Welcome the Unknown

Chapters

Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 11

Chapter 3

As requested by Twilight, Matt talked at length about what Earth was like and answered what questions he could. He spoke of bits of history, various pieces of modern technology, entertainment, whatever came to mind. He made sure not to get too involved with some of the negatives that humanity brought with it, particularly the more horrific things people had done to each other over the centuries, though he didn't leave the subject completely untouched. While he knew nothing of Equestria's history, he assumed that they must have had conflict here and there as well since most creatures in general had been known to fight for one reason or another on occasion.

With each new topic, Twilight scribbled madly on her absurd amount of paper, nearly covering the kitchen floor in a layer of parchments. While the others listened intently at the fascinating things being discussed, none were more hinged on every word as Twilight was. Her friends did, however, take specific interest in one thing or another individually over the hours they spent huddled together. In a strange way, it almost felt like camping.

Rainbow Dash had perked up when she heard about a professional sport involving racing these motorized wagons that Matt referred to as cars. Rarity was curious about how much business one could generate with his communications technology advertising just about everything imaginable, including fashion. Spike denied that he was jealous – though all his fidgeting gave him away – of how easy it was to keep in touch with others on the bizarre-sounding things Matt called computers.

Trying to explain exactly how these gadgets and devices worked was a little difficult for Matt, what with not being able to sit down and show them. The best he could do was found in his shorts pocket – the cell phone he had on him when he crash landed. Also in his pockets was his wallet. Before he had been snatched away by...whatever it was, he was getting ready to head out in a little while to get something to eat. He set the brown leather wallet on the floor beside him and let them take a closer look at his flip phone. It was an older model but it did the job. Granted, he wasn't going to be able to use it for its intended purpose, but at the very least, he could show them the few options one could fool around with without having to worry about getting a network signal.

Unsurprisingly, Twilight was the most entranced by the foreign device. It amazed her, as well as the rest, that what was probably the most advanced thing on the planet was small enough to fit on a single hoof. Matt found their fascination to be rather endearing as he watched them study his phone with the wonder of a small child, even though they didn't have a clue how to operate it. If only they saw some of the other things that he had dealt with back home. He chuckled under his breath and in doing so garnered the attention of the young mares. Seeing him finally calm enough to have a small laugh at something put their fears to rest; they had nothing to worry about from their visitor.

An angry growl from Matt's stomach told a new, embarrassing story that late evening, giving Applejack reason to smirk. But, it was right. It was nearly eleven o'clock by now and they still hadn't eaten, too taken in by Matt's incredible tales. Even Spike had managed to force himself to stay away thanks to an overwhelming desire to hear everything the human had to say.

However, with Matt's internal gripe now made public, Spike sighed and rose to his feet, knowing full well what to expect from Twilight. He preferred to stay and continue to keep himself glued to Matt's words, but that wasn't about to happen. Without a command, he headed to the fridge and pulled out various fruits and vegetables for the girls and himself.

Remembering the gift Applejack had given him as he watched Spike gather the food, Matt glanced to his right and at the floor. The bright red apple still laid in the same place it came to a stop at. Reclaiming it, he wiped it down, finding that there was next to no dirt or dust on it. In fact, it looked as if it was still nearly as immaculate as it looked earlier. Shrugging just slightly, he sunk his teeth in. It only took a single bite.

"Jesus, this is good. Juicy as hell," he praised, quickly digging back in with a full mouth.

Applejack beamed proudly at the compliment. "Thanks! They're from the apple orchard Ah live 'n work on. You ask anypony and they'll tell ya they're the best in Equestria!"

It didn't take long for everyone there to gobble down what was given to them. Pausing and looking over the food was enough to remind everypony they had forgotten dinner. Not soon after, the hour began to take its toll on them – including Matt and Twilight – and not even his talk of how they had flown people to Earth's moon in a spaceship was enough to keep their eyes from slowly closing. The rather stressful day wasn't helping matters either.

With Spike being the first victim the night claimed, Twilight yawned and decided they should probably get some rest; there was still a lot to do and discuss the following day. As they rose to their hooves, stretched, and headed back inside to their waiting pillows and blankets, the lavender mare approached Matt without a hint of the anxiety or fear that plagued their initial meeting. She floated his phone back into his hand, and he took it also without feeling the shock or dread he did before.

"We can talk more in the morning," said Twilight. "You've told us so much about where you're from. It's only fair that we tell you a bit about Equestria, and us, as well. I promise we'll do anything we can to get you home. I'll look through my library from top to bottom if I have to, and if that doesn't get any results, there's another even larger archive I can visit elsewhere." She glanced at the gash on his forehead. "And I'll clean off that wound a little more tomorrow. It still looks like it stings."

"A little," Matt admitted, rubbing it gingerly. He could feel the caked blood stuck on his skin and instinctively started to pick at it. His hand suddenly glowed purple and moved on its own away from the injury.

"You really should leave it alone. You don't want to make it worse," she scolded.

He pursed his lips and looked away, a bit embarrassed that a talking purple pony felt the need to lecture him. "I guess."

"Did you...want to come out to the lobby and get some sleep with us?" Twilight asked hesitantly. "I do have a guest bed upstairs, but I don't think you'd fit on it."

"I'll just sleep in here tonight," Matt quickly replied. Sleeping together with them, even though there wasn't any danger in doing so, wasn't something he was ready to do just yet.

The unicorn understood and smiled. "Alright. I'll get you a pillow and a blanket. Be right back."

He nodded and watched her leave the kitchen only to return a moment later with said provisions. They were a bit on the small side, but it was obvious they were made with equines in mind, not nearly-six-foot-tall humans.

"Well, I guess that's it for tonight." Twilight took one last look around and gathered up the scattered papers with her magic. She figured she'd sort through them later. Once she determined that everything was in order, she smiled pleasantly at her new friend. "It was nice to meet you, Matt."

"You too," he said, returning a small smile of his own, "and...thanks."

With an appreciative nod, Twilight scooped up Spike and left the human be.

Late the following morning, the girls had gathered around main room of the library, waiting patiently for Matt to come out of hiding and join them. It took the combined efforts of Applejack and Twilight to convince him though it didn't take much. With the insanity that took place the night before, Matt had fallen right asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and was out like a light almost immediately. One could have fired a gun by his head and it probably wouldn't have woken him. Now that he was a bit rested, he was ready to take his first steps into a strange new world, even if it was only into the next room.

Matt had diligently helped out around the library during the two weeks since his violent arrival. An arrangement had been agreed upon that while the girls did what they could to help him get home, he should still help out where he could. He didn't have any problem agreeing to it; it would have driven him crazy sitting around doing nothing. They decided that helping out around the library would be repayment enough, though when a customer came by, he'd have to make himself scarce. No need to potentially start a panic.

Spike was happy that his daily chore regiment was effectively cut in half. Matt entertained himself as best he could when he wasn't busy working despite being confined to the place. One of the only things he could do while stuck in the library, aside from chatting with Twilight and Spike, was read. He listened to some of Twilight's recommendations, but magic fascinated him the most since he arrived.

He made it a point to find out what he could about the subject. However, he had never been much of a reader on Earth thanks to all the video games he played, the amount of time he spent watching television and the surfing on the internet. He tried to stay focused while reading the books he found about magic but ended up skimming over a lot of it. Some of it stuck with him but not nearly as much as he would have liked. He figured the materials he read up to that point would likely have made more sense to someone who could actually wield magic to begin with.

The following morning came, and Matt was unusually grouchy; he hadn't slept terribly well that night. The bed that the girls had specially made for him by a confused store owner was comfortable, but he had been restless recently. So much for simply toughing it out. He had been sleeping in Twilight's basement since it had the most room, and he tried not to get in the way of any of her work when she was down there. Maybe it was the air? It was a basement, after all. He tried to just shrug it off, but that wasn't working too well. Trying to figure out what his problem had been over the last few days wasn't the first thing he wanted to do in the morning.

He said hardly anything while he ate breakfast with Spike and Twilight. He was getting a little tired of a vegetarian diet already, even though the food was delicious. Twilight had planned to have Spike and Matt start reorganizing some of the library starting today. She gathered a large number of books to the floor and let them get started.

Matt took a small stack of books and began his chore with the same irritated look he had when he woke up that morning. He determined where the first book he had in his hand was meant to go and slammed it into place. The next few books followed with the same result.

"Matt, please! Try and be gentle with them. Some of those books are rather old," Twilight snapped.

He just scowled to himself and mumbled his annoyance so they couldn't hear. Some of the morning sunlight blared in through the window and lit up the room. It was to be clear skies all day today according to the weather team. The warmth it brought felt pretty nice against his skin and Matt turned to look. It was bright and almost blinding. He sighed and turned back around to his chore.

Lunchtime had come slowly that day. After feeling the glow of the sun on his face, Matt seemed to move at half his intended pace. Spike even noticed and was mildly bothered that, even with another body helping out, he felt like he was doing most of the work. They all sat at the table and Matt was once again distracted. He barely touched his food and stared out the windows he could see. There wasn't much to see save for a couple roads and homes with an occasional pony trotting by.

"You're awful quiet today," Spike said.

He ignored the comment. Aside from staring blankly out the windows, the only sign of life he showed was from his hand. He was almost involuntary rubbing his phone and flipping it open and closed. Even though the battery had been dead for a while and it wouldn't have worked in Equestria anyway, he still carried it with him in his pocket habitually, as well as his wallet, even though he never left the premises.

There was a hint of melancholy on Matt's face that he tried to hide, but Twilight was able to spot it. She glanced out the window he was staring at and back at him.

"You want to go outside, don't you?"

Matt got lost in thought for a moment and threw a hand slightly in the air. "I dunno." He took a bite of his meal.

"You know why you can't though. I'm sorry, Matt," Twilight said sadly.

He stood up and back to lobby to continue his work. "Yeah, I know," he said bluntly as he left the room.

Twilight had arranged to see the rest of the group, including Spike, the next day for dinner at one of the local restaurants. She hadn't been as upbeat as she usually is since lunch the other day. Spike had continued the rest of the day as if nothing was wrong. That wasn't unexpected though. Unless somepony specifically said what was on their mind, Spike was generally oblivious to somepony's problem unless it was coming from Rarity. Matt had figured out his obvious infatuation with her after only a single one-on-one visit from the white unicorn. Some things are the same even across species, apparently.

She figured it was best to give Matt some space for an evening and left him alone at the library. Their meals had arrived and they had just started nibbling at the flowers and vegetables they were served when Twilight addressed them. "Thanks for coming out, girls. I know this dinner was kind of last minute, but I needed some advice...about Matt."

Rainbow Dash laughed as she responded, "What, are you getting some kind of crush on him?"

Twilight smirked at her. "Funny. It's...well, lately he's seemed just...miserable. He barely said a word all day yesterday. I think I know what's bothering him, but he'll never admit it."

"Didn't look like anything was bothering him to me," Spike said.

"That's because you were too busy eating after he walked off. It was like he was avoiding us after lunch. Doesn't that strike you as odd?"

"He was running around doing chores. So what?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and looked back at her friends. "He kept looking out the windows all day and staring at nothing."

"Sounds like he wants to get outta the library for a little while. At least that's what it seems to me," Applejack said.

"Yeah, that's what I've been thinking too." Twilight poked at her salad with a magically guided fork. Matt's actions had started becoming upsetting to her as well.

"I can't say I blame him, really. I'd go crazy if I was stuck inside and couldn't spread my wings and fly around a bit," Rainbow commented as she flipped backwards in the air. "What does he do to amuse himself?"

Twilight thought for a moment. "Not much really. He tried reading but he seemed to get bored of that real fast. Most of the times when there's nothing to do, if he's not looking out a window, he's curled up in the corner thinking about...well, I'm going to assume his home, but he never says, even when I try talking it out of him. And if he doesn't look upset, he almost looks...angry. I have to admit, sometimes when he's angry, it's...kinda scary. I just don't know what to do at this point. I haven't found anything that I think can really help get him home. Even when I stopped by Canterlot last week, I couldn't find anything about his species or his world or anything."

"Did ya talk to the Princesses? Maybe they know somethin' that could help."

"No," Twilight sighed.

"Why in the hay not?"

"We know he's a decent pony...person, whatever. But what if the Princesses are aware of where he comes from and think that he's a danger and throw him in a dungeon or something? I wouldn't want to see that happen to him."

"I really can't see Celestia and Luna doing something like that. They didn't do anything to me when I took Philomena, remember?" Fluttershy argued.

"I'm afraid to take that chance. We're talking about a species that isn't native to Equestria. We have no idea if she's ever dealt with such a thing before." She groaned as she rubbed her aching head. "I just hate feeling this lost. I don't want to risk upsetting or angering the Princesses, but at the same time, I don't want to give them a reason to think Matt is dangerous by keeping him cooped up, which would probably just continue to anger him. Ugh, what do we do?"

"We should throw him a party! A good party's always cheered everypony up!"

Rarity countered, "I doubt a party would help, dearie. From what you said though, Twilight, it does sounds like he's going absolutely stir crazy. Throwing a party and seeing us having fun when he's been feeling the way he has been would likely make things worse."

"Maybe we could try just letting him out for a little while? The fresh air would probably do him some good. If that's okay, that is."

"Jeez, Fluttershy, 'letting him out'? You make him sound like he's one of your critters," Rainbow Dash scoffed.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"But that's just it, girls. It's not okay. You know how jittery some of these ponies can be. The last thing we need is a riot on our hooves," Twilight argued.

"We're pretty well-known in Ponyville, Twilight. Elements of Harmony and all?" Rainbow puffed out her chest. "If they saw him with us, they probably wouldn't freak out like you think they're gonna. At least, I don't think they would."

"While I too think allowing him to stretch his legs for a while would be good for him, nopony can argue that both sides do have a good point," Rarity added. "But, this is ultimately Twilight's decision. He's staying under her roof for the time being, and whatever decision she decides to make, we should support her."

They continued to eat and chatted amongst each other as Twilight silently pondered what to do. Near the end of their meal, she sighed heavily, having finally made her decision. "Alright, fine. What's the worst that could go wrong, I guess? But, I still want to make sure he isn't seen if at all possible. At least for now."

Pinkie shot happily into the air like a firework and landed softly onto her pillow chair. "Yay! This is gonna be so much fun! What are we gonna do?"

Matt's day started out as irritably as the last several. For some reason, he wasn't as tired as he usually was and crept up the stairs, dragging his feet and rubbing his face. He was grateful for not being so out of it that he'd be hitting the walls for once. When he got to the main floor, he saw Spike organizing some more books.

He noted the clock; it was almost noon. Gah, how could he have slept so late?! Wait, Twilight always woke him up. Did she somehow forget? That wouldn't be like her. He heard the clopping of hooves behind him coming down the stairs.

"Hey, Twilight. Sorry I got up so late."

"No, it's okay! I let you sleep in today."

"She never lets me sleep in," Spike grumbled.

"Uh...why?"

"I wanted you to be more rested today. But that's not the only reason. Today, I have a special surprise for you!" Odd, she seemed to have some spring her voice this morning.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the girls and I went out last night as you know. We discussed some things regarding you, and we decided that maybe you've been cooped up here too long." His eyes widened in anticipation. "The girls decided they'd take today off and we'd all go on a picnic for lunch today. All of us."

"Not that I'm complaining but why the sudden change of heart?"

"You've seemed really distant lately, and I've seen you staring out the window a lot. You've been making it kind of obvious." She smiled at him knowingly, prompting him to look away embarrassed. "I promise we'll try and get you outside more often. Just don't think you're going to be running around the Town Square just yet. I do still want to try and keep you out of view of the public for now. Maybe we can work on that sooner or later."

Matt pursed his lips. "It was that obvious, huh? Heh, thought I was doing a better job with that."

"Don't worry about it, Matt. The girls will probably be here soon. You should get ready."

"I'll go shower real quick then. Spike, could you grab some clothes for me in the meantime?" he asked as he headed up the stairs.

"Sure thing."

Matt hadn't been in the shower long before Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, carrying some of her trademark desserts, had arrived. Rarity came a few minutes later wearing a large white hat with a several vibrant feathers of pink and orange hanging out the side and a pristine sapphire in the center of the sleek black band where the head piece met the brim. He finally turned the water off after Applejack – who also brought some treats as well as the picnic blanket – and Fluttershy had shown up.

The girls were making sure they had everything they needed when Matt came down the stairs. Spike had picked out some tan shorts and a blue-green button down shirt. He had his wallet and phone in his pockets as usual. There was a glimmer in his eyes Twilight hadn't seen in a while. They smiled at each other when they saw him.

"So, where to?"

"There's a nice open area a little north of Ponyville. It's got peace and quiet and a wonderful view. We'll have to sneak past a few homes but the residents should still be inside for a little while if they're not at work. It is around lunchtime but we'll still keep an eye out." Twilight said.

They were ready to go shortly after. A plan had been drawn up and everyone was ready. Rainbow Dash and Applejack stepped out first and looked around the roads. Clear. So far, so good. They waved the rest outside and Rainbow took to the air to get a better view of the area. Matt crouched out behind Pinkie and Twilight while Rarity and Fluttershy occupied the rear to keep watch behind them.

They sprinted to the northern side of the library and ducked Matt behind a bush. Twilight motioned to Pinkie to check in the house to their right. She zipped over and ducked under the largest window. She pulled her ears parallel to the ground and her eyes periscoped up. She turned her ears in the direction she wanted to look and somehow her eyes obeyed. Clear. Pinkie returned her eyes and ears to normal and went back to the group just as quick as she left, nodding towards the next checkpoint straight ahead to the north. Only one pair of houses side by side to go and they were set.

There was a fair sized tree next to the house on the right. They made a break for it and Matt dove behind. Fluttershy peeked inside the house. Looked empty. A cat suddenly jumped onto the windowsill and Fluttershy fell to the ground with a squeak. The others gasped and swung their heads around. They sighed with relief when they saw only the cat and glared at the easily frightened pegasus, who just smiled apologetically. Twilight looked up and Rainbow signaled that everything was quiet ahead.

They made a break for the clearing. Rainbow and Fluttershy flew behind Matt to use their bodies and wings to hide him as best they could. Rarity had trotted along at a regular pace the entire way so far since she didn't want to risk having her over-the-top chapeau fly off her head. Matt hadn't been much of an athlete and couldn't move as fast as the ponies, even at his top speed. He was a little embarrassed that he was slowing them down.

Twilight looked over at him, "You ready, Matt? This is probably going to be a little weird for you." He was, and not a minute too soon. They had only been sprinting for about fifteen seconds and he felt like his lungs were on fire. Twilight's horn glowed and the two of them popped away.

Matt and Twilight reappeared about fifty yards ahead. The sudden change of location made Matt trip on himself and he fell to the ground. "Well, that's new."

His head was spinning thanks to the jump and he was going to take a minute for himself whether anyone liked it or not. His purple friend giggled and asked if he was okay. He was alright, just a bit disoriented. As his vision straightened out, he saw that the houses were finally far enough away that they didn't need to hurry along anymore. The others caught up shortly after with Rarity bringing up the distant rear. Applejack and Rainbow Dash gave her an annoyed look when she arrived.

"What? I wasn't going to have this masterpiece turn into a disaster."

It was about twenty minutes when they finally reached the spot. Twilight was right; it was gorgeous out. Clear blue skies, warm sun. Matt took his shoes and socks off and curled his toes. The grass even felt magnificent under his feet. He leaned his head back, closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Every sense he had reminded him what being alive was like and his tongue was going to be appreciative shortly as well.

Matt started setting up the blanket and laying out the food when there was a sudden brief pinch in his chest. He clutched at it and grunted through his teeth. In an instant, it was gone and, strangely, there was no lingering pain. It felt like an unspeakably painful bug bite when it happened but from inside his chest.

"Oh gosh, are you okay?" Fluttershy asked. The others saw what happened as well and expressed their concern.

He took a couple deep breaths and confusedly shook it off. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. That was weird. Probably just got a little too excited by all this," he joked. "But I'm okay, really. Feels fine."

The picnic was turning into a great idea. After Matt's little scare, they had settled in and eaten the first of the courses they brought. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were getting competitive as they were wont to do. Pinkie was bouncing and rolling around in the grass giggling. Fluttershy, Rarity and Twilight were discussing some of the recent high class clientele that stopped into the Boutique the other day. Spike engorged himself on some gems Rarity had brought for him as a gift. Matt relaxed on the blanket staring at the sky after having dozed off for a little while. His hand had found his cell phone again and was playing with it on its own. Right now, things were perfect.

