." Discord said "I've made a trail making you leave Equestria and somewhere far away, if Silver Heart takes you again I might not be able to save you."

"I will fighting to keep those at the Crystal Empire safe." Celestia said looking at Discord.

"We train Matthew, get him ready to lead, when he's ready we'll all go to the Crystal Empire and free every last human, pony and griffon and bring peace to the world." Luna said walking up to her sister "We are stronger together."

Celestia looked at her sister, she knew she was right "Alright, we train him, get him ready for battle."

Morning soon was upon everyone. Celestia sat on the log as she watched as everyone was leaving their tents except two. She notices Matthew and Applejack were still asleep in their tent.

"I'm glad to see you're alright Princess." Celestia turned her head to see Night Fire standing there.

"It's good to see you're alright too Night Fire." Celestia said with a smile "How are you dealing with everything?"

Night Fire sighed "Honestly, still confused on everything."

Celestia chuckled "Yes, this whole thing is confusing." Celestia looked back at the tent "I need another favor from you Night Fire, you are one of the top students in your class for swordsmanship. Could you train Matthew with a sword?" Celestia asked looking at Night Fire.
"You want me to train him?" Night Fire asked.

"You're more skilled with a sword them anyone here, It has been some time since Luna and I have picked up a sword, Matthew will need training from you." Celestia said.

"For you Celestia, I will train him, but he will never be my king." Night Fire said.

Celestia chuckled "Matthew won't be king like we all think, somepony has his mind set as being a simple human farmer." Celestia stood up and left Night Fire alone with her thoughts.

Matthew was sound asleep on his back with Applejack lying on his chest. She couldn't help but smile as she listened to his heart beat. It was relaxing as she felt relaxed.

"Wakie Wakie!" Applejack heard Twilight's voice ring through the tent "We have a lot of work to do today!"

Applejack sighed as she looked to see Matthew looking at her "Mornin'." She said with a smile.
"Morning." He said with a smile. He leaned forwards and kissed her lips "Today is gonna be a long day."

Applejack chuckled "Yeah, but ya will have me with ya." She said with a smile as she slid off Matthew and stretched.

Matthew sat up and stretched as well. He looked at the bag of clothes before him and got up and started getting some clothes out "I think I'll take a quick wash before it gets too late."

"Ah'll take one after ya." Applejack said still sitting there.

"I have my swimming trunks if you wanna... j-join me." He said blushing.

"If ya wanna we can." She said blushing as well.

He grabbed his trunks and the two left the tent.

They snuck away from everyone and got to the bath house within the mountain. Matthew found a spot to put in his trunks as he stepped inside the warm water. Applejack jumped into the water splashing Matthew "Did Ah splash ya?" She asked with a grin.

Matthew swam over towards Applejack with a smile on his face. Applejack watched as Matthew was now face to face. She splashed her making her laugh as they both started splashing each other.

Laughter could be heard throughout the room. Applejack felt Matthew's arms wrap around her "I got you." He said chuckling.

"Oh no, what will this wittle pony do now that the big strong human captured me." Applejack said giggling.

"You two are gonna make me puke." The two looked around the room only to spot Dash laying on a rafter.

"Dash? What in the world are ya doin'?" Applejack asked as Matthew let go of her.

"I needed a place to be alone to drink." A bottle of whiskey fell into the water "Yet the two of you being all lovey dovey is just the worse."

"Alright Dash, why don't ya come down from there and let's talk." Applejack said getting out of the water.

"How about this." Dash just laid there "You two leave so I can be alone, after all I was here first."
"Matt and Ah are gonna finish up here, Ah understand somethin' is wrong with ya but ya don't need ta be so rude." Applejack said. Dash flew down and looked at Applejack.

"Me being rude?" Applejack could smell the liquor on her breath "When it comes to your feelings for this ugly human I'm being rude! When I give you my heart you smashed it in my face! if it wasn't for Luna you would have loved me instead of him!"

"Now Dash mah feelin's for ya have always been the same! We have been friends for years, not once have Ah ever thought of ya anymore then a friend." Applejack said "Ah don't care what ya think Luna did but she never made me change my mind on ya, ya my best friend."

