Chapter 22.

Celestia stood on the battlefield as she saw the stone creatures fall to the ground and the magic Silver Heart once had faded from the battlefield.

“D-Did Matt do it?” Applejack asked looking at Celestia.

“H-He might have.” Celestia looked at the troops “You six come with me, the rest remain here.”

“What about me?” Luna asked.

“Stay here just in case.” Celestia said as she headed towards the army “Who among you is second in command?” Celestia asked.

The hooded mare took a step forwards “I am second in command and I will bring fight to keep my master’s wish alive.”

“You are losing your army, the griffins are leaving and the ponies here will side with me.” Celestia said “You have a choice, surrender now or I will lock you away.”

The hooded mare notices the ponies around her dropping their weapons “Damn it.” The mare used her magic and teleported out of there.

Celestia felt a tingle run down her spine making her turn around to see a woman with black hair and blue eyes “Queen Celestia, it is an honor to see you. I’m here to inform you Matthew is safe, where is at I do not know, I am here to give support to you Queen Celestia, to help rebuild human and pony relationship.”

“W-Who are you?” Celestia asked.

“I am Lucy, I’m the Goddess of the humans and now the Goddess of ponies.” She said with a bright smile.

Matthew slowly felt his mind fight it’s way out of the darkness. He felt his eyes slowly open, the sunlight shining in quickly forced his eyes shut again. He felt a sharp pain in his hand making him look to see black veins going up his arm “W-What the heck is this?”

“It’s called magic overload.” Matthew looked to see a young woman sitting in the room with a book in her hand “Don’t know how you managed to get such a thing but as long as you don’t use magic for awhile it will heal.” She removed the book from her face. Matthew notices the dark brown hair and blue eyes, she looked familiar to him.

“W-Where am I?” Matthew asked sitting up.

“You're in the small village of Cradle Light.” She said getting up from her chair and walking over towards him “You crossed the great sands to get here didn’t you?”

Matthew blinked “Last thing I remember was fighting this God named Ruby and that’s all I remember.” Matthew said making the girl blink at her.

“You fighting a God? That sun really did a number on your brain.” She said “Once we get some water in you I’m sure that brian might get back to normal.”

“I know it sounds crazy, I feel like what I’ve been through was a dream but I know it’s not since this is my proof.” Matthew said raising his hand and looking at the black veins.

“Well will see once we get you some water.” She said pouring him some water and handing him it “My name is Elizabeth, but you can call me Beth.”

Matthew took a sip of his water “Names Matthew, it’s nice to meet you Beth.”

“I’ve got some clothes for you to wear and we should have lunch ready here shortly.” Beth said showing Matthew where the clothes were.

“Thank you, I’ll repay you back once I get a message to Equestria.” Matthew said.

“No need to repay us back.” Beth said “I better go help my mother with lunch.”

Matthew watched as Beth leave “I hope everyone is alright, stay safe Applejack, I’ll be heading home soon.”

With his new clothes on he made his way downstairs. He could hear the Beth talking “I saw the scars on his back, should we inform someone?”

“He’s a free slave here Beth, not even Celestia herself can harm him under Queen Maggie.” The other voice said. Matthew swore he knew that voice.

Matthew slowly peeked his head around the corner to see who Beth was talking to and his eyes widen. His heart started racing as tears began to form in his eyes. There standing in the kitchen was his mother from the dream he had on that day the train was attacked.

“Oh dear are you alright.” She asked walking towards him. Matthew did the only thing that came to his mind and hugged her “Oh, emotion are we?” She said as he pulled away and looked at her.

“I-I’m your son, M-Matthew, Matthew Shimmer.” He said.

Her eyes widen “Y-You survived.” She stuttered as she started to cry.

“M-Mom what is he talking about?” Beth asked.

She looked at her daughter “Beth, this is Matthew.” She looked back at Matthew “He’s your brother.”

After a few hours of explaining they were sitting at the table eating lunch.

“Avalon, I remember my mother telling me stories about that city.” Sarah said taking a bite of her food.

“I’m still shocked that I’m the king.” Matthew said chuckling “H-How did you make it out of that fire?”

“Honestly I don’t know, I remember the flames and then I felt a hand reach out for me and a soft voice, they told me I would be safe.” Sarah said “I remember waking up outside of the burnt barn and that’s when I was found by some slave hunters and was sold to a mare that lived in Saddle Arabia, I thought it was gonna be awful but I was freed from my chains and was given a chance to live.”

“I thought slavery was a thing there?” Matthew asked.

“No, the people that are sent back to Equestria are people who are going out to teach the other humans how to read write and learn freedom to try and start a revolution.” Sarah said.