Matt started getting lost in the vast blue sea over their heads and the sounds of his friends. But then, he noticed a different sound in the distance. It was getting louder fast and appeared to be coming closer. It was coming from the sun's general direction and he squinted as he looked for what was causing the noise. Matt spotted the source of the sound and followed it along, despite his vision being affected by the brightness. It flew in front of the sun and a shadow went past the group before they took notice.

"Is that what I think it is?"

Chapter 4

It circled around a few times as it got closer to the ground. The flapping of its large leathery wings almost mimicked the sound and rhythm of a beating heart. It finally landed with a pair of thunderous booms as its heavy hind legs and lower body hit the ground followed by its front claws. A large cloud of dust kicked up, causing the group to cough violently and shield their eyes. Once the dust finally settled, they got a better look at the surprise guest. It folded its wings back into its body and it glared at the girls.

Matt was the first to react. "Whoa." His eyes lit up with a mixture of disbelief and awe. A small, subtle grin crept onto his face as he let out a brief, almost unintelligible giggle. There was a real, fully grown, red-scaled dragon and several rather large pink spines sprouting from its neck sitting five feet in front of him. Matt's looked over every inch of the dragon's form repeatedly. The others didn't share his amazement. Spike ducked behind Twilight and shook like a leaf. Fluttershy turned around and ducked her head under her hooves, leaving her backside clearly visible anyway. Shock was all over the faces of the rest.

"I thought it was you," it snarled to the ponies. "Miss me?"

"You know him?" Matt asked.

"He was sleeping in a cave up in the mountains over there some time ago," Twilight said and pointed to the northwest. Even though it was still a distance away, the hole in the side of the mountain could clearly be seen. "His snores were causing a lot of smoke to spill out and cover Ponyville. We were able to convince him... well, Fluttershy was... to leave so the town wouldn't be blacked out." The yellow pegasus shook even harder at the mention of her name.

"I've learned to control that, and now I can sleep wherever I want. And what I want is to sleep in my old cave," he leaned in and squinted hard at them. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"N-n-n-no," a quivering Fluttershy squeaked from under the blanket.

The dragon turned and looked at Matt inquisitively. "And what is this tasty looking little thing? You don't seem to be afraid of me." He grinned widely at the human and exposed his fangs a foot from his face. Matt had seen enough dragons in Skyrim, World of Warcraft, and other video games back home, so seeing an actual one, while still a touch unnerving, wasn't horrifying to him. Matt looked up from its claws and received a blast of air from the dragon's nostrils for his trouble, knocking him to the ground. The phone fell from his hand and onto the blanket. The dragon noticed the phone from the corner of his eye when it hit the ground and stared at its strange form.

"What is that?" his curiosity having been piqued.

Matt picked up the cell and stood back up. He saw the dragon staring at it rather intently, as if he wanted to get his claws on it. "This? Oh...this is...it was a gift. From...Princess Celestia. She oversees Equestria here."

If I get through this, I deserve a Goddamn Oscar, he thought to himself.

"I arrived a few days ago as an ambassador to my people. We were looking to open some new trade routes and my leaders asked me to search for new societies who we could speak with," Matt lied through his teeth.

"No, you're not, silly! You crashed through the roof of m-RMFF!" Pinkie started to blab before Rainbow stuffed a hoof in her mouth and told her to be quiet with her eyes. She let the pink pony go after it was clear that she got the hint.

"You dress strangely for an ambassador," the dragon retaliated.

"Even an ambassador can enjoy a day off from time to time," Matt said with a grin. "Anyway, I met with the Princess, and things went very well. As a sign of good faith in me and my people, she gave me this. It'sss...oh, how did she put it?" He paused to think of a good line. "'One of their rarest and most treasured historical relics'. It belonged to...Swirlstar, was it?"

"Starswirl the Bearded," Twilight corrected. The unicorn had talked a lot about him while Matt was stuck in the library, and his name came up often when he read about magic.

"That's it, thanks. Starswirl the Bearded. Celestia told me how this device was used a long, long time ago by this pony to help him create many of the spells he did. After he died, the knowledge of how this worked died with him." He laid it on thicker as he went while looking as sincere as possible. The dragon seemed to be convinced so far and fortunately was no less intrigued.

Matt continued, smiling sheepishly as he went, hoping the dragon would buy the ridiculous story. "As an ambassador, it's my job to negotiate with others. Even though this was a royal gift, it's now mine to do with what I want. I'd like for you to have it as a gesture of good faith. In return, I ask that you not harm any of us here or their home of Ponyville. Considering how unique this relic is, I'm hoping you see it as a reasonable trade?"

The lizard angrily stared him down. "What's to stop me from just killing you all and taking it anyway?"

Matt frowned disappointingly at the large reptile. "Listen friend," he calmly said, laying a hand on one of the dragon's massive claws, "if what these ponies here said was true – that they were able to convince a strong drake like yourself to find a better place to stay – to me, that says you're reasonable and thus intelligent. You were able to see their point and agreed to help them out." The dragon perked up suspiciously at his flattery. "I honestly don't know a lot about dragon culture. There's not much about it in the libraries where I come from. Do you have, say, a supreme leader? An oldest and wisest dragon that you all answer to, something like that?"

"No."

"Well, here's the thing. After our arrangement, Celestia put a spell on me that would alert her if there was something happened to me. While I'm here, I'm under her royal protection and all that. Part of being an ambassador, I've heard it a thousand times." Matt's earnest appearance changed to a look of concern and he continued his magnificent tale. "Celestia showed me their training grounds as part of the tour of the castle. I've seen her armies. They're...surprisingly strong, and pretty numerous. You are a lot bigger than them, but they were really well organized."

The dragon growled at Matt. "Is that a threat?"

"No, not at all. All I'm suggesting is that, if things were to go that way, I'm not entirely sure it could end well for you any way you look at it. Let's say there's a big fight and you beat them. If that got around to other dragons, they may see you as weak for defeating 'just a bunch of ponies', and I can imagine how important looking strong and tough is to you. I don't think I need to explain how they'd see you if you lost."

The drake listened closely to Matt's notions. He thought about what happened the last time he encountered the girls and looked at the still-cowering yellow one. He considered himself lucky as can be that no other dragons were around to see him break down crying last time.

"There's something else you need to know, dragon," Matt said. "It'd be a certainty that Celestia would send word to my people what happened to me. Attacking an ambassador, according to their standards, is an act of war. Our most powerful weapon? It can completely destroy a city with millions of people...ponies, whatever...in a matter of minutes." It was the first true thing he said and he hoped that the dragon would believe it. It was still buying everything that was said, after all. "I saw them test a few of them in some empty areas to see what would happen. The size of the area that was damaged or destroyed was...pretty astounding." He looked at the ground with a strangely guilty look.

"That's ridiculous. There's no weapon that's that powerful," the dragon growled.

"I know it sounds crazy, but it's completely true. My people are...innovative, to say the least."

"Why would anyone make something like that?"

Matt shrugged and said bluntly, "To defend ourselves." There had been a hint of honesty in the last few things he said to the dragon, and the ponies could hear it in their friend's voice and see it on his face. The expression he made almost suggested a familiarity with this weapon he mentioned. After being told of some of the amazing and seemingly impossible things that his world had when he first arrived in Equestria, was it that much of a stretch to believe that they really did have a weapon that could destroy a whole city? They shared concerned looks between each other, hoping this outlandish tale was enough to make the dragon go away.

"But, back to my original question, dragon. Would you accept this royal gift I received from the Princess if you agreed to what I said earlier?" Matt humbly asked.

It thought deeply for a moment as it looked at the morsel and back at the phone. "On two conditions."

"What are they?"

"First, I won't harm you, your friends or their precious town if you agree to leave me alone."

"Agreed. And the second condition?"

"I want that as well as your relic," he said as he pointed to the sapphire on Rarity's hat.

She raised her voice at the dragon, "Now, see here! My possessions are not to be made into bargaining chips and if you think–"

"Done."

Rarity nearly spat her disapproval. "But, this is one of my most beautiful creations ever! It'll ru-RRM!" The other four not still hiding under a picnic blanket jammed their hooves into her mouth. Rarity could do nothing more than growl at them as her face turned red.

Matt walked up to her and looked apologetically in her blue eyes. Her friends continued to keep her silent, but when Matt took the hat off her head to remove the sapphire as part of the agreement, her anger turned to sadness and she began to tear up. He separated the gem from its setting and dusted off any leftover residue before replacing the hat. He turned back to the dragon, who had his claw waiting for the two newest additions to his hoard. It closed its claw once Matt placed the phone and sapphire in it.

"There you are. It looks as if our business is finished, dragon. I wish you well," Matt said, bowing like a real dignitary, still playing the role for the beast. The dragon nodded back and opened his wings. With a single flap, he took to the sky and headed back to his cave. Another cloud of dust flew up from the ground as it did when he first showed up, and within a few minutes, he could be seen to return to his domicile.

They waited until the dragon had disappeared into his home completely before they released Rarity. She removed her hat and gazed at the now-empty socket where her amazing sapphire had been just a few minutes ago. Her lips quivered and tears started to run down her cheeks. She turned on the waterworks and magically dragged a couch out of seemingly nowhere for her to collapse on dramatically.

"I-i-i-is he gone?" Fluttershy stammered.

"Yeah, he's gone," Rainbow assured her. She came out of hiding relieved that the coast was clear. "Dude! That was amazing! One of the most incredible things I've ever seen!" she yelled as she flew around Matt overjoyed. Aside from Rarity, who was still in grief over her hat, and Fluttershy, who hadn't witnessed what happened, the rest of the girls and Spike lavished their praise on him as well.

Matt hadn't stopped staring at the cave since the drake vanished completely from sight. He laid his hand onto the outside of his pocket and tried to grab a phone that was no longer there. He clenched his fist so tightly that his fingernails dug into his skin and caused them to bleed a little. He grit his teeth so hard, it almost felt like he was going to break them. He lowered his gaze and a look of unbridled rage slowly twitched its way onto his face. He turned bright red and his head shook in response to his rising anger, slightly at first but it quickly intensified.

The congratulatory words were cut short when they saw what he was doing. Twilight asked nervously, "Uh...Matt? Are you okay?"

'It couldn't be any different here, could it?', he thought to himself.

Rarity finally stopped bawling long enough to snap at Matt. "Couldn't you have found something else to give him? You didn't even try and discuss it with me! You just...took it!"

Just one day.

Applejack lashed out at the unicorn. "Now hold on there, Missy. He just made sure Ponyville ain't never gonna be hurt by that big lizard. Are ya really so concerned about some confangled rock that you'd be willin' to put the whole town at risk?"

Is that too much to ask?!

"Girls! Relax!" Twilight shouted.

One. Fucking. DAY.

"I'm not saying I'm not appreciative of that, Applejack!" Rarity retorted. "It's just that I worked so hard on this beautiful piece that for it to be ruined after less than a day makes it feel like an utter waste!"

"Nnngh, shut! UP!" They all shot a flabbergasted look towards Matt. He stomped over to Rarity with a fire in his eyes and hunched over nose to nose with her. "Will you stop it? You'll find another Goddamn gem! It's what you're good at, right?" he screamed at her and poked her cutie mark. "Are you gonna find a new phone for me too?"

"Um, please stop yelling," Fluttershy mumbled.

"What are you worrying about the phone for?" Rainbow asked. "You couldn't use it here anyway."

He stood up and continued to scream. "I came here with three things: the clothes on my back, my wallet, and my phone. It doesn't matter that it wasn't going to work here. It was still mine! Those things are all I had left of my home, which I'll probably never get back to, and now one of those things is gone!"

Twilight tried to relax him. "But what about your memories, Matt? You'll always have those."

"It's not the same." He had gotten most of the anger out by now, but his scowl still lingered. He sighed heavily and took a few steps back towards Ponyville. "Sorry. Just...just stay here and finish up your picnic. Somebody here should have a decent day. At least it will be once I'm not around. I'm going back to the library."

"Matt, wait!"

"I can't be seen. I know, I know..."

Applejack put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Let him go, sugarcube. He needs to blow off some steam. He can handle himself. He's a big boy."

"What was that all about?" Pinkie asked. Unfortunately, nopony had an answer.

Matt had gotten back to the library at around 4:15. He didn't make any effort to duck behind trees or hide in the bushes. His gaze rarely left the ground in front of him as he went back home. Nopony had seen him on the way. His resentment was still evident by the sneer on his face, and the only things that went through his mind were having his phone back and knocking the dragon's giant teeth down his throat if he had fists large enough.

He hunched over as he walked in the door and slammed it behind him. He headed towards the basement staircase and punched a bookshelf with the side of his fist. It didn't quite land on the meaty party of his hand and his little finger took the brunt of it. The sudden unwanted pain aggravated him further, but he took a deep breath, rubbed his hand and refrained from losing control again.

He stomped his way downstairs and tossed his shoes off. He flopped onto the bed and stared at the roof of the basement. Maybe five minutes passed, maybe five hours. It didn't matter at the time. He rolled onto his side and tried to relax. He eventually drifted off to sleep.

The girls had started packing up the picnic not more than ten minutes after Matt stormed off. They took their time getting back the town as they didn't want to inadvertently catch up with him and potentially bother him. Not much was said on the way back. What could be? Their friend had suddenly flown way off the handle over what sounded like an insignificant reason to them. They couldn't figure how a piece of metal and plastic could mean that much to him when he had been enjoying a beautiful day laughing and playing ten minutes earlier.

Twilight didn't believe that his phone was really the reason behind his outburst, but she couldn't really place what it could be. It bothered her the entire walk back to the library. Why did he think that if he wasn't around, they'd be better off? She wanted to ask him when she saw him next but knew he'd never tell her what he meant.

They arrived at the library about a half hour after Matt did. Twilight apologized for what happened, but they assured her it wasn't hers or anybody else's fault. Rainbow Dash blamed the dragon for showing his ugly head. Things were great until then! They said their farewells for the day and headed back to their respective homes. Twilight suddenly got an idea before she went inside.

"Spike, head on in. I'll be there shortly. If you see Matt, give him some space unless he says otherwise, okay?" He agreed and went inside to lay in his bed. "Applejack!"

The farm pony hadn't gone far and turned back to see what Twilight wanted. "What's goin' on, Twilight?"

"Listen.. I don't know if this is a good idea, but hear me out."

"What's up?"

"Well.. we all agreed that Matt get outside, stretch his legs, all that. Did he seem okay to you before...y'know?"

"He seemed fine to me, hon. Though, Ah gotta say Ah know what ya meant now when ya said he could be kinda scary."

"I was wondering...would you be averse to having another set of hooves...err, hands, whatever...helping around the farm a couple times a week?" Twilight proposed. "He'd be getting some fresh air and Sweet Apple Acres is so big that no one would see him. He may feel better with some more hooves-on work too. I kinda suspect it's gotten dull around here for him. It's just that he looked so thrilled to be outdoors before everything went nuts, I was hoping maybe you'd be alright with having Matt at your place during the day some days. And no, I'm not looking to throw him out of here or anything."

Applejack put a hoof to her chin and considered the idea. "Well...we could always use the help on the farm, and Ah could introduce 'im to the family. Would give 'im some more ponies to talk to. Tell ya what, Ah'll pass the idea along and let ya know what they say tomorrow. But Ah'll warn ya now. Ah know he's our friend, and Ah can handle it, but if he does what he did earlier to any o' mah kin, Ah'll buck his head clean off." She hadn't been more honest with anything in a while with that sentiment.

"I understand, A.J, and thanks. I'll go ask him if he's interested. I'll let you know what he says when I see you tomorrow. I don't want to just throw him into a new situation without his permission," Twilight said. "However, even if both parties are okay with the idea, I think Matt could use a few days to get whatever it is out of his system." Applejack nodded in agreement.

"Ah best get goin', Twilight. I'll see ya tomorrow."

"Later, A.J."

Twilight headed in for the day and went straight for the basement. She knew Matt would be down there, probably laying in bed. When things were quiet in the library and no chores needed to be done, if he wasn't sitting in a corner somewhere, she'd find him downstairs.

He hadn't been laying there long. His back faced towards the center of the room, so he didn't see Twilight coming. The clopping of hooves down the staircase, however, gave her away. He had next to no energy after his screaming session earlier and felt like he could sleep for a week. Getting up and turning around seemed more of a chore right now than anything he did when he was filing books.

He opened his eyes and cocked his head a little. "Hey."

She sat down beside his bed looking morose. "Hey. How are you doing?" He simply shrugged. "Listen...I don't know what happened earlier today. I'm not going to try and force you to tell me what's wrong. But, I want you to know you have friends here, and we'll always be here for you," Twilight said as she placed a hoof on his shoulder. Matt didn't stop staring at the wall. "I talked to Applejack before I came in. She's going to ask her family if they'd be alright with you doing some work on the farm a few days a week."

"Kicking me out, huh?"

The idea stung her. "No, Matt. I saw how happy you were at the picnic before the dragon showed up. I was thinking that maybe working at Sweet Apple Acres could be good for you. You'd get to be outdoors all day, working with your hoov...uh, hands...I can imagine you've gotten pretty bored around here. You don't have to make a decision right now. Applejack's going to let me know what they say tomorrow at some point."

She removed her hoof and started heading back up the stairs. "I'll leave you be tonight. If we don't see you later this evening, then sleep well, okay?" She turned out the light and closed the door behind her.

Matt returned to staring at the wall despite the darkness. He gave thought to Twilight's idea for a few minutes before he went back to sleep.

Chapter 5

Twilight, Spike and Matt sat quietly at the breakfast table. Matt was thinking hard about the offer Twilight made him last night while the others discussed what today's plans were. Maybe she was onto something. He couldn't deny that the first half of yesterday's outdoor activity was great. If only that overgrown flying handbag hadn't shown up he wouldn't have cared if he spent another month inside doing little. He always reasoned that if you get too much of a good thing, you get spoiled by it. Even Pinkie Pie couldn't throw a party every day if she wanted, right? Though Pinkie was...unique to say the least.

There was a knock at the door. Twilight got up to answer it and welcomed Applejack inside. It was near eight in the morning, but the farm pony was used to getting up earlier than most. The unicorn wasn't typically greeted with guests until closer to lunch. "Morning, Applejack! Didn't expect to see you so early today," Twilight warmly greeted her.

"Mornin', everypony. Ah'm sure y'all know why Ah'm here." She was as to the point as ever, as was her nature. Twilight and Matt nodded, and Spike continued eating his gem stash. "Ah spoke to the family last night and they decided that they'd give ya a shot, Matt. Ah told Twilight this last night, but Ah'm gonna tell you too. If ya wanna come help, that's fine. But you will not do to my family what ya did yesterday," she growled, pointing a stern hoof at him. "If ya do, Ah'll send ya back to your world personally. Ah make myself clear?"

Matt looked away embarrassed. He didn't need to be reminded of his insane behavior so soon. He nodded at Applejack and sighed. "I'm sorry about what happened. Not something I usually say to...well, wasn't something I usually said back home, I mean...but I've never been unable to man up and admit when I screwed up."

Spike took a moment between gems and asked, "What was that all about anyway?" Twilight and Applejack had wanted to ask this too, but the little dragon beat them to it.

"Ever have one of those days," –he smiled wide and held his fists up to his head, clenching them like a squealing fanboy– "and had it turn into one of those days?" and then dropped his arms and looked annoyed.

"Well, sure, who hasn't?" Twilight said. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Every single time?"

"Come on, you have to be exaggerating, Matt."

He gave the floor a defeated glance and shook his head. "I haven't had too many days like that, at least ones that I can remember. My older brother had a daughter. We threw a party at his place when he and his wife brought her home. Sounds like a great day, right?" He mocked his ecstatic expression from before. "Well, my car had been stolen right out of the driveway when it was time to head home. Never found it.

"I remember years before that, day one of my first job. Was working in a little fast food joint. It's going fairly well but then, that afternoon, some scumbag shows up waving a gun in my face. 'Welcome to the working world, Matt! Now give me your money or I'll blow your head off!'" He made the shape of a gun with his fingers and put it to his temple. "There are other examples but those two I'll remember till the day I die."

The ponies listened to his tale but weren't convinced. Matt never told them what a gun was that very first night but based on what he just said and what he did with his hand, they had a good enough idea. "Ya can't honestly tell me you've never had a single good day from start to finish in yer life," Applejack retorted.

"I don't believe that either. Yeah, that was terrible luck with those two things, but that's just it. Two things. You really don't remember any good experiences?"