Dash huffed and took off flying leaving the two alone "I-I'm sorry if I've made things worse." Matthew said awkwardly standing in the water.

"Ya did nothin' wrong Matt, it will take time for Dash ta understand mah feelin's were always friendship." Applejack said with a sigh "Ah don't want ya ta blame ya self now." Applejack walked back over towards Matthew and got back into the water "Let's get wash."

Matthew grabbed the soap and put some shampoo into Applejack's mane. She felt his fingers gliding through her hair. His fingers felt so wonderful.

Luna used her magic to pull all the weeds out of the field as she placed everything they needed for their Matthew's training "Do you really think he'll need all of this stuff?" Celestia asked.

"Well Twilight found a book in the library that holds all kinds fighting stats." Luna said as she paced the wooden dummies down "Twilight said she can understand some of the hand to hand combat as for the swords fighting, Night Fire said she understands them pretty well."

Celestia looked at the castle grounds "I remember how beautiful this place use to be."

"I wish I got to see this place with you." Luna said as she quickly grabbed her bag and pulled out a book "I found this, you might want it."

Celestia took the booked and opened it up, her heart started racing and her cheeks heated up as she quickly shut the book "D-Did you flip through any of the pages?"

Luna raised an eyebrow "No, why?"

"N-No reason." She said quickly placed the book in her bag "Where did you find this?"

Found it in the castle in a room, in the room was also this." Luna used her magic to pull out a small box "It was with the book."

Celestia already knew what the small box held "I told him to keep this box out of sight." Celestia said with tears in her eyes.

"So you knew about this?" Luna asked.

"Mark already gave this ring before I left after our night of passion, I told him to hold on to it so father wouldn't get angry." Celestia looked at the ring in the box and slightly smiled.

"You can turn it into a necklace and wear it." Luna said.

Celestia looked at her sister "I might, right now we need to get Matthew ready."

"I do wonder where he's at." Luna asked as she looked around. There was a rainbow blur that passed them "Was that Rainbow Dash?"

"She seems to be in a hurry." Celestia said as she looked towards the mountain "I'll be back."
Luna went back to work getting everything set up for training.

Celestia walked over towards the entranceway to the mountain. She could hear voices within the mountain. She soon found the soruces of the voices and saw Applejack and Matthew in the hot springs bathing "Ah swear, ya fingers are magical." Applejack said as Celestia saw Matthew washing her fur with his fingers "Alright, mah turn ta wash ya back for ya."

She watched as Matthew moved forwards allowing Applejack to get a look at his back. Celestia could see all the scars on his back from all the whips "Matt can Ah ask ya somethin'?" Applejack asked.

"S-Sure." Matthew said.

"These scars on ya back, can ya even feel them?" Applejack asked slightly rubbing the rag down his back.

"No, I-I've lost feeling in my back." Matthew said "It takes a bit for me to feel the pain anymore, they have to really whip me to get me to feel any pain now."

"Ah won't anypony whip ya ever again Matt, ah promise ya that." Applejack said kissing his cheek. Matthew blushed as Applejack went to washing his back.

Celestia walked away leaving the two alone as she walked out of the mountain.
"So? What happened?" Luna asked looking at her sister.

"I think Dash is upset over Applejack and Matthew." She said looking at her sister "I'll find Dash and speak with her, just make sure Matthew get his teaching done today."

Celestia left her sister as she tracked down Rainbow Dash. She soon found Dash sitting on a cloud with whiskey in her hoofs "What seems to be the issues Rainbow Dash."

Dash looked at Celestia "Nothing is wrong, just wanting to drink." Dash said looking away.

"Or your upset over Applejack and Matthew." Celestia said taking a seat on a cloud.

"She would even like Matthew if it wasn't for you sister!" Dash nearly yelled "She set them up and ruined my life!"

"Luna wouldn't ruin your life, Applejack's heart belongs to someone else." Celestia said "Love is a tricky thing, not even Cadance could truly understand it, what you feel for Applejack isn't love like you think, your meant to be by her side as a friend and help her through this hard time." Dash glared at Celestia only to see Celestia wasn't staring out at the blue sky "There was a time I was meant to marry a stallion, he was my friend for so long, he swore up and down we were meant to be, when I feel in love with another he swore up and down it was him I loved, however he fell in love with a mare and was happy." She looked at Dash "You'll find the right one who loves you, just give it time." Dash just went back to her whiskey "Just give it time Dash, you'll find love again."