“I never knew that.” Matthew looked at Beth who was eating her food “Are you married again?”

“I never remarried after your father, tho.” She looked at Beth “Beth’s father was a stallion I had a one night stand with.” Sarah said looking back at Matthew “When I had Beth I was blessed.”

“I’m glad you weren’t alone anymore.” Matthew said giving Beth a smile.

“About those scars on your back.” Beth said “How long were you whipped?”

“Beth, that’s rude to ask.” Sarah said looking at Beth.

“It’s alright mom, I would say around fourteen.” Matthew said taking a sip of his water “The whipping stopped when I was taken in by an elderly mare who needed help getting around, when she passed away I feared for what would happen to me but I guess fate had other plans for me.” He chuckled knowing Luna had her hoofs on that.
“And that’s when you meet Applejack?” Sarah asked.

“Yes, meeting her would change my life for the better.” Matthew said with a smile.

“When we are done with lunch I’ll take you to Queen Maggie, she’ll send a letter to Princess Celestia.” Beth said.

“So this is where the elder God sent you.” Matthew jumped to his feet as he saw Discord hovering there.

“W-Who are you?” Both Sarah and Beth asked.

“I’m Discord, the God of Chaos.” He said with a grin “I’ve come to bring Applejack here.” He snapped his fingers and Applejack appeared.

“Matthew!” Applejack yelled jumping at him. He braced himself as he caught her. He could feel his shoulder getting wet “A-Ah feared the worst.”

“I made you a promise, I wouldn’t let nobody stop me from getting back to you.” He said holding her tight.

They broke their hug and shared a short sweet kiss “I hate to ruin this but I’ve got more for you Matthew, the Elder God Max has a mission for you, what it is I don’t know but if the Elden God sent you here there is a reason.”

“What are you talking about?” Matthew asked as he put Applejack down.

“There are four Elder Gods. You have Elder God Merlin, he’s the God of Equestria, then you have his ex wife Elder Goddess Raven, she is the Goddess of the heavens, then you have Elder God Luthor, he’s the God of well this area, he’s the one that watches these lands and his wife Lillian.” Discord brought himself a cup of tea and sipped it “Now Elder God Luthor has two sons and a daughter, His first son you all know very well, his name is Hades, his second son Rex and his daughter Eliza, Rez and Eliza created life, Eliza created the griffins and some other creatures and Rex created the dragons. Then you have Lucy and Ruby, Lucy you already know but for those in the room Lucy is the Goddess of light and the mother of all humans, Ruby is the God of darkness and the creator of ponies. Tho that has been taken from him and given to Lucy except the darkness part.”

“So this Merlin guy wants me to do what?” Matthew asked confused.

“Don’t know, that’s something you gotta find out on your own.” Discord ate the cup and looked at everyone “I must be off, Luthor doesn’t like me in these parts, I better get back to Celestia tell her what’s going on and you two love birds and figure out the mystery of this land.” With a snap of his fingers he was gone.

Matthew sighed “I just wanna go back to your farm already.”

Applejack notices the two women in the room “Ah’m sorry, this must be very confusing for ya.”

“My son has filled me in on everything besides that creature named Discord.” Sarah said looking at Applejack with a smile “My name is Sarah, this is my daughter Beth.”

Applejack blinked “Applejack, this is my mother, she survived that night in the barn and found herself here in the land of Saddle Arabia.”

“I-It’s nice ta meet ya both.” Applejack said kinda panicking at the thought of having to meet Matthew’s mother. She already had a hard time trying not to get on Midnights bad side now she has to try not to get on his mother's bad side.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Applejack, Matthew has told us a lot about you.” Sarah said “I-I should have some oats and hay somewhere, I’ll fix you something to eat.”

“T-There is no need, Ah’ve already eaten.” Applejack said already starting to panic.

“Once we are done eating we are going to visit the Queen, but I guess we won’t need to do that since word you're alive is already reaching Princess Celestia.” Beth said.

“Well we will need to see the Queen, still need to figure out why I’m here and this seems like a lead.” Matthew said looking at Beth.

“Then once we are done eating we shall be off.” Sarah said.

A woman walked through the halls of her kingdom “Your highness, we have word Equestria war is over, the freedom of humans have begun.” A man said walking up to her.

“Who won?” The woman asked.

“King Matthew, the king of Avalon.” The man said.

The woman stopped in her tracks “I want all men and women ready, if the king of Avalon asks for our swords we shall give him it.”

“As you wish your highness.” He said leaving her side.

“A new era has begun, I wonder what this new world will be like.” The woman said with a smile.

To Be Continued.

Author's Note

Chapter 22!