"Experiences, sure. Seeing your favorite band is a good experience, but you expect to have fun cuz you like them so much. Plus you can see them again if you want to," Matt explained. "I'm talking important things. That day was important to me because it was the first time I was allowed to do something other than stare at the walls since I came here. It made me feel alive again, with a capital A. I don't know if that makes any sense to you. I started thinking when you told me we were going to go out that maybe things would be different here, starting from scratch and all. Guess not."

"I still don't think that's any reason to get as bent out of shape as you did," Twilight stated.

All he could do was shrug. "After twenty-seven years of the same thing over and over again, it starts to get to you. Whenever I do start to have a good day, I start to worry. I'm always right, too. Maybe I should have taken the hint when I got that pain in my chest."

"Matt, stop. Come on, what did I tell you last night?" the lavender mare said with a smile. He didn't respond but knew what she was referring to. Most people back home didn't have this much patience for him when he'd lose control, and he didn't have much of his own to begin with. He'd been in this new place maybe a month and these colorful talking ponies and kid dragon have been better friends to him, a completely foreign being, than some of the people he knew back home for half his life. He was sure there was a logical reason why, but he'd be damned if he could figure it out. "By the way, have you made your decision about helping around the farm?"

He let the idea swim around his head a few minutes ago before Applejack arrived. He gave it one last moment of thought and spoke up, "Sure, why not? Couldn't hurt to give it a try, and I promise I'll be civil with your folks. When I make a promise, I keep it."

"Let's hope ya do, shug. But that's great to hear. When'd ya wanna get started?"

It was a Saturday that day. A couple days would be nice to clear his mind and prepare for what would likely be the first of many rough days work. The first would probably feel like several days wrapped into one. While he wasn't afraid of working hard, he didn't remember the last time he really had to. Most things he was used to were done by computers back home. "Monday would probably be best. How's Monday, Wednesday and Friday sound as far as a work week goes?"

"Sounds good. Tell ya what, too. Monday, Ah'll introduce ya to the family. Can get to know 'em a bit before we get started. Give ya a light first day. Somethin' tells me ya probably hadn't put yer back into much back where yer from," she said as she nudged his small but noticeable belly. He was a fairly big man, but he wasn't exactly muscular either. Maybe he can sweat off some of the excess flab?

"How are we going to get him there? The easiest way is through town, but...y'know."

"Ah'll get up a little earlier than normal and bring that one large cart we got in the barn and lug him over. Just have to toss a sheet over him or somethin'. Ah'll drop him off the same way." Twilight smiled and nodded at her orange friend. "Welp, Ah'm gonna head back. Gotta let the family know and get started on the day. See ya Monday morning, Matt!" They waved their goodbyes and Applejack trotted back home.

Monday morning arrived before anyone knew it. The knock at the door rang it in earlier than expected. Twilight and Spike opened their eyes and looked out the window to see the stars still out and the moon low in the sky. Luna was almost ready to retire the night but there still wasn't any sign of the suns rays creeping out from behind anything in preparation for Celestia's morning routine. Twilight rubbed the sand from her eyes while Spike groaned and flopped back down into his bed. The unicorn hobbled down the stairs and opened the door.

Applejack was as bright eyed as the day would be at high noon with a smile that beamed just as brightly. "Mornin' Twilight!"

Twilight's looked at the clock, her eyes half open. "I didn't know there was a 4:30 in the morning," she joked and welcomed her friend in. "Matt's probably still sleeping. I'll go get him. Can I get you anything? Something to eat, drink?"

"Thank ya kindly shug, but Ah ate before Ah left."

Applejack made herself comfortable in the lobby while Twilight headed to the basement. Matt was facing the wall like he was when she last saw him. He had slept in a set of his clothes to cut down on the prep time that morning. If Applejack was anything like the farmers he met through friends or family back home, she was going to want him ready to go as quick as possible. The work never seemed to end in the country and every waking hour seemed to be devoted to doing said work. He figured he could get a few extra winks of shut-eye on the cart ride back to Sweet Apple Acres anyway.

Twilight removed the blanket with her magic and poked at his shoulder. "Rise and shine, Matt. Applejack's here for you," she said with a yawn.

He groaned and grunted as he woke from his slumber. He rolled over and saw Twilight about to collapse back to sleep herself. "What time is it?"

"4:30."

He sat up with a deep breath and rubbed his face. He went to bed early last night as he expected his morning to start at some ungodly hour, but it was rough trying to get up anyway. He was used to getting his day started at about 7 or 7:30. Twilight headed up the stairs a few paces in front of him. With his shoes and socks now on, he followed along and greeted Applejack waiting patiently for him. "Ah, yer dressed already. That was mighty quick."

"Slept in them. Mind if I brush my teeth real fast?"

"Sure, just hurry on up. We still got a lot of things to do today."

He nodded and headed upstairs. A few minutes later, he returned. He had splashed some water on his face and it helped a little, but he was still a bit sluggish.

"I'm going back to bed. Good luck out there, Matt," Twilight said with a tired smile. He smiled and lazily saluted as she returned to her bed, promptly hitting the pillow face first.

The cart was waiting outside for them. Applejack glanced around and saw the town still asleep. She motioned him outside and he curled up onto the cart, throwing the waiting sheet over himself. The two did a quick check to make sure no part of his body was sticking out accidentally. Once they were sure he was covered, she headed to the front of the cart and hooked herself up to it.

"Are you sure I won't be too heavy to pull?" he whispered.

"Honey, Ah've lugged this cart around full to the brim with baskets of apples that weighed more than you. Ah'll be fine," she responded. She kept a watchful eye out as she headed towards the road that would take her straight to the farm. Everypony was still asleep as she expected.

Once Applejack had reached the road, the chattering began. Matt had closed his eyes under the sheet while they were still trotting through Ponyville, but upon reaching the empty road back to the farm, Applejack's talk of what they were going to do that day kept his brain from turning off. It was just as well. If he managed to fall completely back to sleep, he was probably going to need a good buck to the gut to get him up. That would have probably made Applejack instantly reconsider their arrangement.

The sun had started twinkling behind the skyline in the distance by the time they arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. "Looks like Celestia's gettin' ready to do her thing," Applejack commented. "The mornin's out here, Matt...they're so peaceful, and the smell of the dew on the grass.. Ah dunno how well you'll take to bein' out here, but Ah wouldn't trade it for anything."

They played it safe and kept Matt hidden until she reached home. They weren't likely to bump into another pony on this road, but she didn't want to chance it today. Maybe later on in the week or possibly next week she'd let him hop out and he could walk the rest of the way and get his body stretched out before they got things started. Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the gate that opened to the farm.

"Hey everypony, we're here!" She trotted into the living room with Matt having to hunch over to get in the door. Just like at the library, the ceilings were fortunately high enough so that he could stand up straight. The rest of the Apple family was already up and raring to go with their daily routines. She introduced him to Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, Apple Bloom and Winona, and they warmly greeted him they way they did with all their guests. It was clear where Applejack got her charm from.

"Whee doggy, he's a mighty big feller there," the elderly pony said.

"Eeyup."

Apple Bloom was instantly taken by Matt. Applejack had mentioned to her folks that he was going to be coming to help over the past weekend. Her big sister described his appearance as best she could. Upon hearing of a tall, bipedal thing called a human who came from some other world, Apple Bloom's youthful curiosity came to the surface, and she had a million questions ready to ask him when he arrived. Seeing him in person made her eyes grow as big as her smile. Ah, the naivete of children, he thought as he clearly noticed her wondrous stare.

They sat down and Matt prepared himself for whatever questions he expected they had for him. Winona had curled up next to him like she'd known him for years. Big Macintosh, or Big Mac as he was used to being called, didn't say much other than an occasional 'eeyup' and 'nnnope' whenever Matt asked him something. He joked how the first place he worked at had a type of sandwich named a Big Mac but assured them ponies didn't go into making it. Granny Smith would usually ramble on about something that she did when she was young and forget what her point was a few minutes later. It was almost endearing if not a bit silly.

Apple Bloom had the most to say though. She fired off one question after the other and Matt did his best to answer what he could. He made it a point not to mention anything that may upset them as per his promise to Applejack. He was trying to make a good impression and didn't want to blow it by mentioning some of the atrocities humanity committed in its history when he was asked, so he played dumb, saying that he just wasn't around and simply didn't know the answer. Matt noticed her lack of cutie mark and the filly told him about her friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo and the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their adventures.

It had started getting later into the morning than Applejack would have liked. She cut Apple Bloom off, who was upset that she hadn't finished her barrage of questions, and led Matt to the pastures with Big Mac behind them. She started Matt off with something simple: Apple picking. They got the ladder out of the barn and she showed him where she wanted to make his rounds, and where to bring the baskets once they were full. He saw how fast the Apple clan could clear the trees and he felt extremely inadequate, even moving as fast as he could despite his fatigue. They spoke after the day was done and she told him not to worry and that she was just happy to have a friend over helping. He still felt he should be able to pull his weight better.

The works days afterwards came and went as they routinely did. It was a Wednesday, a few weeks after their agreement began. He was getting better at his designated tasks, despite what he felt were limitations. He had assisted in feeding the livestock today, which freaked him out the first time. He hadn't been aware the cows talked here. He wondered if the ones he ate back home did the same when no one was looking for a moment but laughed when he remembered they didn't exactly have vocal chords.

"Hah! As long as ya don't start eatin' them here too!" Applejack joked when he told her of the bovine back home. He thought against it at first, but he knew he told them about eating meat shortly after he first arrived. The girls were a little disturbed but got over it quickly enough. He assumed that they understood that some things out there eat meat and that's just the way it was.

"May be a good way to keep them in line if they start getting uppity about something," he said with a wink. They shared a laugh and went back to their chores. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot to ask you. Twilight told me yesterday that Rarity stopped by Monday looking for Spike to help her out with some things this Thursday – tomorrow – but Celestia needed him in Canterlot for a couple days.

"She said she was busy but suggested I go over there and help her with whatever it is she needed. Said it'd get me out and about some more. Rarity didn't sound too happy with the idea." Matt paused, looking glum. "I really haven't had a chance to apologize. Haven't seen much of her since that one day. I figure she's avoiding me."

"What's yer question, shug?"

"I passed the idea to Twilight and she seemed okay with it. You think I'd be able to crash here tonight? I figured that it'd be easier for me to sneak around the outskirts from here to her place rather than trying to go straight through town."

Applejack perked up at the suggestion. "Ah don't see why it'd be a problem. Ah'm sure Apple Bloom would love to have ya over. She can't stop asking about ya when you're not here."

"She reminds me of my niece. Just as cute too. Have you been giving her lessons or something?" he said with a chuckle.

"Oh, listen to you with yer silver tongue!" Applejack's cheeks flushed a little as they got back to their work.

Most of the evening after the chores were done and dinner had been eaten involved family time together. Playing games, telling stories, playing with Winona...stuff that Matt could picture in old-timey 1950's PSAs, or at least what they tried to pass the fifties off as. Still, there was something innocent and heartwarming about it. Apple Bloom spent most of her time with Matt, talking about her day and listening to him tell her more about his home. He could probably tell her things until the end of time and she would never get bored with it.

However, it was starting to get late. Matt said his goodnights and began heading out to the barn. Before he could get outside though, Applejack went upstairs and brought him a spare pillow and couple of blankets. It could get pretty cold out there some evenings. He thanked her and left the house. A few moments after he closed the door, Apple Bloom snuck up to her big sister.

"Applejack, can Ah go hang out with Matt some more, just in case he can't fall asleep right away?"

She was about to tell the filly to get ready for bed, but the pouting lips sealed the deal. "Alright, but don't stay out too late. Ya still gotta go to school tomorrow."

"Thanks, sis!" In the blink of an eye, she was out the door.

Matt heard little galloping hooves heading his way and spotted Apple Bloom coming up behind him. "Hey, squirt. Shouldn't you be getting ready for bed?" He was hoping to get to sleep soon himself. Working at the farm had helped remind him how out of shape he really was and even though it had already been a few weeks, his body still ached a bit. It was a good ache though instead of what his bones went through when he first showed up.

"Applejack let me stay up a little longer with ya!"

She sat outside and waited as he put together a make-shift mattress out of hay and laid the pillow down. He stepped outside once he was done and they sat up against the side of the barn. The sky looked absolutely beautiful. The stars littered the sky much more than they did in Ponyville, where they still had some lights lining the streets at this hour. It felt as if the moon lit up the darkness almost as much as the sun illuminated the day.

"Luna's outdone herself tonight," Apple Bloom hummed, breaking the ice.

"Haven't seen a night like this in a looong time," he agreed. The sounds of the night were like a lullaby Equestria was playing. They didn't say too much and just took in the atmosphere.

"Any idea what they're supposed to be going over in school tomorrow?" he asked, but no response came. He looked down and saw Apple Bloom had already fallen asleep next to him. He smiled the way he used to when his niece tuckered herself out on the couch and carried her into the barn, closing the door behind him quietly so as not to disturb the filly. He set her down next to his hay mattress and laid on his back. The blankets only came up to his mid chest, but it would be enough. It wasn't terribly cold out. He fell asleep almost immediately.

Applejack came out of the house a short time later looking for her little sister. It was getting to be lights out time. She headed off to the barn where she expected to find her and Matt chatting up a storm. She poked her head inside and beamed at what she saw. Matt was laying peacefully in his hay bed with Apple Bloom curled up against him, his arm resting gently on her side. She couldn't help but tear up a little. She quietly closed the door and made her way back to the house.

Chapter 6

The cool morning air stirred him from his sleep. The sunlight snuck in through the occasional crack between the wall panels that made up the side of the barn. Matt breathed in the scents the farm brought deeply and looked to his side. Apple Bloom was gone and was probably off to school. He didn't know what time it was, but based on the temperature inside it was probably still early. Despite having slept on a pile of hay, he was exceptionally well rested. He sat up, grabbed his pillow and blanket, and headed to the Apple household.

He found Granny Smith inside, muddling around with some indoor chores that she could manage. Even at her old age, she still wanted to contribute something other than her delicious meals. She took the items from Matt and informed him that Applejack and Big Mac had already started their chores around the orchard. He went outside and scouted for her as best he could, but the large number of trees scattered all over the groves made it impossible to spot her. He called for her and a few minutes later, she came trotting up to him.

"Mornin' Matt. Was just busy helpin' Big Mac till the fields for later. How'd ya sleep?"

"Good, actually. Who knew hay would make a better mattress than a mattress? Apple Bloom went off to school I'm assuming." She nodded. "Listen, Rarity doesn't need me until this afternoon. Was probably going to head over after lunch. Don't suppose you'd like an extra set of hands for a little while? Hopefully nothing that'll result in me sweating much. I'm sure we can imagine her reaction if I come in smelling of hard work," he joked.

Applejack couldn't help but chuckle. "Now, now, she works hard at what she does, and Ah'm sure at the end of a hard day she's breakin' a sweat too. Not that she'd ever admit it, of course. A lady doesn't sweat, y'know." She thought for a moment with a hoof to her chin. "Well, if ya don't wanna sweat too much, maybe Granny could use your help in the house. If ya can't really find much to do, s'ok, it is your day off after all."

"Sounds like a plan. See you at lunch?"

"You bet, partner!" She waved goodbye and went back to the fields.

Matt wandered around the house for the most part looking for something to do. He'd straighten out the occasional picture or wipe down a counter. They really didn't have any laundry since clothes were more of a novelty in Equestria. Granny had taken care of most of the stuff around the house already, so he played with Winona for a while in the living room. The old green pony came up and sat down on her chair beside Matt.

"Hey there, sonny. Havin' trouble findin' somethin' to do 'round here today, eh?" she said, trying to make some small talk.

"Yeah, just trying to kill some time before lunch. Gotta go see Rarity about some stuff at her shop afterward. Don't want to be working in the sun today. Rarity would probably pitch a fit if I came into the store all grimy." He shrugged. "Just feel kinda useless in here at the moment. Don't like that feeling."

"Yer keepin' me company. That ain't useless."

He have Granny a conceding nod. "I guess I just don't know if there's much point to me being here today since it's my day off. The chores'll get done all the same."

"Who says there has to be a point?"

Matt looked at her inquisitively. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly that. I can't believe ya haven't figured it out yet, and after how long? Big Mac 'n Applejack aren't worried about the chores when you're here. Same thing when you're at the library with Twilight Whuzzit. I'm willin' to bet that she has ya do things around the place too, right?" He nodded again.

"Mhm. Yeah, we have ta keep the apples comin' cuz we help feed Ponyville and all, so it's a bit more than a chore 'round here. But that's beside the point. T'aint what ya do or what ya don't do. Just the fact that you're there is what matters to 'em when you're out there in the fields. You know Apple Bloom stayed with ya the whole night?"

"Applejack didn't come get her?"

"She did, but she said she saw her curled all up next to ya and didn't have the heart to take her away. She knew Apple Bloom was happy there with ya, so she let 'er be. Seein' 'er happy is what mattered."

Matt hadn't heard Granny Smith be so direct and coherent in the weeks that he'd be coming over to do work on the farm. Usually, she went on and on about things that seemed to make sense to her alone. Maybe she was putting on an act the whole time and understood more than she was letting on. Maybe she was just having a moment that she'd forget a few minutes from now. Matt couldn't be sure.

He gazed out the window at the orchard in silence, dwelling on the last thing the old timer said before she broke the ice again.

"Tell me, sonny. What matters to you?"

He could only think of one answer. "'Why am I here?', I suppose."

"Aah, that one. Everypony always wants ta know that. Y'know what I've learned about the 'why' over the years?"

"What?"

"It's the one thing that don't matter. I bet yer brainy friend is always tryin' ta find an answer to why this or why that, and I'll bet for all the book learnin' she has she couldn't tell an outhouse from a corn fritter."

"I don't know about that. She always wants to know everything about a subject." Matt tried to make sense of her bizarre comparison, but he figured that was just Granny being herself again.

"I'd still bet she don't know as much as she thinks. I've seen enough things and dealt with enough ponies to know a thing or two about a thing or two. Take the zap apples we harvest."

"Zap apples?" Applejack never mentioned those funny sounding fruits to him before.

"They're a very special, mystical-like apple that comes 'round once a year, and you can tell when they're a-comin' from a whole buncha weird happenin's 'round the farm that we've come to spot over the years. We know what happens, how them apples show up, when they do and where in the fields. We don't question why. No point to."

"You're not curious at all?" he asked.

"Nope! All I know's we make a lot of bits when it's zap apple season, woooo-wee!" Her enthusiasm got a chuckle out of him. "Seriously though, honey. Asking why you're here is silly. You're already here. What difference does it make? Not everythin' needs an explanation."

"Then what should I worry about, Granny?"

"What's important to you that actually matters. What that is I can't answer. Somethin' you'll have ta be figurin' out for yourself."

Matt tried to think of an answer, but couldn't come up with anything. She was right though. He was the only one who could figure that out and he wasn't going to waste time thinking about it right now. The answer would probably hit him out of the blue when he least expects it. He couldn't count how many times he'd wake up in the middle of the night suddenly remembering the answer to something that bugged him half the day.

They sat in the living room the rest of the morning sharing stories of fond memories when Matt's stomach started voicing its anger. He tried to hide his embarrassment and apologized. Granny just laughed and smiled at him.

"Whaddaya say we head to the kitchen and start puttin' some fixin's together? Applejack and Big Mac should be in soon for lunch." Matt nodded and followed her inside.

Granny's recipes always left Matt and the others with a warm feeling in their bellies. Lunch was the usual happy gathering he had come to expect from the Apples. While it was typical for the family go over what things they had to do that afternoon, Applejack was to cart Matt over to Carousel Boutique. He secretly wondered if the high class unicorn was going to be receptive to him at all. He barely saw her since the day of the disastrous picnic thanks to his new work schedule and her seemingly deliberate avoidance when she'd stop by the library when he was around.

He walked alongside Applejack down the road to Ponyville discussing what Rarity may need with him at the shop. She was reluctant to the idea of being left alone with him for any extended time when Twilight suggested it, what with Spike being away until Saturday. However, she had said she desperately needed some help in finishing an important client's rather large order for Friday and was a bit behind despite her best efforts.

With the outskirts of town becoming visible, Matt hopped into the back of the cart they had been bringing him to the farm in. It wouldn't be too long a trot through the south side of town where the Boutique was. He heard the bustling of Town Square as they passed through. He wanted to throw the sheet off and see what all the fuss was about, but the girls still insisted that he remain as hidden as possible.