Celestia flew away leaving Dash alone. Dash looked at the bottle of whiskey as her mind went into deep thought.

Matthew fell to the ground as the wooden sword was placed at his throat "And you're dead." Night Fire said "You're getting better at defending yourself, however you left yourself wide open for that last attack."

Matthew felt the wooden sword leave his throat as Night fire helped him back onto his feet "I-I can work on that."

"You need to watch how your opponent moves, study how they act and use their own weakness against them." She said "Don't think of this sword as a weapon but as a part of you, think of this sword as apart of your soul, become one with the blade and you'll master this in no time." Night Fire brought forth her wooden sword "Why don't we take a break."

Matthew took a seat on a chair and looked at the wooden sword, he didn't know if he could do this. He understood a little but couldn't truly understand any of it.

"Hello Matthew." Matthew looked up to see the knight standing before him "I can feel your scared."

"H-How can I master this if I barely understand a thing." He said looking back at the wooden sword.

"I can help you learn." The Knight brought out his hand "I'm apart of you, you can learn from me."

Matthew looked at his hand "H-How can I learn from you?" He asked looking at him.

The Knight smiled "We merge and you will be able to understand everything."
"W-What will happen to you?" Matthew asked.

"My time has come, It's time I rest." The Knight gave Matthew a slight smile "You will gain the skills and once this is all over those skills will be yours to master on your own."

Matthew shook his hand as a blinding light engulfed him "Are you alright Matthew?" Matthew shook his head and looked at Night Fire.

"Y-Yeah, just thinking." Matthew said feeling his body changing.

"Well, you were sitting here for about half an hour in just a stare." She said.

"Maybe we should switch to hand to hand fighting." Twilight said.

"Ah think we should teach him how ta read a bit." Applejack said stepping in.

"Let's do a little hand to hand first then we can sit down and read when dinner is done." Twilight said.

Twilight placed the dummy in front of Matthew as Twilight held up a book "Just follow the-" Her words were cut off as Matthew broke the dummy in half "Woah."

Matthew looked at his hands as he looked at the broke dummy "Ya broke that in half Matt!" He heard Applejack cheering.

"How did you do that!?" Twilight asked in shock.

"I-I think the Knight's skills are kicking in." He said looking at his hands.

"Knight?" Everypony asked.

"Y-Yeah, you remember Applejack." He said looking at Applejack "H-He m-merged with me, h-he said h-his skills would b-be apart of me."

"So you took an easy way out!?" Night Fire said angrily.

Matthew's eyes start to glow "Matthew didn't take an easy way out, his skills are locked. I'm unlocking it thanks to you Night Fire."

Twilight blinked "A-Are you the Knight?"

"I am, Princess Twilight." The Knight said "His body is slowly unlocking and you Princess Twilight need to focus on his magic instead of his fighting, Night Fire he will need you to teach him battle strategies."

"Luna and Celestia can teac-" Twilight's words were cut off "Twilight your magic is more powerful Luna and Celestia, and Night fire you have studied everything you could on every battle that has ever happened." The Knight said "Luna and Celestia will help in their own way, but now you two must make Matthew a true leader." Matthew's eyes closed and he opened them back up and they were back to normal "W-What's wrong."

Night Fire sighed "Alright Matthew seems your training with swords are over for now."

"W-Why?" He asked.

"You need to learn how battle works." She said "Twilight why don't you take Matthew for a bit while I set up stuff."

"Matt, why don't we head to the hot springs?" Twilight said.

Matthew and Applejack followed Twilight into the hot springs. All three sat inside as Matthew was sitting near the water "Alright, Matthew I want you to sit like this." Twilight had her lower hoofs crossed as she sat. Both Matthew crossed his legs "Now, magic is energy within your body." Twilight said as her horn start to glow softly "Now for Unicorns we use our horns to channel our magic."