Rarity had placed a sign on the door that said 'Please knock before entering. Thank you!'. Applejack figured she had to be busy with this slight deterrent to customers placed on the entrance. Any other day, ponies could just walk in and look around for something. If Rarity was almost subtly suggesting to leave her be, she must be a wreck. The orange mare knocked and heard a voice sing 'Com-i-i-ing!" after several seconds. Rarity opened the door looking rather frazzled.

"Oh, hello Applejack," she said half-sincerely, despite her outwardly happy appearance. "Is...he here?"

She looked around and saw some ponies nearby walking around Town Hall. She nodded and arranged to meet out back where Rarity typically hung her laundry to dry. The coast seemed clear so far. The back door opened a moment or two after Applejack arrived, prompting her to give to cart a tap. Matt hopped out and snuck inside quickly. Applejack promised to be back late this afternoon to wheel him back to the library after she was done on the farm and headed back home.

Rarity led her temporary assistant inside, not making eye contact once. "Matt, I just want to tell you how much I appreciate the assistance today. Sometimes, Spike's, um...affections can get in the way a bit, even if he means well."

"No problem, and yeah, I've seen how he acts."

"You've noticed it too, huh?" There was a nervousness to her question. He hadn't seen how she reacted to him on her own until now. He let out a quick laugh and nodded.

"He's not the best at keeping secrets," he admitted. He cut himself short and sighed, "Listen, Rarity, I'm sorry about what happened at the picnic. You guys set the whole thing up for me as a gift and I go ballistic. Especially on you. I've been wanting to apologize for a while but I only ever see you at Twilight's occasionally and, well...you never seem to want me to go near you. Not that I can blame you." He looked away embarrassed. "I know how much pride you take in your work and I just wanted to get that thing away from us as quick as I could once he said he'd go away."

Rarity hung her head, still unable to look at him. "You're not the only one who feels they have to apologize."

"What do you mean?"

She sighed heavily, a part of her relieved that everything was coming to the surface. It had been weighing on her mind for a while now. "You were right, and I'm sorry too. I've wanted to say I was sorry for my... outburst...for a while. But, well, no one has ever screamed at me like that before. I was nervous that you'd still be angry with me that I didn't want to risk upsetting you again. I can see now that it was silly of me and I should have just said my piece from the beginning.

"What you did...it was the only choice you could make and I acted ridiculously. Your actions saved Ponyville and us. We likely wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." She finally dug up the nerve to face him and smiled. "Thank you, Matt."

He returned the expression and nodded. The moment of awkward silence was broken by the nervous mare. "O-oh yes, you were right about something else. I was able to find a replacement gem, and frankly, I think it looks even more amazing than before," she mentioned as she removed the hat from its display. It now had a perfect emerald in it. He had to admit he was impressed. She beamed happily at his compliment. "So, um...onto business then?"

"Heh, sure thing."

There were only a few times during the next few hours that a knock came to Rarity's door. When a customer did happen to show up, he headed upstairs until the coast was clear. Most of Matt's help came in the form of putting the clothes away, moving rolls of fabric around, or counting gems for various garments. They were unaware that he was about to become an even bigger help until the door slammed open with him still in the lobby at the time.

"Hey, Rarity!" a familiar squeaky voice yelled.

"Sweetie Belle! Did you not see the sign on the door? I've specifically asked that–"

"MATT!" the Crusaders screamed in unison. Apple Bloom rushed past her two friends and tackled his leg. "Ah didn't know you were comin' here today!"

"Hey girls! Yeah, Rarity needed a hand with some things." Matt had met the kids a few times when Apple Bloom would invite them over to the farm after school. He usually ended up heading home to the library a bit later than anticipated, but Twilight didn't mind once she had heard the reason for his tardiness. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had a similar litany of questions for Matt when they first met him as well. Just like Apple Bloom, they were fascinated by him instead of afraid.

"Oh, this is just terrible. I'm getting so close to finishing this order and they always cause such a ruckus when they're here. I won't be able to get this all done if I have to keep an eye on them too."

"Why doesn't Matt just keep an eye on us?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"And we won't cause a ruckus!" Scootaloo chimed in.

"We promise!" They put on their most convincing innocent faces.

"Girls, I can't ask Matt to do that. We still have quite a bit to do here. Please understand." Their spirits sunk as low as their heads.

"You think you'd be able to finish up if I kept them out of trouble?" Matt asked. The Crusaders' gasped together and shot their heads back up.

Rarity thought for a moment. "I suppose I could, but...are you sure about this? They won't be a problem?"

"Nah, we've hung out at the farm a few times. Nothing's blown up yet," he quipped.

"Well...alright." The fillies screamed a store-rattling 'YAY!' and bounced around their new sitter as Rarity tried to finish. "Just please be careful. You remember what a disaster the Boutique turned into last time?" The girls sprinted towards the stairs that led to Rarity's bedroom/inspiration room. "Thank you again, Matt. You really have no idea how much I appreciate this."

Matt chuckled to himself as he watched the fillies. Kids don't seem to be any different regardless of what world he was in. He nodded goodbye to Rarity and started heading to the staircase. His trip was cut suddenly short when a sharp burst of pain shot out of his chest. He clutched at his heart and fell to his knees, growling at the agony. His friends saw his condition and ran to his side to check on him, the Crusaders on the verge of panic.

"Matt, what's wrong?!"

"Are you okay?!"

Rarity saw this before. When she realized what it was, fear overtook her. It was the day the dragon crashed their picnic. The same pain in his chest, the same look on his face. For Matt, the biggest difference is that this time it lingered. It also hurt a lot more than before. It felt like his heart was trying to beat its way through his sternum. Then suddenly, like last time, it vanished. Whatever it was left him short of breath and remembering that day as well.

He gathered himself after a few minutes and stood up, appearing exceptionally irritated for a moment. "I'm okay. That was familiar." He looked down at the three fillies with their concerned eyes and smiled as reassuringly at them as he could, despite still looking clearly shaken up. "Come on, let's head upstairs. You can tell me about your day at school, we'll play some games, whatever works." He headed upstairs and the Crusaders exchanged a glance.

"It's alright, girls. Go have some fun," Rarity tried to say with a straight face. They slowly climbed the stairs and out of sight. The white unicorn worried what may happen if it turned into a repeat of that day. "Just focus on your work, Rarity. Things will be alright." Her little pep talk worked only so much.

Matt laid on his side on the floor in Rarity's inspiration room as the Crusaders tried to let some of their near boundless energy out with some ideas on what they could attempt later that day to earn their cutie marks. When the girls would hang out on Sweet Apple Acres with him, he usually tried to match their rambunctiousness with failed results. Today, he was deep in thought and the girls took note.

"What's wrong, Matt? You're usually so much more...fun," Scootaloo said.

He laid back and put his hands behind his head. He stared at the ceiling trying to follow the curves that shaped the place. "Sorry, girls. Just thinking about some things."

They plopped their forelegs onto his stomach and chest. Apple Bloom spoke up, "Is it about what happened earlier?"

He wanted to avoid talking about it with them, but something told him that the effort was going to be futile if he tried. "Yeah, sort of."

"Well, what is it?" Sweetie Belle demanded.

Matt groaned quietly, "For starters, the last time that pain thing happened, I sort of...yelled at your sister, Sweetie."

"Is that all? I want to yell at her all the time about stuff!"

"Why'd you yell at Rarity anyway?" the curious pegasus asked.

"Eh, I was in a bad place at the time. Stupid place. Was worried about something that ultimately didn't even matter that much. Took it out on her. But we're okay now, worked through some things," he explained to the trio. Knowing that his heartfelt apology was generously accepted changed the mood up a bit.

"Why were ya in a bad place?"

His slick grin widened. "I had to chase off a dragon."

"Whooooa..." Scootaloo jumped onto his chest. "How'd you do that?"

"With some clever words," he said with a wink.

Sweetie Belle bounced with excitement, "That's the most awesome thing I've ever heard!"

"Hey girls, maybe that's what we can be! Cutie Mark Crusader Dragon Chasers!"

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER DRAGON CHASERS! YAY!!!!"

They dove back into their plans with how they were going to get their marks. He was grateful they were so easily distracted. He didn't want to go into much more detail than he had.

A couple hours passed and the dragon chasing idea had been forgotten. About twenty new ideas came and went as they bounced around the room. Amazingly, they managed not to knock anything over. Rarity had trotted up the stairs unnoticed and saw Matt and the girls playing harmlessly in an undamaged room. The unicorn was astounded that she wouldn't have to clean up another of their messes, but she couldn't help but see how sweet the scene was.

"Oh, hey sis!"

"Hello, everypony. I'm finally finished with the order. Thank you again, Matt. Everypony having a good time?"

"Told you I could handle it, Rarity," he said triumphantly.

"That you did," she said with a giggle. She noticed how happy the Crusaders were hanging out and playing with Matt. "You seem to be really good with children."

"I guess I have my niece to thank for that."

Rarity wasn't sure if Matt would be willing to talk about what she wanted to ask next, but she took the gamble. "Did you...have a family of your own back home? You mentioned somepony...somebody special back there. I'm sorry if I'm prying."

"No, it's okay. I didn't. Maybe we would have if she wanted, I don't know."

She felt a tear form in her eye looking at how the fillies were beaming. "I can tell you would have been wonderful at it."

He looked at the Crusaders and lovingly rubbed Scootaloo's mane. The glow he had suddenly turned to confusion when he slowly lifted his head in the direction of the window. He shifted and rolled his eyes back and forth, his unease growing steadily as something caught his ear. The girls were puzzled at what he was doing. "What?" Apple Bloom finally asked.

"Sh-sh..." They were steady for a moment. "You hear that?"

They paused and looked around for any possible source of whatever Matt may have been hearing. They all shook their heads and continued searching. A faint, nearly inaudible rumbling noise whispered in the air, followed by another a few seconds later. Then another pair followed, slightly louder. The pattern repeated again and again. A pen sitting on Rarity's work station suddenly rolled on its own and fell onto the floor.

"What is that?" Matt asked.

They remained silent for a moment trying to decipher what the rumbling was.

"An earthquake?"

"Don't think so. It'd be a steady rumble. This almost sounds like it's...moving?" he observed.

They all went to the window facing west. "Sounds like it's comin' from over there," Apple Bloom pointed into the distance.

The room began shaking more and more with each rumble. Plus, the rumbles had gotten louder. The group leaned closer to the window and squinted to try and see the source. Being taller, Matt and Rarity spotted something far in the distance. It shifted back and forth. They stared at the unusual mass at a loss as to what they were looking at. Rarity suddenly recoiled in horror.

"We have to get out of here."

Chapter 7

Fluttershy was relaxing in her cottage when she felt the place shake. She felt it before the rest of the town since they were coming from the dreaded Everfree Forest right behind where she lived. Some of her trinkets started shifting towards the edges of their counter tops and fell to the floor, shattering to pieces. She shrank into herself and nervously stepped outside to look around for whatever it was that was causing the disturbance. Whatever it was, it sounded like it was toppling half the trees in the forest. She took to the sky to get a better view. When she finally saw what it was, she froze in terror and almost forgot to keep flapping her wings.

She ducked into her home and told her critter friends to run. They had all been shaking in fear as well, unsure of what was going on. An army of small animals sprinted out the door and scattered in random directions away from the rumbling. She raced into town as fast as she could towards the library. If anypony had any idea what that thing was, or what to do aside from run, it was going to be Twilight.

Applejack was back on the farm working on getting the apples off the trees for the harvest. She raised her legs up and bucked the tree she was standing by good and hard. When her hooves connected, she felt the first of the tremors. Most of the apples on the trees surrounding her fell to the ground.

"Jeez, I knew my buckin' was strong, but not like that."

Another shake of the ground felled the rest of the apples. The thunderous boom got her attention to the north. She knew Fluttershy's cottage was north of the farm, and beyond that and to the west was the Everfree Forest. She had been in there a few times but was fortunate enough not to run into anything that would want to make a meal out of her.

She ran back to the house and raced up the stairs. She found a window that faced the direction of whatever was causing the entire house to shake violently. She saw its shape rising over the tree lines, still rather deep into the woods. Her pupils shrank and her jaw fell open.

"Big Mac!" Applejack yelled as she galloped down the stairs. He was in the living room, having the same idea as his sister when the rumbling started: Get home. "Take Granny down to the cellar. I gotta go get Apple Bloom!" The filly asked if she could hang out with her friends after school today. Applejack galloped toward Carousel Boutique to check there first though she could be anywhere really. If the Crusaders were doing something today, maybe Sweetie Belle mentioned it to Rarity this morning too. If Rarity had any information, she needed to know.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders huddled together in fear by the window. Rarity and Matt stood over them staring at the behemoth waddling its way from the west. Even though the Boutique was nearly on the other side of town, its light purple back could be seen clear as day. The shop rhythmically shook as it appeared to inch closer on the horizon. Rarity's ears slumped and she was visibly shaking.

"If that's what I think it is, we have to go. Now. As far and as fast as we can," she barely managed to say.

The little ones ran down the stairs without a second thought. Rarity started to leave the room but didn't find Matt alongside her. He was still staring out the window. His disbelief gradually turned to frustration and anger.

No, not again, not again! Fucking...UGH! Should have known. TWO decent days in a row? May as well throw myself off a Goddamn bridge.

The unicorn went up to him cautiously. She saw his eye twitch and his teeth baring.

"Matt? Come on, we need to go, sweetie." He hung his head slightly, his unblinking eyes burning with a mixture of grief and hatred. She rested a hoof on his hip. "Matt, not like last time. Please?" A well-timed tremor shook him out of his stupor and he looked at the pouting pony. He took a mind-cleansing breath and nodded.

They descended the stairs and went into the lobby where the Crusaders were waiting for them. Matt took the lead and headed for the front door. Screams were starting to be heard from outside. The ponies doing their shopping had felt and heard whatever it was coming toward the town. Most of the earth ponies and unicorns out and about hadn't spotted the monster from ground level yet. The pegasi on the roads took to the air and saw it, sending most of them flying back terrified to Cloudsdale. Matt grabbed the doorknob and started to open it.

"Wait! What about not being seen?"

"Screw not being seen! We've got much bigger problems, literally!"

They reluctantly followed him outside, unsure of what to expect from the other ponies. Rarity's magic closed the door after they vacated the shop. Most of the mares and colts who hadn't retreated yet were either hiding behind various objects or clinging to each other for dear life. A loud shriek came from a crowd that gathered near Town Hall between the echo of approaching tremors.

"What is that?!" a random mare screamed as she pointed at Matt. Most of the others around the frightened pony took notice of Matt and shook even harder than they already were. It didn't help that they were caught in the middle of a panic when he was finally – inevitably – seen by someone other than who he already knew.

"Well, this could be going better. You said you knew what this thing was?" He stumbled as the ground shook again.

"I believe so. A couple years ago, some loudmouth magician named Trixie paraded into town saying she defeated an Ursa Major. Oof!" Another rumble came, tossing them around. "A couple of her idiot admirers dragged a baby into town thinking it was an adult so she could prove she was as powerful as she boasted," Rarity explained. "She wasn't."

"What's an Ursa Major?"

"Do they have bears back home?" He nodded. "They're like that. They're just...rather large."

Matt cocked an eyebrow and asked nervously, "How large?" Another quake hit.

"Well, err, the baby was...a bit bigger than a two-story house. On all fours."

His eyes widened and he looked towards the source. "And you think this is daddy coming." Rarity concurred with a whimper. "How'd you get rid of the baby?" Another shockwave rocked the area.

"Twilight used her magic to lull it so sleep and returned it to the Everfree Forest."

"How'd you know it was a baby anyway?"

"Twilight looked it up after Trixie bragged about vanquishing one. No one's ever vanquished an Ursa Major before." A final slam of the ground was felt, almost as if to drive home what Rarity said.

The massive, purple, translucent monster stood on its hind legs, finally through the forest from whence it came, dwarfing the buildings even from the other side of town. The Crusaders shrieked at the top of their lungs and grabbed onto Rarity and Matt's legs. It welcomed itself with a terrifying roar. Ponyville's attention was captured, and the denizens ran aimlessly through the town screaming. Rarity grabbed onto Sweetie Belle and Matt stared speechlessly. The Ursa fell back on its forelegs with all its weight and left a shallow crater in the ground. The impact shattered most of the windows and knocked everyone down. Even a few building structures collapsed because of the huge quake.

"Rarity! Matt!" a familiar voice shouted from above them.

"Rainbow Dash!"

"Is that what I think it is?" She swooped down and hovered beside them.

Rarity said, "I think so. We have to get out of here!"

"You said Twilight did some research on that thing, right?" Matt spoke up.

"Yes, why?" The Ursa began its walk again.

"Then she may know how to get rid of it or why it's here. Which way is her place?" he asked as he got up.

Rarity pointed to the west. "I always headed that way and turned right at Sugarcube Corner."

Matt took off running. Rainbow Dash flew ahead of him, cutting his escape off. "Are you crazy? You want us to go running towards it?" Matt dodged around the pegasus and kept going. "Ugh. I know I'm going to regret this. Wait up!"

Rarity stood there astonished that they just left her and the Crusaders alone. An impact brought her back to her senses. "As much as I don't want to go that way, it's probably not a bad idea to stay together. Come on, girls!" The fillies looked at each fearfully and followed Rarity despite wanting to run away.

Fluttershy was approaching her destination when she saw Twilight standing on one of the porches of the library, her mouth open wide in shock as the last row of trees were knocked down by the Ursa. She felt the tremors early as well, being on the side of Ponyville closest to the Everfree Forest aside from the timid pegasus. "Twilight! What's going on? What is that thing?!" A quake shook the library.

The unicorn saw the shaggy, almost glowing, purple back coming closer overtop the trees. "I-I think it's a...an Ursa Major." Twilight's previous research was severely limited when Trixie had shown up in the past. She had been interrupted to deal with the cub at the time. After the incident, she returned to her studies and found very little on the subject matter. She didn't find this terribly surprising since the Ursas were enormous and most ponies wouldn't want to go near them for all the bits in Equestria.

"What's that?" Fluttershy followed Twilight as she ran back into her study.

"It's a gigantic species of bears that reside in some of the deepest parts of the Everfree Forest. Not many are even thought to exist," – Twilight flopped down the stairs thanks to another tremor – "and I really hope that's true." Only a few of the books hadn't already fallen off their shelves and were scattered all over the place. She stumbled to her hooves and looked over the mess. "There has to be a reason why it's here. They don't exactly go for a stroll very often."

"Twilight, maybe we should get out of here! It isn't safe!" The pegasus squeaked in terror, nearly fainting when the Ursa roared, and again when it crashed back onto the ground, destroying the windows. The rest of the books flew off the shelves.

Twilight started lifting as many books as she could, trying to find one that could be useful. She snorted in frustration as she dropped one after the other back to the floor. "There was one particular book that had more information than the others I found regarding Ursas. If only I could find it in this mess!"

"Sir, we have an emergency in Ponyville!" The royal guard directed Shining Armor's attention to the scene in the distance when he arrived with his elite troops. Despite being as far up the mountain as the city was, the Ursa Major was still easy enough to spot. The captain couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Lieutenant, gather as many troops and weapons as you can. Staging ground, five minutes, go! You four, take Celestia, Luna, and my wife to a safe haven and wait for my orders." They saluted and flew off to their assigned tasks.

Shining Armor stood in the staging ground as the final seconds of his orders ticked away. The pickings were slim. Only about half the guards he wanted were in attendance, approximately eighty. Considering how last-minute the call was, he was fortunate to get so much help. They were spread into four groups of twenty.

"Alright troops, listen up. We have a situation in Ponyville. An Ursa Major has emerged from the Everfree Forest and is heading towards the town from the large northwest field outside of it. We're to lead it away from Ponyville and back to its cave," he said, debriefing the squad. "It left an easy enough trail for us to follow back into the forest. Once we've led it back to its cave, our demolitions team will seal the entrance and evacuate.

"Groups one and two, you're charged with getting its attention and dragging it away. Pegasi, you have your spears, and unicorns, use your magic. Nopony is to get too close. Do whatever it takes to get it away from Ponyville. Group three, you're tasked with getting the citizens together in Town Square and leading them out of the city in a controlled, organized manner. Group four and I will be the last line of defense if we should fail to lead it back into the Everfree Forest. Is everypony clear on their assignments?"

"Yes, sir!" they said in unison and saluted.

Pairs of pegasi troops floated to the chariots waiting for them at the grounds. Pairs of unicorns jumped in and magically attached the harnesses to their compatriots. The unicorns held the spears so the pegasi would not injure themselves accidentally while transporting the battalion. Shining Armor made his final preparations and boarded his chariot.

"Move out!"

Six trails of smoke raced out from Cloudsale after the Ursa introduced itself, speeding toward the beast.

"Spitfire! What are we supposed to do against that thing?" Soarin shouted.

"We're just going to keep is busy until the Royal Guards arrive. You could probably hear that thing all the way to Manehattan. Just don't get yourselves killed," she responded.

"How do you even know they're coming?"

"For something like this? Trust me, they're on their way."

Matt and the others were still sprinting to the library when the blue-clad group flew over them. He would have sworn fighter jets had just passed by from what they sounded like.

"The Wonderbolts!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Now that thing's gonna get its flank kicked!"

They ignored her cheers and kept going, occasionally stumbling because of the Ursa's march. The residents of the town had finally gotten a clear look of what was coming their way and ran straight past them. Whether or not any of them actually registered seeing a bipedal, six foot tall thing with light skin and no coat was unimportant with the goings on.

"So where's Sugarcube Corner?" Matt asked. He was getting winded, but not as badly as he may have before he started helping at Sweet Apple Acres.

"It looks like a gingerbread house."

"That figures." A certain pink pony caught his attention in the distance on the road. She appeared to be running alongside a pair of ponies, one blue with a swirly pink mane and the other yellowish with a short orange mane. They had saddlebags on and what appeared to be two tiny screaming children in them.

"Pinkie!"

The blue pony screamed and recoiled when he glanced over the couple. "Don't hurt my babies!" The Ursa stomped again, making her almost fall over if not for Rainbow Dash swooping down and maintaining the mare's balance.

"It's okay, Mr. and Mrs. Cake. He's a friend of mine," Pinkie explained. It didn't seem to relax the couple, but one couldn't blame them for being scared.

"Pinkie, we may need you to come with us. We're heading to Twilight's to see if she has any info on that thing. I've been thinking on the way so far...those Elements you told me about, you think they could stop that thing?" Matt asked the girls.

"I'm honestly not sure, darling. Celestia usually has them under lock and key at Canterlot, and without Spike here to deliver her a message, I don't see how we'd be able to get to them quickly," Rarity said. A rumble shook the ground and the twins doubled the volume of their shrieks. "Even if they can, we'd need all six of us to use them."

The Wonderbolts swung down and flew in front of the Ursa's face in formation before breaking away into pairs, one pair to the left and right sides of the beast with Soarin and Spitfire flying past its head. The Ursa turned around slowly as its sheer size prevented any fast movement. Its gaze was aimed at the ones who flew past its face. Spitfire and Soarin split up and the Ursa roared defiantly.

They all grimaced in pain from its deafening cry but didn't slow down their buzzing around the behemoth. The Ursa was thanked with numerous distracting bucks to his sides and back; no sense in attacking from the front if it couldn't move quickly. The possibility of being crushed in a jaw that sported a pair of ten-foot long fangs didn't help the idea either.

The Ursa swatted at any Wonderbolt that got too close for comfort, but their speed allowed them to stay ahead of it. Fortunately, the monster didn't have any concept of swinging its massive claws at where the pegasi were going to be. Several straight minutes of constant spinning around ended up turning the occasional footstep-created tremor into a steady rumble.

Spitfire spun past the Ursa's backside and saw a couple dozen chariots heading their way. She split from the party and flew to meet the rider out front with a salute.

"We've managed to distract it, Captain. What do you want us to do?"

"Fall back once we've landed. We're going to drag it back to its cave. If you want, help the troops assigned to get the citizens out of town once we've formed up."

"Understood." She zipped back to the Ursa and gave it a hard buck to the back of its head.

The chariots landed ahead of the beast's original intended path on the southeastern side of the field. The weapons were distributed and they stood in formation at attention.

"Alright, you all have your assignments. Go!"

Half the troops charged and flew towards the Ursa and reformed behind it. Its attention was still focused on the acrobat team. The third group took off into town as Shining Armor's squad formed their wall.

"Fall back, Wonderbolts! Fall back!"

"Will you two be okay without Pinkie?" The Cakes nodded fearfully at the bizarre biped. "Alright, try and stay low, and hug the buildings so you can grab something in case you start to fall. Don't want them getting hurt," he instructed, cocking his head at the screaming babies. "And watch the glass, too. Now get out of here!"

That was all the convincing the Cakes needed to sprint away towards Town Square.

"Apple Bloom! Apple Bloom!" Matt and the others spun around upon hearing a familiar drawl calling out from a distance behind them.

"Applejack!" The filly galloped to her sister and jumped into her embrace. The rest of the party followed.

"Come on, sugarcube, we've gotta get outta here!"

Rainbow Dash spoke up quickly. "A.J., wait! We're heading to Twilight's right now. We're going to try and get to the Elements of Harmony to stop that thing!"

"Ah gotta get my sister back to the farm where it's safe!"

Matt knelt in front of Applejack. "I understand why you want to do that, A.J., but there's no time. By the time you run her back to the farm and get back here, who knows what can happen."

"Please sis, Sweetie Belle's stayin' with Rarity, and Scootaloo's stayin' with Rainbow Dash...they're mah friends! I don't wanna leave 'em!" Apple Bloom's lips quivered and tears started to form in her eyes.

"No! This isn't up for a debate!"

"A.J.," Matt repeated, staring hard at her for a moment, "we have to go." The Ursa roared in the distance to drive Matt's point home.

It seemed A.J. wasn't the only stubborn one in town apparently. "Fine! But if anything happens to her–"

"It won't."

The farm girl held her tongue, despite wanting to continue protesting. Matt and the others resumed their sprint with Applejack half a step behind. She turned to her sister as they ran. "If we get through this, you're grounded for a year, li'l missy."

Chapter 8

"Twilight, come on! It isn't safe here. We really have to go!" Fluttershy begged of her friend. The Ursa may have been roughly a hundred yards from the library, but she could see the strands of its fur as if she was standing next to it. "The Royal Guards are here now. They'll handle the situation...I hope. Even Shining Armor is here!"

She had to double take when hearing her brother's name. It was nice to hear he was in town but wished the circumstances could be better.

Another group of books came into her view as she resumed her hunt. One particularly thick manual about legendary and mythical creatures revealed itself to her. "Ah ha! This is it!"

"Then let's go already! You can go over it as we get out of here. Please!"

She ran upstairs to grab her saddlebag for the book. Though she could levitate it to wherever they were going to run to, with all the commotion, she ran the risk of dropping and damaging it.

"Alright, I'm ready." Twilight threw the door open and they bolted south.

"So do you think these Element things of yours will work?" Matt asked. They just passed Sugarcube Corner and were on the last leg of the race to the library.

"They worked against Nightmare Moon and Discord. Should work here too Ah reckon."

Rainbow Dash rebutted, "You sure? We've never used them on anything that big before."

"Size shouldn't matter, dearie. At least I hope that's the case."

Matt turned to Rainbow. "Can you scout up ahead and see if you spot Twilight? This is taking too long on foot."

"On it!" She sped ahead high over the tops of the buildings and quickly spotted Twilight with Fluttershy tagging behind. Matt and the others were heading right for them! Rainbow swung down to greet her equine friends.

"Twilight! Fluttershy! Thank Celestia! The others are heading this way. They wanna try and use the Elements of Harmony against that thing."

Twilight bit her lip upon hearing the intended plan. "I'm...not sure if that's going to work. I'll explain when we're together." Not wanting to waste any time, they continued their gallop ahead.

It was only a moment or two before the two groups finally met. They stopped a moment to catch their breath. As they did, the Ursa bellowed in the distance, stealing a collective gasp. They turned to watch the fleet of Royal Guards flying circles around it and hurling their spears. It stood on its hind legs and swatted at several pegasi that got a bit too close. Three of the guards were sent rocketing to the ground as the behemoth crashed back down onto its forelegs. It stomped its way towards the injured guards, determined to finish them off, before their comrades swooped down and got them out of danger.

The force of the Ursa slamming back to the ground was felt for almost a mile. Matt and the girls collapsed again, and the quake opened a large crack in the street. They jumped away to avoid possibly being swallowed by the earth as the opening grew wider and longer down the road. Several pipes underground burst open, spraying pressurized gasses and water in the air.

"So, what's the story? Are we gonna go get the Elements of Harmony or what? If we wait much longer, there won't be a town left!" Pinkie stressed.

The rampaging monster a short distance from her home wasn't the only reason Twilight was panicking. "The Elements are stored away in Canterlot right now. Even if we got there as fast as we could, Pinkie's right. The town would likely be totally destroyed.

"That's not all though. Once things had settled down after the Nightmare Moon incident, I did some more research about the Elements of Harmony. They don't work against things that are considered natural. Ursas don't have any concepts of harmony and chaos and whatnot, and if what I read about them is correct, why it's even here is also just natural. Therefore..."

"Oh no..."

"Why do you think it's here?" Rainbow asked.

Twilight gulped. "To...to feed." The Crusaders held onto their sisters tightly, and Scootaloo onto Matt. The rest of the group went pale. "Few ponies wrote about Ursas because they were too terrified to go near them. Those that did said they rarely saw the Ursa leave its cave, but when it did, it was usually to eat. A lot, and anything it could get its paws on. I can't even begin to imagine how much it'd need to eat to feel satisfied."

"And you're sayin' the Elements ain't gonna work on it?!"

She shook her head. "The Everfree Forest manages itself and thus could be considered in harmony, even when it's scary or destructive. The Ursa's not deliberately trying to terrorize the town, it's likely just looking for food if what I found was accurate. We're just...kind of in the way."

The Royal Guards flowed around the giant beast like water. One pegasus would throw his spear – albeit with superficially ineffective results – and another would swing down and grab it before it fell to the ground. When the pegai would get in a little trouble, the unicorns on the ground ahead of the beast would get its attention with some well placed magical blasts.

Shining Armor's unit cautiously crept up as the Ursa slowly headed into the forest, chasing after the pests. One pegasus got lucky and his spear flew toward the monster's face, almost catching it in the eye before the Ursa quickly shut it. The damage was done though, and it cried out in pain. It shook off the injury and lashed out violently at the flying warriors but caught nothing but air. The soldiers nodded at each other confidently. The plan seemed to be working and any major catastrophe to the town looked to be averted.

'It was hurt...' Matt thought to himself after watching what happened. "No one's ever beaten one of these things? Not even someone as powerful as your princesses are supposed to be?" he asked.

"How would you expect to beat it? It's enormous! What possible weaknesses do you think it could have?" Twilight snapped.

Matt fired right back, "Everything has a weakness." Suddenly, his chest exploded in pain as it had just a short while ago. He fell to his knees and clutched his heart. The moment was brief but still tore apart.

"Oh goodness. That happened to you the day of that picnic too," Fluttershy said. The others saw the outburst as well. They glanced nervously at each, not only concerned for his well being but also because of the events that followed after his first stint with his random chest pains.

"It happened earlier at the Boutique too. Matt, sweetie, what's wrong?"

He struggled against the pain like he did at Rarity's. 'The fuck is with me today? What's making this hurt so...much?' He opened his eyes wide after the agony subsided and stared at the giant. The Ursa taking a spear to the eye replayed in his head. "That's it," he mumbled.

The monster stopped chasing the guards and sniffed the air. It turned its head back toward Ponyville curiously. The rest of it followed a moment later, despite the numerous spears being thrown its way. Shining Armor's squad saw the Ursa coming back to the town and fell back several yards. He performed his protective spell and lifted a gigantic magical wall in front of Ponyville and his squadron, almost losing his concentration with each stomp.

"What's it?"

He ignored Twilight's question and stayed knelt on the ground with a multitude of thoughts flying through his head. Matt darted his eyes around putting the pieces of a plan together.

"Ah, it's coming back! Everypony run!" Pinkie shrieked.

"No! I...I have an idea," Matt said. Despite what he hoped was going to be a successful plan, he looked utterly heartbroken. He looked at his friends and realized no one in their right mind would want to do what he just thought up. He took a moment to contemplate what his idea would mean to the others and felt suddenly alone. They'd never go along with it.

"What'd you have in mind?" Rainbow asked impatiently.

"I...can't tell you. But I can tell what I need to get the plan off the ground, so to speak. Some of it's going to sound weird, but you're just gonna have to trust me. Does anyone have any duct tape?"

"Duct tape?"

"Just trust me."

Applejack cut him off, "Yeah, Ah have some in the barn, in one o' those big metal toolboxes. It should be in the corner. One o' the big bottom drawers."

Matt nodded and looked to the cyan pegasus. "Dash, that's probably the farthest thing from here I need. Meet us at the library. Go!"

"On it!"

He knocked his fist against his head, trying to spark the next part of his plan to the forefront of his thoughts. "Twilight, do you know any spells that can make you see in the dark like a cat or an owl or something?"

"I know I can find a spell like that in one of my zoology books, but the library's a disaster!"

"Pinkie, go with her. An extra set of eyes will help. You guys have a hospital I assume?"

"Oh oh oh oh oh! The Cake twins were born in a hospital over that way!" Pinkie said, pointing northeast. Another quake hit as the Ursa got closer to Shining Armor's defenses.

He silently begged that they were as modern as the ones back home. "Do they have a hazmat area?"

The girls couldn't have been more perplexed. Twilight finally spoke up, "Err...I would assume so. They've made a number of advancements with vaccines and medicine. Were you planning on infecting the Ursa with something?"

"No, it would take too long to do anything, and I'd run the risk of infecting one of us. I'll need one of the hazmat suits. I just hope that what I need of it actually does the job." Matt couldn't admit to them his intentions just yet since it could make or break the plan. "Applejack, Rarity, you go get one, okay?"

"Um, do you need me to do anything?" Fluttershy mumbled.

He heard the Crusaders' whimpers and looked sadly into their petrified eyes. Scootaloo was the only one who had moved since the group came together and that was only because of Matt's internal pain.

"Keep the kids calm as best you can. There's something I need to get at Sugarcube Corner. I'll see you at the library. Now get going!" He took off to the bakery without seeing the others leave, hoping that they'd listen and stumbling after a few steps because of another tremor.

Pinkie cocked her head and yelled, "Sugarcube Corner? This is no time to bake a cake, Matt!"

Rainbow arrived at Sweet Apple Acres as the others were just leaving to their assigned tasks. Some of the trees she flew past had been toppled over and completely uprooted thanks to the Ursa. She dove into the barn and spotted the toolbox that Applejack must have been referring to. Sure enough, the duct tape was right where the country pony said it would be. She took off back to the library, leaving a rainbow trail in her wake.

"I hope he knows what he's doing."

Twilight and Pinkie sorted through the mess the library was searching for any animal related text. They arranged the books in the main room into a pile and tossed them into the next if what they selected wasn't what Twilight was looking for.

"What about this one?" Pinkie scooped up a book called Living Like Animals: A Magician's Guide to Harnessing Their Special Abilities.

Twilight took it with her horn and searched the table of contents. "Cats.. heightened senses.. retractable claws.. night vision. This should work!" She flipped to the chapter and read about the spell and how to perform it. She slipped it into her saddlebag as a rumble came from just outside the library. Twilight begged the library didn't collapse on itself as she and Pinkie raced outside to wait for the others.

"I sure hope he knows what he's doing, Pinkie."

Rarity and Applejack got to the hospital and saw Nurse Redheart moving patients outside with some of the doctors. Many of the patients appeared to have slices and cuts, likely due to the windows shattering.

Applejack spoke up, "Ah don't know if they're gonna let us in. They look to be evacuatin' everypony. It probably ain't safe in there if they gotta clear out the place."

"Don't you worry about her. I'll get us in," Rarity assured her. They got to the front door only for Nurse Redheart to cut them off.

"Sorry, ladies, but nopony's allowed inside. Our labs upstairs had an accident and some dangerous materials were released."

"Nurse! Thank Celestia we found you! Some of our stallions fighting that...that monster are injured! You've got to do somethi-hi-hi-hing!" Rarity threw her hoof up to her head, sobbing and oozing drama from every word. "The whole town could be destroyed...if you don't save them!"

Rarity wasn't aware that she was telling the truth. Several of the guards had been injured during the scuffle despite their best efforts to be safe, and fortunately, It didn't take much convincing on Rarity's part.

Redheart paused for a moment. If Equestria's brave stallions and mares needed help, she really couldn't say no. The nurse turned to the doctor beside her. "Will you be alright?"

"We're almost done moving all the patients out. We'll be fine. I'll send more help once we're done here. Get going." She ran inside and returned with her medical bag in her mouth a moment later, heading towards the battle.

Applejack slipped Rarity a sly grin and they headed into the hospital after the doctors went back inside, ducking out of sight whenever they spotted anyone who may throw them out. They came across the directory and saw the listing for hazardous materials on the third floor, room 317.

The elevators were disabled due to the damage the hospital had suffered and they were forced to take the stairwell. The third floor looked like the rest of the building. Testing equipment was scattered all over the place. The contents of the drawers overhead had spilled out and most of the windows were in pieces all over the floor. They found it difficult to get around the hallways downstairs with all the debris and glass shards everywhere, and this would be no exception. Rarity's pace slowed as they got closer to their destination.

Applejack turned and scolded her, "Dangit, girl! What're ya waiting for?"

"Applejack, we're going into the hazmat area. You know, hazardous materials? You heard the nurse! What if whatever that got out gets us sick or worse? What if they cause our manes to fall out, or we catch the pony pox, or they ruin our beautiful coats and we end up looking absolutely hideous?!"

She glared at the fashionista. "Look, Ah don't know what Matt's got up his sleeve, but Ah trust him, and if he needs us to get him a hazmat suit, then we're gonna get it, and if y'all don't wanna help me and his plan fails, there may not be a Ponyville left to look at ya!" The Ursa reminded them of its presence and the building shook again.

Rarity pursed her lips, realizing she was in the wrong in spite of her rather good point. For all they knew, something lethal could be in the air, but the entire town was at stake. "I'm sorry, Applejack. I...you're right. It's just that the idea of being around all those diseases makes my flesh crawl."

"Ah don't like it either, sugarcube, but we got a job to do."

The unicorn nodded in agreement and they pressed on. They followed the signs overhead to a set of double doors and threw them open, following the room numbers down the hall. A pony in a rubber hazmat suit with a respirator turned around when they burst through.

"Whoa, hold on! Who are you and what are you doing here? You have to leave right now! There's been an outbreak and nopony's allowed inside!"

"But it's imperative we get through!" Rarity declared. "We need a suit from in there!"

He blocked their path and pushed them back out the doors. "I'm sorry, but I just can't let you through. It's for your own protection."

"Ah, buck this!" Applejack growled and kicked him square in the head, knocking him unconscious. Rarity stood there with her jaw hanging open in surprise. "Ugh, Ah'm gonna hate myself in the mornin' for that. Wait a sec. We can use his."

She leaned forward to pull the headpiece off with her teeth only for Rarity to magically grab her by the head. "Wait, Applejack! We don't know if he's been walking around through whatever it is in there. The outside of the suit could be contaminated."

"Good thinkin'. So what do we do?"

The unicorn's horn glowed and removed the suit bit by bit off the unconscious pony, folding it up in midair while making sure not to touch it. Applejack grabbed him by the tail and pulled him down the hallway to the staircase. "Can't really leave him up here."

Rarity took the lead and watched for any security or doctors. They got back to the first floor with Applejack hitting her heavy baggage's chin on each step as they had descended. She left him in a nearby room and whispered an apology to him. Better than nothing, she figured. With the suit in tow, they made a break for the exit. One of the doctors moving the patients outside tried to stop them as they ran out the front door to ask what they were doing but scrapped the idea. There were still a few left inside and they took priority.

"I'm glad that's over with," Rarity said. "I just hope Matt knows what he's doing."

He threw the door open to Sugarcube Corner. It was conveniently tall enough that he didn't need to duck down to get inside. The last thing Matt needed was to be slowed down at all, even by something as trivial as bumping his head into a wall.

The place was in disarray as he expected. He quickly found his way to the kitchen and scanned the counters and preparation table, not finding what he was after. He grabbed the drawers by the counter and started throwing them onto the floor one by one, the contents scattering all over the place. Spoons, knives, forks, baking utensils, all jingled and clanged as they hit the tiles. 'They can always just blame the earthquakes for this,' he thought to himself. A slam of one of the Ursa's paws slid the confectionery equipment haphazardly around the floor.