"W-Why d-do I need to know this?" Matthew asked not really understanding.

"Well, I believe you might have magic." Twilight said "I want you to channel magic into light from where you believe magic can be channeled through."Applejack and Twilight watched as Matthew closed his eyes.

"H-How do I know I feel the magic?" Matthew asked keeping his eyes closed as he tried to feel the magic.

"How I knew was my family, I felt their light within me and it came to me when I was young."

Twilight said "When the day came to prove myself I was losing that light until Rainbow Dash unleashed her rainboom onto the world and brought the light to the surface."

Matthew focused on what made him happy, Applejack came into her mind and he smiled "Ya doin' it Matt!" He heard Applejack's voice and he opened his eyes to see his hands glowing a bright red, Matthew was in shock as he couldn't believe he was using magic.

Applejack was smiling "Well, this can help." Twilight said getting up and walking towards him "I can teach you healing magic along with defence magic."

Matthew looked over at Applejack "I-I have magic, I-I can protect her." He thought as he looked back at Twilight "S-Sounds good."

Applejack left Twilight and Matthew alone so they could focus on his studies. Applejack walked through the field as she notices Midnight and Sunset sitting by the castle drinking some of her hard cider "How's everything going?" Applejack turned her head to see Night standing next to her.

"So far Matt's gettin' the hang of things, Ah left them alone so they could focus." Applejack said looking back at Midnight and Sunset.

"You are the reason he's becoming the what this world needs." Night said "I might have been trying to be the leader everyone needs I was just a stepping stone for Matthew to show up and do what I couldn't do."

"That's where ya wrong." Applejack said "Ya have been helping longer then Matt has, and ya can show ya can be a leader too."

Night chuckled "You're sweet but I know my place in this world."

"Nothin' is set in stone Night." Applejack said walking away.

Night looked at Sunset and Midnight and made his way over towards them.

Applejack found herself in front of her tent, she stepped inside to see Dash sitting in the middle of the tent "Dash?"

Dash turned around and looked at Applejack "You're finally here." Dash said "I-I'm sorry about what happened earlier, I was drunk and still I'm trying to get over you the best I can but it's hard seeing you with him and when I saw you two inside the hot springs and I couldn't control myself."

"Dash if ya worried Ah'm made at ya, Ah'm not." Applejack said "Ah saw the bottle and Ah knew ya weren't you." Applejack sat in front of Dash "Ah know it's hard and if Ah knew ya were there Ah wouldn't be like that with Matt in front of ya."

"No, I need to get use to it Aj, I don't want you two being awkward around me." Dash placed the bottle in front of her "I'm gonna lay off the sauce and try and give you two a chance."

"If we get on ya nerves let me know." Applejack said.

Applejack gave her a hug "I'll tell Matthew I'm sorry when he returns." Dash said as their hug broke.

"Thank ya Dash, this does mean a lot." Applejack said with a smile.

Dash left Applejack alone in her tent as she looked at her sleeping bags.

Applejack looked at Matthew's sketch book and smiled as she straightened up their tent so it wasn't so messy.

It took a few hours but the tent looked a lot better than what it was this morning. She could hear everypony starting to return "Your healing is getting better, tomorrow we'll work on defense spells." She could hear Twilight's voice and smiled.

The tent opened up and Matthew stepped in "H-Hey." Matthew said with a smile.

"Hey, how was it." Matthew sat down on the sleeping bag as he brought out his hands as the started glowing a light green "I can heal people now, Twilight said I'm a fast learner with magic and I don't feel the knight at all when I'm using this." He said smiling.

Applejack couldn't help but smile as she sat down in front of him "Ah'm so proud of ya Matthew." She said kissing his lips. She felt Matthew kiss her back more passionately.

She felt his lips pull away "Now if you get hurt I-I can heal you." He said with a smile.

Applejack place her hoof to his cheek "Ya so sweet." She kissed his lips again.

"Alright! Dinner is ready!" They heard Sunset yell.

The two broke their kiss "D-Do you think we c-could read a little before bed?"

Applejack smiled "Of course we can." She kissed his cheek and the two made their way out of the tent.

To Be Continued.