He darted his gaze over the mess he made until he spotted one of his two targets. He carefully picked it up and inspected it. Its length was what he was looking for, and if it had been used, it still looked brand new. Perfect for what he needed. Matt set it on the counter close to the wall so it would hopefully not be knocked off by a more violent impact.

He spotted his second target after some searching. Upon picking it up, he stared at it, silently lost in thought. He always joked with his friends back home about being a little nuts, but what he was planning went far beyond that. He thought of his new friends he made in Equestria and how they'd feel about his decision once they saw it all in motion. A deep breath cleared his mind. He grabbed what he came for, wrapped them in a dishcloth, and threw them in a to-go bag he grabbed from underneath the front counter.

"Christ, I hope I know what I'm doing."

Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and the Crusaders paced nervously as the fight continued in plain view just down the field by the library. Applejack and Rarity arrived a few moments later with the hazmat suit floating in a light blue aura. The roads had been pretty cleared out thanks to the squad of Royal Guards assigned to get the townsfolk to safety.

"Where the hay is he?" Rainbow groaned.

Overhead, one of the pegasi guards reacquired the monster's attention with a well-placed spear that flew into its ear canal. The giant snarled in pain and tried to dig out the weapon, but it's long claws couldn't grip the tiny spear. Blood trickled from the injury. The deafening roar made the ponies slam their hooves over their ears, leaving a nasty ringing sound in their heads. Fluttershy was on the verge of tears and hid her head under her forelegs. The Ursa swung around and angrily chased after its enemies, suddenly not caring that it was supposed to be slow on its feet. The unicorns galloped out of its way in a hurry, leaving the pegasi to continue luring it away.

Matt finally came up to the group with his bag. "We're all here. Good. Now we can get started. Twilight, you found a spell?"

"Yeah, but I don't see what good it's going to do. The sun is still up."

"Just hit me with it before I forget," he insisted. Her horn glowed and his eyes lit up with the same purple hue that emanated from the top of her head. "Okay. Let's get set up over by the battle."

Pinkie's eyed bugged out of her head at the suggestion. "Are you nuts?! This is already too close for comfort!"

"What I've got to do I can't do alone, and I need to see what's going on over there," Matt retorted. He wasn't going to debate with anyone and ran off to front line before anypony could answer. They exchanged uneasy looks and followed behind him, except for Fluttershy who remained curled up on the ground, hiding her head and shaking.

Rainbow heard the pegasus sniveling in fear and called out to her. "Fluttershy, come on! Matt may need you! Let's go!"

"I can't! I-I'm too scared!"

She dashed back to comfort her fillyhood friend. "You think we're not? Please, you gotta come with us." Still shaking, Fluttershy looked up from behind her mane and saw the hint of fear in her normally-fearless friend's eyes. She looked over at the rest of the group, including Matt, all of whom were waiting patiently for her. She sniffled and nodded. Rainbow smiled warmly at her and they joined the others.

Shining Armor had lowered the wall to conserve his strength when he saw the Ursa being dragged away again. Nurses Redheart and Tenderheart were tending to the injured guards. Fortunately most of the injuries weren't terribly severe. A familiar voice was barely heard by the captain between the slams of giant paws on the ground.

"Shining Armor! Shining Armor!"

He spun around and saw his little sister and her friends galloping toward them. "Twiley? What are you doing here? You have to get..." He trailed off when he saw Matt.

"Jesus..." Matt muttered upon seeing the Ursa up close.

Twilight snapped her brother back to reality. "Listen, my friend here has a plan to get rid of that thing."

"So we do, and it's working. Slowly, but it is working."

The behemoth was halfway into the Everfree Forest, still furiously trying to catch the stallion that injured its ear. Matt felt his chest tense up again. It was extremely quick but sharp, like something pinched him rather hard. It didn't hurt like the others had earlier. This time, it only angered him. The girls saw him hold his hand to his heart again, but when Matt didn't double over on the ground, they temporarily put their worry aside.

The Ursa turned around yet again and lumbered toward the town. It looked down at the small legion of guards, ponies and the single human in front of it, almost with a purpose.

Shining Armor's slammed a hoof at the ground as his frustration continued to increase. "Ugh, it's coming back again! That's the second time now. What does it want?" He sighed in annoyance. "Okay, what's your friend's plan?"

"I...I don't know. He hasn't told us yet. Matt, what do you plan to do? You've gotta tell us!"

He dropped his Sugarcube Corner bag onto the ground. He mentally noted Rainbow Dash holding the duct tape and Rarity levitating the rubber suit. They gave him the supplies and he knelt on the ground, opening the bag. He pulled out the dishrag and unwrapped what he grabbed at the bakery: two large, approximately ten-inch knives. Shining Armor took a step back and several of the Royal Guards in his presence drew their spears at Matt. The girls recoiled a bit as well.

"Uh...Matt, hon, what're ya doin' with those?" Applejack asked.

He didn't have time to answer the question. Instead, he unfolded the hazmat suit and found that the headpiece was attached at the back, flopping around openly in the front. Matt grabbed one of the knives and sliced the headpiece cleanly off. He set the blade on the ground and grabbed the hood. It had a large enough window to see through as he was hoping for. He knew a pony's head were proportionately much larger for their bodies than he was for his after living with them for so long.

He silently begged that this was going to fit him and tried it on. He pulled it down until it hit the top of his head and felt how far down the bottom went. It was past his chin and halfway down his neck.

'Whew, thank God.'

He removed the hazmat hood and set it down. The ponies were watching in wonder, trying to figure out exactly what he was doing. He grabbed the duct tape and wrapped it around the handle of the first knife a couple times, then spun it around, sticky side out. He wrapped it several times and repeated the process with the other one.

"Matt, please, what are you going to do?" Twilight demanded.

He sighed uncomfortably. It was time to tell them what was going on. "I'm going to need one more thing around here. A small, but heavy rock. I'm going to need to get its attention somehow. Rarity, can you find one quick please?"

She trotted away from the monster approaching the group, searching everywhere she could see. A few brave pegasi trying to entice the Ursa again flew in front of it and bucked it as hard as they could in the nose and took off. It voiced its anger and startled everyone. They looked up and saw the beast turning around again. Rarity returned after a moment with an acceptable stone while Matt was going over what he needed the ponies to do.

"Rainbow, Fluttershy, I'm going to need you to carry Twilight. I'm going to have her performing a spell on me, but she's going to need your wings. Rarity, Applejack," – he looked at the Crusaders, who were huddled together, visibly shaking – "take good care of the girls. They're going to need you. Twilight, how far away can you levitate something?"

"Fifty, maybe a hundred feet if I can see what I'm levitating. Why?"

He paused for a moment. He couldn't say out loud what he had to ask of her. They'd never allow him to go through with it. He leaned over and whispered in her ear her part in the plan.

Her eyes shrank as he told her. "What?! NO! I won't! You can't ask me to do that!"

"I'm not asking you. I'm telling you," he said with authority. She tried to protest but couldn't put together anything coherent. "If you don't do this, you may as well kiss your home goodbye. That thing doesn't want to leave for whatever reason. You have to promise me you'll do it."

Tears had started falling down her cheeks. "Please don't make me do this." she begged. He stared silently into her eyes, unflinching. She sobbed as the first of her tears fell down her face, knowing she wasn't going to win this argument. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

The others looked on with uncertainty. "What in tarnation did you make her promise, Matt?"

He ignored Applejack's question and turned to Pinkie. "You have the most important job here. Make sure she doesn't break that promise. There'll be a signal. It'll be rather obvious. When I give the signal...well, Twilight knows what she has to do. Make sure she does it." The pink pony nodded despite being unaware of what he asked of Twilight. He looked at Shining Armor and told him to call the troops away from the Ursa when they put the plan into action.

He picked up one of the knives and started wrapping his left hand closed around the handle with the tape. He made sure he could still spin the knife around in his grip in case it was necessary. He fumbled around trying to do the same to his right hand, but his left fingers were already strapped down, making it impossible for him to repeat the action. He had Rarity magically wrap his hand closed around the other blade for him.

Fluttershy finally spoke up and asked him again, "Matt, what in Equestria are you going to do?"

He hung his head, wishing he could avoid answering them altogether, and replied solemnly. "I'm going home."

Twilight was still crying, so he needed to ask Rarity again for assistance. He had her put the hood over his head and pull it down tight. Next, he asked her to tape down the hood to his neck as best she could, and then to wrap another layer or two of tape around that. He needed the hood to be unable to be pulled off his head if possible and to make sure nothing could get in or out.

Once the hood was set, he was finally ready to go. He took one last, long look at them. "Goodbye, girls," he whispered, his voice slightly muffled by the headpiece. He turned to Twilight. "Ready?" She wiped her eyes clear and nodded. "Fluttershy? Rainbow? You're up."

They grabbed onto her and picked her up into the air. Matt pointed a knife at the stone Rarity brought and she lifted it into his waiting arms, the knives sticking out to the sides from underneath. It must have weighed a good forty or fifty pounds, hopefully enough to get the Ursa's attention.

Twilight's horn glowed and she only strained a little to pick Matt up. She was aware of how heavy he was now, compared to when he crash landed in Pinkie's bedroom, and had little trouble lifting him into the air. As instructed, Shining Armor called for his forces to fall back to him as they went airborne.

"What's he mean 'goodbye', sis?" Apple Bloom whimpered.

"Ah...Ah don't know, sugarcube."

"How high up are we going, Twilight?" Rainbow asked.

"A few hundred feet. We need to be higher than Ursa Major when it stands on just its hind legs." She started to tear up again, knowing what was coming. Matt was roughly a hundred feet away from her from what she could tell. The Ursa marched toward the army, now gathered up in one convenient place.

It only took a moment or two for Rainbow and Fluttershy to get them as high up as Matt needed. He looked far below, the Ursa walking on all fours directly underneath. It hadn't seen Matt overhead just yet. He released the rock and it plummeted at the monster, smashing right into the center of its back. It roared in anger and looked up. It stood on its hind legs, ready to swipe at these new antagonists. Even sticking its nose straight into the air, Matt was still about thirty feet over its head. He looked down at the ground far below and gulped. Not having anything solid directly below him made his stomach turn, but there wasn't no going back now. He held his breath and swung down his arm.

"That's gotta be the signal," Rainbow said.

Twilight closed her eyes, not wanting to watch the inevitable. Her horn stopped glowing and Matt began to fall, grimacing in fear and barely holding in a shriek.

"What are you doing?!"

All the ponies on the ground watched on in horror as he fell toward the leviathan. The Ursa snarled and opened its mouth wide and slammed it closed around Matt.

"NO!"

Fluttershy and Rainbow froze in shock and started to lose their grip on Twilight. Her horn glowed again as she nearly fell from their grasps and teleported the three of them to the ground.

Chapter 9

A burst of purple magic popped out of nowhere on the ground, revealing Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Her friends – and even the Royal Guard – were still staring in disbelief at what had just happened: Twilight had intentionally dropped Matt down the throat of an Ursa Major. When she appeared back on the ground, she had already started crying again. Matt didn't say exactly why he asked her to do it, just that she had to. They all had gotten to know him fairly well after over the months and she had faith in what he asked of her, even if she didn't understand it. But she also knew what it meant by honoring his request.

Her grief was interrupted by a cyan hoof connecting with her face. Twilight fell hard and looked up at Rainbow Dash. She already had more tears cascading down her face than Twilight. The unicorn was a little surprised. Rainbow was never one to display much emotion aside from a bit of arrogance. What she wasn't aware of was that Rainbow's respect and appreciation for Matt had increased tenfold after he chased off the dragon. The two hadn't hung out much because of their respective work schedules and the fact that he couldn't fly. She always wished they had.

"Why did you do it?! What's wrong with you?! Give me one good reason I shouldn't tear you apart!" Applejack tried to hold her back with everything she had, but it was proving extremely difficult.

"Rainbow, stop!"

"Get off me, A.J.!"

They screamed at each other for what felt like an hour. Rarity teared up and pulled Sweetie Belle close to her, who was already weeping openly. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo tried futilely to pull Applejack off Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy held her face in her hooves sobbing uncontrollably and Pinkie's poofy pink hair deflated as she tried and failed to keep waterfalls from flowing.

"Why, Twilight?!" Rainbow angrily repeated.

"Because he told me to!"

"What?!' they all said as one.

"H-he said that figured out a possible weakness a-and that... and I...what have I done?" Regret and sorrow poured from her eyes, and no matter how many times his words repeated through her mind, she couldn't figure out for the life of her why he had asked her to do it.

The Ursa had been struggling to swallow Matt as they fought and argued. He finally went down and the monster let out a triumphant roar that grabbed the attention of the ponies below. Rainbow's rage was temporarily sated, but the rest continued to pour their emotions out despite their fear.

However, the beast's moment of glory suddenly turned into shrieks of agony. The Ursa crashed onto its front legs, growling in pain, unsure of what was going on. The jolt of the impact threw some of the ponies a couple feet into the air and brought down a few more buildings in town. The monster fruitlessly clawed at its throat and chest.

Matt rolled down the Ursa's tongue and was about to go sliding down its throat when he grabbed onto its tonsils as best he could, given that his hands were strapped halfway closed around the handles of his knives. He turned his head around and looked into the abyss. His eyes blurred for a moment and returned his vision to him with everything around him becoming shades of green. It was bizarre seeing only the one color, but his vision was as clear as it was going to get through the window of the mask nonetheless. He could see its throat muscles contracting as it tried to swallow him up, and he could feel his skin crawl. Even though he was suddenly questioning just how insane his idea was, he let go and slid his way down the Ursa's throat.

The beast roared in delight as it consumed Matt. He had heard it earlier while running through town, and it was indeed loud, but it was ten times worse right next to the source and he yelled in excruciating pain. Amazingly, his eardrums didn't burst. Perhaps the mask he had on muffled the noise just enough.

As Matt went down, he almost immediately began sweating under the rubbery mask. He hadn't accounted for the oppressive amount of moisture when he formed his plan, but he couldn't really ask for a mulligan at this point. The esophagus was only a few feet from one side to the other, but it wasn't cramped and if Matt had wanted to reach his arms out, he could have extended them entirely.

As soon as gravity began pulling him into oblivion, he swung out with his right arm and stabbed the wall, the knife sinking entirely. He wasn't aware right away, but the long blade had completely punctured through. The Ursa's esophagus was proportionately about the same width as probably most other creatures, humans included. His fall barely slowed as he swung his body around and caught the other blade into the wall. He dragged the knives with him for several seconds, and a waterfall of blood poured out of the wounds. It drenched him from head to toe, seeping through his clothes and making them stick to his skin.

The Ursa felt the agonizing slices and screamed in pain. The beast fell forward and crashed onto its front legs, suddenly stopping Matt's fall and flinging him back up the way he came. He bounced off the freshly lacerated wall and flopped onto his side, sliding several feet thanks to saliva coating everything before coming to a stop. Matt couldn't be sure which direction his final target was. All he knew was that he was laying on the 'bottom' of Ursa, whatever part of its body may be facing the ground at the moment.

He rolled onto his stomach and tried to prop himself on his knees, barely managing to stop himself from slipping. He started to feel himself gliding back down the tunnel. The Ursa must have been trying to lift itself up again. Matt quickly and viciously jabbed a knife sideways, making the behemoth cry out once more. Another cascade of blood leaked out and pooled around his knees. The Ursa fell back down, and Matt flopped onto his face. He pieced together that he had to have been looking at the Ursa's chest from where he was now.

Sweat dripped off his hair and cheeks and splashed onto the window of his mask, which had began fogging up. The outside of it was coated red and he scraped off what he could with the narrow edge of one of his knives. As long as he didn't accidentally pierce a hole, he would hopefully be alright until he finished what he started. Between his heavy breaths and the Ursa not screaming for a moment, he thought he heard a familiar, rhythmic sound coming from below him. He grinned almost evilly.

He let himself land on his stomach and reached forward with his right arm, knife still in tow. He was grateful the tape was holding on despite being caked in warm, flowing blood. He pierced the wall and dragged the knife towards him, stopping in front of his face. Another echo of pain burst forth from the beast's lungs. He slashed across from left to right, opening a flap in the wall of the Ursa's food tunnel. He gathered his strength and lifted it with the blade, swishing back and forth as the oversized bear struggled. It felt like he was stuck in the middle of the most disgusting water slide in existence.

Matt squinted as he struggled to see through the mask, but he was positive of something he did see. It was a muscle, contracting and beating – its heart. A second long slice across opened a rectangular hole in the esophagus' wall and the loose membrane fell towards his new ultimate goal. He took a deep breath and pulled himself through.

He had no idea how far he was going to fall. Fortunately, it was only a couple feet. His face hit mid-contraction and he bounced around briefly before driving the metal stakes in, bringing his ride to a sudden halt. A sharp scream of distress reverberated through the chest cavity. It wasn't quite as loud here since Matt was a distance from its throat at this point, but it was still incredibly bothersome.

Once Matt steadied himself and adapted to the panicked pace of the heart pumping beneath him, he began to think of some of the good times that had been ruined for him – memories of his youth, of his family, his arrival in Equestria, the bizarre pains. Right now, where others may have seen a giant bear destroying the countryside, he saw a target for his frustration.

His eye twitched and he bared his teeth. An arm rose up and drove its knife into the Ursa's heart again and again, raw hatred poured into every stab. Blood seeped out of each new wound but not as Matt had hoped. He expected a geyser to fire from the injuries but nothing of the sort came. The monster endlessly cried out as Matt attacked it, but he was oblivious to the noises at the moment; he saw red.

He stopped after less than a minute of violent shanking. He had quickly exhausted himself and saw through his clouded window that he hadn't broken through like he wanted.

'Fuck! The walls must be too thick. Gotta be something...there!'

He spotted ahead of him several large tubes anchored into the side of the heart – at least it appeared to be the side from his perspective. He reasoned that they had to be arteries and veins, and they had to be thinner than the heart itself.

The contractions had begun to slow a bit. The Ursa appeared to be losing the fight. Matt reached ahead and drove his left knife into the bloody floor and began slowly crawling his way to the blood vessels. The heart was already naturally coated, but the surface wasn't as smooth as the esophagus was. This gave him enough traction so he could easily push himself along with his shoes.

He dragged himself for what felt like a mile. Even though it was merely ten or so feet, it still took longer to travel than he would have liked. Air was beginning to be a precious resource and the heavy breathing he did when he stabbed at the Ursa in a blind rage was beginning to look stupid.

He arrived next to the closest artery and planted the left knife into the heart for leverage. He had felt himself slide forward a little when he started getting close. 'Down' probably meant he would have ended up sitting on the top of the heart and he probably would have been trapped.

He reached his other arm across his face and drove the knife into the vessel, carving away at its wall. The sharp blade sliced right through and he dragged it as far around the artery as his arm would go. Blood spurted out from the gaping wound and splattered all over him. He slowly turned the knife around and lunged as far forward as he could before he would have slipped. If this was going to be his swan song, he wasn't going to go without a giant 'fuck you' to everything that had ever brought him grief.

With one final swing, he completely severed the connection. More blood flowed freely but it still didn't feel like enough. He reached as high as he could and stabbed into the blood vessel again, cutting open a hole like the one he fell through a moment ago. A ocean of red burst forth like a river breaking through a dam. Matt pulled back and drove the knife back into his floor, holding on for dear life as the pumping slowed even more.

Horror adorned the Ursa's face as it desperately tried to figure out what was going on. As the repeated sharp pains got worse, it turned around towards the Everfree Forest and started to retreat. Nopony on the ground knew what to think. The beast only managed a few steps before it collapsed onto the ground, its head slamming into the crater it made when it first appeared.

Its breathing slowed little by little. The girls could see the confusion and fear in its eyes as it stared into the distance, its grip on life fading fast. Finally, its last breath escaped from its lungs and its body went limp.

A moment of silence passed as everypony stared in amazement at what just transpired. The Royal Guard burst into celebration and cheers as the town had been saved from disaster. The girls, their eyes still watered from before, were still completely bewildered. Fluttershy was the first to speak up.

"What...what happened?"

"He did it," Twilight muttered. "He...really did it."

Matt laid next to the destroyed artery, unmoving, painted red, and breathing slowly. He had closed his eyes before the heart stopped beating, waiting for the inevitable.

'Get up!'

What for?

'You just punched life in the dick with a fucking freight train! Get up!'

I can't make it out of THIS.

'And if you do, you punch it again! Move!'

I was never supposed to be here anyway.

'They'll remember this!'

That isn't important.

And if THEY weren't important to you, you never would have done this to begin with!

He opened his eyes with a renewed sense of purpose. 'Thanks, Granny,' he thought to himself. He scraped the layers of fresh blood from off his mask and pushed the plastic up to his nose to try and rub off some of the fog. It didn't help all that much, but it was better than nothing. He pulled himself up to his hands and knees and carefully crawled to the opening in the esophagus. He didn't need to risk slipping now.

Once the hole was over his head, he gradually stood up, doing his best to maintain his balance. He gently bumped his head against the top of the membrane even though he was still hunched over a bit. He sliced away the dangling piece he had carved up earlier and tossed it aside. He took a moment to look down the long tunnel and wondered how in the hell he was going to crawl out.

He took a half step back, hoping to get even a tiny bit of momentum. He leapt forward, extending his arms, and dove onto the tunnel's floor. He needed to at least get his thighs past the far end of the opening in order to have a chance of getting it right the first time, otherwise he could slide right back out and waste valuable time. His knees bounced as he was successful on the first try. He slid about ten feet farther than expected thanks to all the saliva and blood everywhere.

Matt sat up on his knees and lunged forward again only to promptly fall onto his belly. Without any way to get airborne, he wouldn't be able to repeat how he got back into the esophagus and use it as an efficient way of getting out of there. He swore under his breath.

Another idea came. He slowly hoisted himself onto his hands and knees this time, pushing his back against the roof. Maybe if he kept his body stiff against the top and bottom, he could make his way out. This idea failed as well and after only a few feet, he flopped onto his face again.

He felt his breath begin to labor. He hadn't expected to be roaming around as long as he had been much less still be alive after several minutes. Sweat was starting to collect at the base of his mask and his eyes were starting to get heavy.

Matt looked at the knives still strapped in his hands. He rolled them in his fingers until the blades faced sideways. Extending his arms as far as they could, he weakly jabbed both of them into the floor and towards himself and pulled with what strength he had left. Success! He actually moved about four or five feet thanks to the slickness. It took more out of him than he would have liked though. Trying to drag over two hundred pounds of seemingly dead weight over who knows how many feet wasn't going to work either, but so far it had been the only successful endeavor. He also had to pray the blades wouldn't snap off the handles thanks to that much force.

He repeated the motions a few more times and actually got some distance, but it was taking its toll on him. His thoughts were becoming less and less coherent as each long second passed.

'Gotta...gotta get some...l-leverage...push...ugh, God, s-so damn hot...cool drink of...of water...'

Twilight took a few steps toward the deceased Ursa. She collapsed onto her rump, her grief having spent all of her strength and will. One by one, the others crept up beside her and tried to console each other.

Shining Armor saw his distraught sister and mourned her loss. He may not have known what that strange thing was, but Twilight was willing to put her life on the line for it, so it must have meant something to her and her friends. He quieted the troops down and had them formed rank.

"I want you six to collect the squad we sent out to gather up the civilians. Lieutenant, once they've returned, head back to Canterlot and deliver a full report to Princess Celestia. Make sure the wounded are tended to before you leave though. There are a couple nurses here helping, but don't fully rely on them. Also, don't bother to wait for me when you reach Canterlot." He looked back at Twilight. "I need to go console my sister." The guards saluted and the six pegasi flew off in the direction of Town Square.

Twilight was hanging her head low and sobbing quietly, remembering what their friend had done to save them. She didn't hear the hooves of her brother as he approached. She saw his legs in front of her and looked up in his sorrowful eyes. Her lips quivered and she dove into his chest, wrapping her legs around his neck. He hugged her tightly and whispered in her ear, "He was very brave."

As his body began to shut itself down, Matt was becoming delirious, trying to push himself forward with his feet alone despite knowing that he was just sliding in place. Matt inadvertently brushed his knee over one of the stab wounds he recently put into the floor of the tunnel and actually felt the slice with his skin, despite being covered in blood. He cocked his head curiously, slowly lifted his foot to the tiny opening and reached ahead with the same hand. He thrust the blade into the floor, pulling with the knife while pushing cautiously with his toes. He hoped his foot wasn't going to just slice the wound open further and do little else. There was a slight tear, but he found that he was able to drag himself much easier than before.

Fighting exhaustion and dehydration, he managed to smile hopefully, his thoughts clearing again. He looked ahead but couldn't make out anything thanks to the fogged up mask. It was just as well he couldn't see. If he ultimately failed to escape, his last thoughts wouldn't be able to be along the lines of 'I only had so far to go'. Out of sight, out of mind. Now that he had a way to actually push himself along that could work, the only thing that raced through his mind was 'move, now'.

He reached below with his left and cut a slice for his foot. He stabbed further ahead and pulled himself once again. It was working and rather well. After repeating this a few more times, he had made himself almost a make-shift ladder and didn't need to reach down near his legs to give his feet something to grip onto anymore.

Slowly but carefully, Matt slid along and was making fair time, but each pull was met with less and less strength. His body had started shaking as his temperature began to drop. His breathing was becoming more desperate. He had no idea how far he had gone when he reached ahead to stab again and found the floor of the esophagus was a bit lower than what he had been moving on. He paid it no mind and continued to pull. Once his waist had crossed the threshold, he slipped down a gentle slope for several seconds before the it finally smoothed out. A shallow puddle of blood and saliva waited for him at the end, soaking him to the bone.

He glided for a few more feet before coming to a stop. The pool he just went through absorbed most of his momentum. He tried to lift himself up and grunted loudly with all his remaining strength before utterly collapsing. He was completely spent. His air was just about gone. He had nothing left in his body. He was barely hydrated and rapidly losing fluids as he laid there motionless. His vision started to blur and darken. With what little energy remained, he looked left and saw a faint glow through the disgusting mess on the mask. His eyes closed and his head fell.

Chapter 10

Twilight didn't want to let go of her brother. He was the only thing keeping her from losing her mind. She felt personally responsible for what happened to Matt even though it was his idea to begin with. She could have insisted 'no' and teleported them away or performed a spell that would knock him out until they had taken care of the matter or something other than what asked her to do.

Rarity held Sweetie Belle in her hooves, and Apple Bloom was curled up tightly under Applejack, sobbing. Rainbow walked up to her number one fan, seeing how out of place and alone she felt, and embraced her. Scootaloo returned the heartfelt gesture and cried into Rainbow's mane.

"I'm sorry. I-I'm so sorry," the lavender mare mumbled, choking on her tears.

Shining Armor held her tight and turned his attention briefly to the huge body laying in front of them. What were they supposed to do with this thing now? Even Celestia's incredibly powerful magic probably wouldn't be able to move it. He put away the question for later and returned his thoughts to his sister.

A noise from the bear broke the silence without warning. It was quiet but not inaudible. It sounded like a growl or scream – not of one in pain but of desperation. All their eyes darted instantly to the corpse.

"AAAH! It's still alive!" Pinkie shrieked, ready to run for the hills.

When no movement came from the Ursa, Twilight's curiosity got the better of her. She let go of her brother and headed toward the crater where the massive gaping maw waited. She jumped down and continued. Her friends cautiously followed behind but didn't dare go any further than the edge of the hole. As she reached the first rows of teeth and the tongue draped on the ground, her approach took a noticeably uneasy turn. Even though the monster was dead, she still got the feeling its jaws could slam down on her at any moment.

Her friends held their collective breath. Knowing she was tiptoeing through the middle of the mouth she just threw Matt into was beyond unsettling for everypony. Drool had soaked the ground Twilight stepped across and it felt disgusting on her hooves, but she paid it no mind. She reached the furthest end of the Ursa's lips and gently stepped onto the flesh.

"Twilight, for Celestia's sake, what are you doing? Get out of there!" Rarity pleaded.

She ignored the advice and took a few more steps. The sunlight couldn't reach where she was, but her friends could still see her hind legs. They cringed as she slowly disappeared from sight altogether.

The sudden, extreme humidity permeated through the air, causing beads of sweat to appear on Twilight's forehead. The stink was unspeakable as well and she struggled to hold down the contents of her stomach.

'It must have felt like this when...' she said to herself. She couldn't bear to finish the idea though; there was a noise that she needed to investigate. If there was even a remote chance...

She lit her horn and saw Matt's arm laying motionless at the back of its throat, causing her heart to skip a beat.

"GIRLS!"

They thought the worst when they heard her scream. Throwing caution to the wind, they charged head-on into the Ursa's mouth, not worrying about anything other than the well being of their friend. Even Rarity didn't care that she just trampled its sticky tongue or that the moisture in the air was likely going to ruin her mane. Shining Armor held the Crusaders back even though they wanted to go see what was wrong too.

When they got to Twilight, they saw her horn glowing and she was struggling to move something. She had Matt by the arm and was slowly pulling him out. He was much heavier than when he first crashed into Pinkie's room thanks to the layers of blood covering him. Rarity fired up her magic and her aura wrapped around what she could see of Matt as well. The purple and light blue hues danced together around him as they eventually pulled him out.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack pushed the Ursa's tongue out of their way. The unicorns were having some difficulty keeping him elevated, not only because of the added weight but they were still under a lot of stress over everything that had happened. Their undertaking wasn't getting any easier as they went either despite seeing Matt's fate in front of them. Perhaps his being there was what was actually making things difficult. If he never made it out, that would have been the end of it, even if it hurt for a while. They couldn't be sure.

The girls were almost out when a magenta glow swallowed Rarity's and Twilight's magic. They paused for a moment, unsure what to think before they turned around and saw Shining Armor beside them, lending his own magic to theirs. Twilight and her brother met each other with a smile and they carried him out of the crater.

They laid him gently on the ground on his stomach. Most of them crunched their noses up or covered their muzzles once the smell hit them. It wasn't surprising that he stank, but they couldn't have prepared for how bad it really was.

They examined the bloody body of their friend and started to tear up again. Twilight suddenly gasped with a rather obvious realization.

"Rarity, help me get this thing off his face! Hold his head up for me!"

Rarity's signature glow gently raised Matt's head from the ground, and Twilight's magic tore at the tape wrapped around his neck, eventually unraveling it. As the last of the strips came loose, she yanked the hazmat hood off and threw it away. Rarity carefully set his head back down and Twilight undid the makeshift grips from Matt's hands to remove and discard the knives.

He laid there motionless, and his breathing was so shallow they couldn't even tell the difference if he was taking in any air or not. Twilight sobbed and pushed his shoulders, trying to stir him from what she hoped was just a deep sleep. She wasn't concerned about getting blood on her coat or hooves. She and her friends just wanted a sign of life. Any sign. Twilight nudged him more, each time harder than the last. Nothing. She hung her head after giving up and tears poured from her eyes once again. The Royal Guard still in attendance, waiting for the last of their comrades to return, saw everything and removed their helmets out of respect.

Matt had been unable to get any new air once he strapped the mask down. He also was unable to smell how bad the Ursa's innards were. It took a minute for the rotten scent to reach his olfactory nerves and kick start his brain, not to mention instantly turn his stomach. When it hit him, he snapped his eyes open and started violently coughing and shaking. His stomach emptied mucus and what little liquids he had onto his cheek.

The girls jumped back in astonishment when Matt came back to them. They turned to each other and their surprise slowly turned to hope. A minute ago he looked as if he was gone, but now he was with them once again. Unfortunately, that hope was changing into concern.

Matt continued to cough and shake. Sweat covered his face and he looked almost as white as a ghost. He stared dead-eyed at nothing as his fits got worse with every passing minute. His pulse was racing and his breathing sharp and erratic.

It took a second for Twilight to collect herself before she finally started shouting for help. Nurse Redheart was tending to one of the injured soldiers when he heard the unicorn's frightened cries. The guard she was working on shooed her away to go check on the more important problem. She snatched her medical bag in her mouth and raced off in the direction of the screams.

"Nurse! Thank Celestia! You've gotta help him, please!"

Redheart held her snout as she approached the girls, almost overtaken by the stench. When she finally got a clear look at Matt laying there covered in blood, words failed her. She had a similar confused stare that the girls had when Matt first arrived in Equestria and the medical bag flopped out of her mouth.

"I...uh...what is this?"

"Please, just help him!"

"I know about ponies, not...whatever this is."

"Then examine him like he was a pony!"

Nurse Redheart thought for a second and grew determined. She reached into her bag and threw a stethoscope around her neck, fitting it into her ears with her hooves. She took his hand and pressed the chest piece against his arm, looking for a good spot to find a pulse. She located it in his wrist and it was going a mile a minute. The symptoms she was finding on Matt were being mentally recorded as she went along with her examination. She caressed his forehead, feeling the condition of his skin, and the sweat pouring from his hairline was soaking her hoof.

"Hmm...pulse is weak but racing...skin's clammy...sweating profusely...feels cold and he's hyperventilating." She sighed as she gave them her assessment. "If this was a pony, I'd say he was going into shock."

"Shouldn't we get him to the hospital?" Fluttershy asked.

"We don't have the facilities for anything but ponies, and even if we did, the place is turned inside out thanks to that," she said with a nod at the Ursa. "Plus, some of the infectious things we've been doing work on spilled out all over the place because their containers were damaged, so we can't let any patients in." Nurse Redheart thought intently for a moment. "I can race back and see if we have an IV solution that we use for this type of situation. I might be able to get in since I work there, but he needs some attention here first."

"There anythin' we can do?"

"Get some pillows and blankets. His legs need to be elevated several inches, and if his back or neck isn't injured, his head can be propped up a little. Wrap him with the blankets all around. We need to keep his body temperature stable. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to get these clothes off him too. You're supposed to just loosen tight clothes, but all the...yick...blood may have an adverse affect on his temperature. Plus, he doesn't need to be throwing up and losing more fluids," she said as she wrinkled her nose thanks to another whiff of the air attacking her nostrils.

Twilight spoke up, "My home's not too far from here."

Surprisingly serious for a change, Pinkie volunteered to get the required provisions. She blasted off toward the library, leaving a pink streak and a puff of smoke behind.

"I'll go help. She's not going to be able to carry them all herself," Rainbow Dash said before she raced off as well.

"I know where your things are, Twilight. I'm going too so they don't take forever trying to find everything," Rarity said.

"Bring some towels too. I can always buy more later. I'd like to clean him up a bit if we get a chance," Twilight requested. Rarity nodded and galloped away.

Nurse Redheart addressed the remaining ponies, "The rest of you stay here. Do your best to keep him calm and be there for him. I'll return as fast as possible. I just hope the IV works. Without any previous testing, I have no idea if it will help or hurt him."

Twilight teared up looking at the nurse. "If there's a chance it'll help him, please take it." The nurse nodded and sprinted to the hospital.

About fifteen minutes crawled by; it might as well had been fifteen years. Pinkie, Rainbow and Rarity returned with what was asked of Nurse Redheart. Even at top speed, she may have only just arrived at Ponyville Hospital. It was all the way on the other side of town after all.

They set the pillows and blankets on the ground. Twilight recanted that Redheart said to get rid of his clothes. Cringing, she lifted him in the air and Rarity removed his shoes and socks first, followed by the rest save for his boxers. They never anticipated having to strip him down for any reason, but these weren't ordinary circumstances. The white unicorn trotted away, the spoiled clothes still in her magical grasp, and flung them into a pile a fair distance away from the group. She'd be likely to burn them later just to rid themselves of the smell.

"Wipe what you can off him. The blood soaked right through his clothes," Twilight said. They each grabbed a towel and scrubbed him quickly from head to toe. There was still a lot of residue left over but not nearly like there was a moment ago. Fortunately, there were still a few spare towels to go through. No doubt it wouldn't take much for them to be utterly stained pink with blood if it was necessary to use them.

Twilight pointed at the pile of blankets and Applejack grabbed one in her teeth. She spread it out on the ground and he was laid atop it. The others snatched up their own sheets and mats and wrapped Matt into a fabric cocoon. Once they felt he was sufficiently covered, they grabbed the pillows and propped his legs and head up. Satisfied with their efforts, they laid down around him as he continued to shake and hyperventilate. The Crusaders joined their sisters and idol beside him.

It was nearly an hour before Nurse Redheart returned. She was carrying an IV stand with a bag of solution attached. Matt was breathing less erratically than before and his pulse had relaxed, but it was still weaker than it should be. He had stopped sweating and a bit warmer than before, but his skin was still cool to the touch and far too pale. The nurse pulled out one of his arms and hunted around for a vein. She assumed correctly that it would be near his joint like it was on a pony. She found it and pierced through the skin, forcing Matt to quietly grunt in pain.

Fluttershy, ever the attendant mother figure, gently caressed his head, occasionally wiping bits of sweat from his brow. He wasn't one of her pets, but it relaxed him either way. "How long will it take until we know if he's okay?" she asked Redheart.

"That depends on him really and if the IV works. This solution is what we use when a pony needs fluids. I'm hoping his body handles it the same way ours do. I should stay here either way. He'll probably go through the entire bag, but if he doesn't need to, putting too much into him could cause complications too," she explained. "It usually takes about an hour for a bag this size with the drip rate I have it set on." She looked around for her co-worker. "Has Nurse Tenderheart already left?"

"About a half hour or so ago," Rarity told her. Tenderheart had her hooves full with the injured Royal Guards but got them patched up enough. They had medical buildings back in Canterlot and just needed to be able to make the trip. About ten minutes after she finished up and departed for the Ponyville Hospital, the rest of the absent guards returned after being informed the battle was over. They headed for home after their ranks had been tallied, save for Shining Armor's escort. There were several injuries but amazingly no casualties.

"Okay, good," Nurse Redheart said as she looked over her patient. "I wish we could bring him too. I'd like to get him hooked up to our machines just to keep an eye on his vitals." She inspected him again like she had when she found him. "He seems to be doing a lot better. Still a bit cold, but the IV should fix that if it works. Gives him some fluids. Given the situation, there's not much more we can do right now but wait."

Another hour crept by. The IV bag had emptied and Matt was out like a light. The girls paced around and tried to strike up small talk to pass the time but not much was really said. The Crusaders had fallen asleep up against Matt in the meantime. Nurse Redheart examined him periodically and the solution seemed to be doing the trick. His color was returning and his shivers were mostly but not completely gone. His temperature had increased significantly but it could still be better.

Nurse Redheart spoke up after putting her equipment away. "Well, he looks like he's doing fairly well. I don't believe it's necessary to get another bag, and the doctors have probably been expecting me to help with the patients we wheeled out of the hospital earlier. I know where they were bringing them, so I'll just head over that way."

"Is there anything else we can do, Nurse?" Twilight asked.

She thought for a moment. "Well, his body should be able to replenish some of the fluids he still needs at this point. It isn't as serious as before. Still, it couldn't hurt to give him some water if he asks for it in a little while after he's further recovered. Not too hot or cold. Don't want to throw his body temperature off and start this all over again. Other than that, just be there for him."

"Well, shoot, that last part's easy."

She gave one last glance over Matt and smiled to herself. She was good at what she did and she knew it. Her cutie mark told that story. If Matt survived, she could take pride in the fact that she was able to save an entirely different species that she was unfamiliar with that wasn't a pet. She didn't know how she knew, but Matt wasn't some common household animal.

Twilight made a mental note of the instructions and thanked Nurse Redheart from the bottom of her heart. She wished them well, grabbed her medical bag and headed on her way.

Shining Armor watched the nurse leave and turned to his sister. "I should get going myself. You seem to have a handle on things here, and he looks like he's doing alright. The princesses are probably waiting for my reports and the sun is almost down. Take care, Twiley," he said, hugging his sister. "Let me know how he turns out, okay?"

"Will do, BBBFF," she smiled at him. He trotted to his chariot and the pegasi lifted off. They all waved goodbyes and a short while later, he was out of sight.

Chapter 12

Celestia's new day started off cool and bright. The sunbeams woke them all from their sleep in the field, save for the fillies. Matt rose and found the Crusaders laying next to him. He took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes. He rolled over and lifted himself to his feet slowly. He was pretty stiff after laying there for so long. The Crusaders stirred when their human pillow was suddenly no longer there.

"Mornin' Matt!" Applejack said warmly as she held her friend's hand. "How ya feelin'?"

He puffed out his chest and stretched his arms and back. "Good. Damn good." He looked around and saw the others already up too, happy to see him finally on his feet again. He smiled humbly, "Thanks for saving me, girls. I honestly can't believe I made it out of there."

"You almost didn't if it wasn't for Twilight," Fluttershy said. "She went into that horrible place–" she pointed at the Ursa's open mouth, "–and found you laying there right by the entrance. What else could we do?"

"Honestly, Matt, we should be thanking you again. You saved the entire town in a most dramatic way, so to speak," Rarity commented.

"Yeah! I thought you couldn't get any more awesome when you told that dragon to go buck himself! This just...how are you supposed to top it?! It's just. Not. Possible!" Rainbow's enthusiasm got a laugh from them all.

"Oh, I don't know," Twilight spoke up. "Maybe if we found Trixie and showed her this, that could top it. 'Hey Trixie, look! This is how you vanquish an Ursa Major! Just fling yourself into its mouth, no problem!'"

"Twilight, how wrong!" Rarity gasped. "Please, do go on!" The sarcastic comments made them chuckle again.

"Look, there he is!"

"Over here, Mr. Matt!"

"Can we get a picture?"

"The biggest headline in the Equestrian history!"

The random chatter startled them and they looked at the numerous photographers snapping dozens of pictures of Matt, standing in his boxers, which happened to have been soaked through with dried blood like the rest of his clothes. Microphones floated in front of him from all directions, surrounded by various colors.

"Heh, you may get your wish after all, Twilight," Matt said with a nervous smile.

"Yeah, there is no way you're going to be able to get out of this," she fired back.

"Um...okay, everybody," he said, lifting his hands to quiet the crowd, "would it be a big deal if we came back tomorrow for this? I really, really need to clean myself up. I have a feeling there's no way something like this is going be kept under the rug, but I'd be more than willing to sit down with you all tomorrow and you can ask me whatever questions you want, okay?"

The reporters and photographers murmured amongst each other, assessing the situation. One finally spoke up, "Where would you want to be interviewed?"

Matt scanned the crowd. There was easily a hundred ponies there. There was nowhere he could think of off the top of his head that would able to accommodate this many of them except, well, where they were standing. He didn't know much about Ponyville yet anyway. He asked his friends, "I don't suppose anyone has anything to sit on besides the floor?"

"I have a few chairs in storage at the library."

"You think we could bring a couple here?" Matt asked.

"I don't see why not."

He addressed the legion of newspaper ponies. "We'll do it here. Can get some good pictures of that for your backgrounds," he quipped, nodding toward the Ursa. "If your editors don't like it, well, too bad. They can wait a day for something like this."

Twilight whispered to her human friend, "Matt, just please don't go too overboard with this."

Rainbow swooped down and added, "Yeah, trust me on this one. You don't want this kind of thing to go to your head."

"I think my just appearing in public would have done that by itself, but I know what you're saying."

"Eh, good point."

He returned his attention again to the crowd. "Alright everybody, we'll see you tomorrow, say at nine o'clock? Thanks!" He waved goodbye as the ponies dispersed, poised for the biggest story they've ever had to hit their papers. His stomach suddenly screamed in anger. "Um, I don't suppose your fridge is full, Twilight?"

She eyed him suspiciously. "Why?"

"It may be empty in a little while...if that's cool."

"I can always go shopping afterwards," she said with a roll of her eyes.

Matt glanced down at the Crusaders. "And you three should probably head to school, if it's even open today. I think you have a good excuse to be late if it is. Plus, imagine how much attention this'll get you. But, if they're closed today, come back to the library, okay?"

"Please just try and behave if you come back and we're not there. Please?" Twilight pleaded. They acted as innocent as their devilish little grins allowed them to. After giving Matt's legs a hug, they darted off to the elementary school.

"Huh. Ah thought it'd be more difficult to convince 'em. They didn't even have anythin' to eat," Applejack commented.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Matt said. He helped the girls gather up the pillows and blankets. After everything was accounted for, he continued to search the area.

"What are you looking for?" Fluttershy asked.

"What did happen to my clothes?"

Rarity bit her lip. "Um, I may have...thrown them away. They were covered in blood and smelled absolutely dreadful. I don't think anypony would have ever been able to get the stains or the odor out."

"The shoes too?" She eyed the ground and nodded. His face contorted slightly in annoyance. Those were his only pair. "Well, I suppose we can always throw these things out too when we get home," he tugged at his boxers. "Going to be a pain in the ass walking on gravel roads in bare feet."

Rarity held a hoof to her chin. "I may be able to pull some strings. I know somepony in town who makes shoes for formal events such as the Grand Galloping Gala. They've made the most absolutely darling things for me when we would visit Canterlot for pleasure instead of business," the unicorn explained. "I could likely get them to put a few pairs together for you by the end of the day. It would be expensive of course, but I have no problem at all spending a little extra for you after everything you've done for us. If only I knew how big your feet were..."

Pinkie's eyes lit up as she got an idea. She zipped away and returned just as fast, catching the blankets that flew into the air when she left. "Maybe this would help!" She handed Rarity her measuring tape.

"Where did you get this?"

"Your shop!"

"How the hell do you do that?" Matt asked. All he got was a shrug.

"I think you already know the answer to that question," Rainbow Dash said.

"'That's Pinkie Pie for you'?"

"Yep."

Rarity stretched out the tape and measured where she needed to, mentally noting his foot's size for later. "Alright, got it. If it would be alright with you all, I would like to get this to the shoemakers right away. Would it be okay if I headed over there now?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Fabulous! I'll put together a few pairs of socks for you as well once I've gotten settled back in at the Boutique. Celestia knows it's probably a wreck right now. Could you take these blankets off my hooves for me? Thanks! I'll see you all this afternoon!"

Matt looked around one last time on the grass before deciding he was ready to go as Rarity headed into town. His eye caught a shine coming from the ground and he walked over to it, hoping it was what he was looking for. He leaned down and picked up one of the knives he used to kill the beast. He examined it for a moment and a small grin crawled across his cheeks.

"Whaddaya want that for?" Applejack inquired.

He gingerly shrugged. "Souvenir. Where's the other one?"

The girls scanned the area until Fluttershy spoke up that she had located it. Matt grabbed it off the ground and studied it, remembering what they helped him accomplish.

"Hey, wait a minute," Pinkie interjected. "Those look like they're from Sugarcube Corner."

"What did you think I ran off to get? Cupcakes?" he joked. "Hey, now if you start selling kitchenware instead of just sweets, you have the perfect sales pitch. 'Just look at how tough these knives are! See much abuse they can go through as you slice up an Ursa Major and still be sharp enough to cut right through this muffin!'"

"Have you been hanging around Pinkie Pie more than usual recently?" Twilight asked sarcastically.

"Nnnope."

"Yeah, now he thinks he's Big Mac," Applejack said.

"Nnn...uh...mmmaybe." The girls snickered at the bad impression. "Come on, what do you say we get out of here?"

The library was a disaster area like most of the other buildings in town undoubtedly were. Books were thrown all over the floor and shards of glass were scattered about. Twilight used her magic to make several strategic paths throughout her home. Once they had gotten something in their stomachs, they could get started cleaning the place up.

They put the blankets and pillows by the laundry for later. Twilight would let Spike take care of it when he got back from Canterlot later that afternoon. Most of the blankets were relatively clean but still smelled fairly putrid and only a few pillows had any blood on them thanks to how they were stacked. Everything still needed a good scrubbing though. Hopefully the stains would be able to come out. If not, Twilight would just need Spike to do some shopping for her.

After the linens were set aside, Applejack headed to the kitchen to start making a large breakfast. She remembered what Matt had said about being extra hungry. He hadn't eaten in almost a whole day and had burned through a lot of energy recuperating, so he probably would have eaten everything in the fridge if he had a mind to, and maybe even the appliance itself if he somehow could.

The others had followed Matt upstairs towards the bathroom. They insisted they help clean him up in spite of his protests. Twilight argued that it would take a lot less time with more than one set of hands, hooves or whatever else scrubbing off the bear remnants and that he was probably going to end up going through a few bathtubs full of water. He eventually felt it was best not to argue.

Matt asked the girls to wait outside as he prepped himself. Once the tub was full, he lost the boxers, hopped into the soapy water, and called them in. Twilight found the garments on the floor carried them with her magic to the waste basket downstairs. When she returned, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had already commenced scrapping off the blood that lingered and washing his hair with him. Twilight's horn glowed and she took a washcloth of her own to assist her friends. It only took a few minutes for the bathwater to go from clear and bubbly to a sickening shade of pink.

Matt stayed sitting in the tub as he drained the water in preparation for a second bath. As the last of it went down, Pinkie's eye caught something and she gasped. "Oh my gosh, what's that?!" Matt followed the direction of her gaze and realized what she was looking at. He jolted up and closed his legs.

"What? What?!" Twilight asked.

"Are you sick or something, Matt? You have some kind of weird growth–"

"Ah-aah-ah! Pinkie, I-I'm fine! Yes, I'm fine. Yes. Thank you," he said, the words stumbling nonsensically out of his mouth.

"Are you sure? I've never seen–"

"Yes. Um, Pinkie...err, why don't you go help Applejack in the kitchen? I'm sure you guys could get everything cooked up a lot faster with two of you there."

"Okie dokie lokie!" The nutty pink pony tossed her washcloth onto the counter and bounced happily out of the room. Matt held his head in his hands before reaching to turn the water on again after she left.

"What was that all about?" Twilight asked.

Fluttershy's cheeks turned as pink as her mane when the pieces came together. "Um, I think she...err, well..." Rainbow Dash joined in to listen to what the yellow pegasus whispered into Twilight's ear. The cyan pony busted out laughing while Twilight became suddenly flustered. Matt did his best to hide his head even more.

"Fluttershy! How do you know this?"

"I do take care of animals, Twilight. They've been known to, well...y'know...f-from time to time."

"But Matt's not one of your animals! And he's not in the middle of 'y'know'."

"Oh dear God..."

"Well, no. It's only an assumption, but...well, a stallion's is in the same place, so I just kind of figured..."

Twilight's jaw nearly hit the floor. "And how do you know that?" Rainbow almost choked as she laughed harder.

"Come on, Twilight, I'm a grown mare. Haven't you ever read about it in any of your books?"

She thought for a moment. "Well, I, uh...I-I was always more interested in things like magic and history and culture. I never really bothered to study much...anatomy. Not that kind, at least," she mumbled, looking away with increasing embarrassment. Rainbow's sides were hurting as she was nearly gasping for air at this point.

Matt chimed in after their discussion, "I'm going to go throw myself back down that thing's throat now."

They would have been finished helping Matt get cleaned up if Rainbow had been able to control herself for the last half hour. Twilight and Matt carefully made their way down the stairs and into the dining area where Applejack and Pinkie were starting to set the table. Fluttershy and a still chuckling Rainbow Dash took advantage of their wings and avoided the mess on the floor.

Their extended breakfast consisted mainly of Matt devouring everything he could get his hands on. The girls discussed what order they'd hit each others respective homes in as far as straightening everything up went. They assumed most businesses were going to be closed for a little while as a result of the disaster.

They decided to swing around in a convenient circle, starting at Twilight's, then heading to Sugarcube Corner, then Carousel Boutique, Sweet Apple Acres next, and finally Fluttershy's cottage. They decided to make sure Rarity was home before they just barged in uninvited. Plus, they knew how meticulous she could be with her things and didn't want to impose.

However, even with five sets of hooves, a magic horn, and a pair of hands, getting all five locations done in one day seemed a task too big to finish. They agreed to complete what they could and then resume the following day if necessary after the interview. There was also the fact that Spike's train was to be arriving at the station at 5:15. They'd have to swing by and pick him up.

It took all morning and a bit into the afternoon to clean up the library. Twilight organized the books but left them on the floor for Spike to deal with when he came back. She figured he'd let it him handle it tomorrow since he'd likely want something to do after the train ride. They could sometimes be a bit on the dull side traveling alone.

Twilight opted to levitate Matt along to avoid possibly injuring his bare feet as they made their rounds. They arrived at Sugarcube Corner at about two o'clock, finding the Cakes and the babies already there when they arrived, finishing up most of the work. The couple welcomed the girls and their tall friend. They were very warm to Matt, despite their initial meeting, and apologized for how they acted during the attack. But it was in the middle of a crisis and he wasn't worried about it.

The twins were enamored with Matt like the Crusaders were when they first met him. Pumpkin had a strange way of showing it, however, almost biting one of his fingers as he tickled her. Either way, he found them to be fairly cute until Pound had an accident.

A short while – and one set of furiously washed hands – later, they had lunch and finished up what they could. It was only about an hour before everything was taken care of that could be. With Sugarcube Corner taken care of, it was time to see a fashionista.

Rarity was home when the group showed up at the boutique. Her home was hit the least so far, probably because her place was the farthest away from the epicenter. Most of the damage that she could clean up on her own was already taken care of, but she welcomed the help regardless. She presented four pairs of socks to Matt when they were settled in. Decent start for now.

"I thought I would take care of them before getting started around here, Matt. Celestia knows the mess wasn't going anywhere. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, your shoes won't be ready for two more days. Their shop was pretty badly damaged," Rarity explained. Matt shrugged and thanked the white unicorn for her generosity. After quickly surveying what was banged up, they began tending to the destruction Rarity had yet to get her hooves on.

It was getting close to five o'clock by the time they finally called it quits for the day. Spike was going to be at the train station soon and they needed to pick him up. They discussed the possibility that the tracks may have been damaged as they made their way there. Hopefully everything would be alright. The Ursa was quite the distance from the station, and since Rarity's place wasn't in too bad of shape, the tracks should be okay. They arrived a few minutes late, but the train hadn't arrived yet. It never seemed to be on time.

With little to do as they waited, they decided to ask the employees if they had heard anything about the condition of said tracks. One of the pegasi who worked for the railroad had checked ahead after the chaos died down. The path to Canterlot had looked okay. They weren't aware of the tracks that headed to Manehattan, Fillydephia or any other area just yet.

About ten minutes later, the train arrived and Spike was welcomed by his friends. He immediately spotted Matt towering over the group. His surprise was quickly replaced by a smile. "They finally decided to let you out, huh?"

"Them? No, not really. Something...came up. You'll see." Matt noticed the odd looks the girls were giving him. He whispered to them with a sly grin, "Just play along."

Spike was a little lost for words, but shrugged it off. He noticed Matt's bare feet. "Lose your shoes?"

Matt looked away with a hint of embarrassment. "Sort of."

"'Sort of'? How do...you know what? Nevermind. I'm not sure I want to know."

"Trust me, Spike. You'll find out," Twilight giggled.

Spike was sharing his experiences over the week with his friends as they headed back to the library. Matt kept taking discreet opportunities to check and see if the Ursa's large frame had started emerging over the rooftops yet. He stifled his chuckles, picturing Spike's reaction in his head as they went.

They were on the last leg of the walk back to the library when Spike asked an interesting question. "Say, did you all hear something about an Ursa in the last couple days? I overheard some of the guards talking about one."

The girls and Matt looked at each other, acting as innocent as they knew how.

"Hm...nope. No idea what you're talking about, squirt," Rainbow lied.

"Yeah, it's not like one just decided to go for a walk and show up here or anything! That would be just silly!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Huh. I thought I heard one of them say that...uh, what's that?" He spotted a large patch of light purple fur overhead, sticking out over the buildings, and froze up.

Fluttershy giggled, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Spike."

"What do you mean?! There's something over there! I can see it over the houses!"

Twilight laughed at his reactions. "Come on Spike, we're almost home."

He tried to speak his protests but nothing came from his mouth. He sighed and continued walking, never taking his gaze away from the Ursa's concealed body. When he finally came to a clearing next to the library and saw the gigantic creature, he froze up again. "I-i-i-is th-that...?"

"Oh, that? New lawn decoration," Matt quipped. "What do you think?"

Spike yelled in panic and raced inside, jumping into his basket and shaking like a leaf under his blanket. The Crusaders were waiting when the first of them went inside even though Spike paid them no mind as he dashed right past them. School was apparently closed that day, and they miraculously did as Matt asked and returned there. Nothing looked more out of place than it was this morning, much to Twilight's relief. They watched in wordless confusion as Spike sped by them and out of sight.

Matt whispered into Twilight's ear and she laughed at his idea, as immature as it might have been. He motioned for them all to keep quiet and follow. They all snuck up on Spike, still hiding, as quietly as they could. A familiar purple glow surrounded the basket and carried him to a window that happened to overlook the field that the Ursa was still laying in. Outside and slightly to the left, they could see the monster's head in the crater. Perfect!

Twilight removed the blanket and levitated Spike over to the window, badly hidden snickers coming from his friends as they pieced together what was going on. She released his legs and they found their way to the floor. The rest of the aura faded from his body. Spike opened his eyes, desperately searching for the security he had under his blanket. He saw he was in front of the window and spotted the empty stare and enormous exposed fangs facing him from the distance. He stiffened up and slowly turned around.

"Th-that's okay, I didn't need to sleep tonight."

Matt's journalistic entourage had started coming together about a half hour earlier than he planned, but that wasn't unexpected. His existence was going to be a huge story and it only made sense that everypony wanted to be in the front row. The number of ponies with cameras and notepads looked even bigger than yesterday. Word must have spread like wildfire about this weird new creature in Ponyville and what it did to the Ursa, giving reporters from out of town the perfect reason to come.

Most of the rest of Ponyville had shown up as well. He arrived precisely when he intended to with his chair in hand. As he sat down, he happened to spot the same light green unicorn from the other day near the front of the crowd off to the side with a similar enormous grin on her face. Another pony beside her, a light beige one with a curly pink and bluish-purple mane, kept glancing at her friend with a rather irritated look.

"Why did you have to drag me along to this?" Matt heard the biege pony ask.

"To say I told you so. Besides, this is going to be awesome!"

"Ugh."

The girls had congregated at the library that morning to join Matt for his interview. Big Mac and Granny Smith had taken care of just about everything back at the farm over the course of the previous day, and Applejack assisted in the final touches in the evening once she got home. Fluttershy's cottage was a bit of a wreck when she had gotten home but got most things cleaned up. Not having any animals in the way except for Angel made things a lot easier. It'd be several days before they'd return, more than likely. Spike remained inside and was working on the chores Twilight left for him.

The interview had taken up all morning and finally ended in the early afternoon. It had gone much better than expected. He told them about himself as best he could and answered every question they asked. He even told them he had an idea for getting rid of the Ursa's body but didn't go into detail.

Twilight was the most surprised that all had gone so well since she had been the most adamant about keeping Matt under wraps. Before all the equipment had been put away, Pinkie took the liberty of using one of the boom mics to advertise the town-wide party she was going to have ready Monday, starting in the late morning. The reporters still had plenty of time to write up their reports and lay out their articles for the big Sunday edition the next day but still hurried back to their respective offices.

Matt took some time afterwards to talk with some of the Ponyville citizens who stuck around after the crowd began to disperse. Everypony seemed very accepting and friendly.

During the chatter, he told his six friends that he wanted to take them out to eat at a fancy restaurant that night to celebrate. He'd make sure to include Spike too. He suggested that he could probably convince the owner of wherever they decided to go to get them a meal on the house, considering his new found celebrity status. They assured him that they would take care of any bill if it came down to it. However, they did feel they had earned themselves a little treat after what had transpired the last couple of days.

Pinkie darted off to start putting decorations on everything in preparation for Monday, but the rest of the girls stuck around and mingled. Sunday was going to be a nonstop baking day for the party animal, and she wanted to get a jump on things. The others eventually found themselves drifting toward the center of town to show Matt around. This was going to be a nice, relaxing, lazy day.

Even for a Sunday, it was a typical busy day in Manehattan. Taxi carriages were driving ponies to and from wherever they needed to go. Pedestrians were taking up more room on the sidewalks than there was. However, there was a very atypical number of ponies surrounding most of the local news stands.

A brash blue showpony happened to be strutting down the road, doing her best to make sure everypony went around her. She'd be nuts to think that she was going to concede any room to anypony going by. She saw a group of businessponies huddled at a corner by a kiosk and smirked with delight.

"Hmph! Those pathetic noponies must be reading about the amazing perfomance the Great and Powerful Trixie put on for them last night at Mareson Square Garden. I can't say I blame them for wanting more of the most incredible show of the Great and Powerful Trixie's career yet. Let's see what they had to say about my performance, hm?"

She scooted up and did a double take at the Manehattan Times headline. "WHAT?!" She yanked a newspaper off the stand with her magic.

"Hey! Are you gonna pay for that?"

"'Mystery Creature Vanquishes Ursa Major'?!" she yelled. On the front was a picture of Matt standing triumphantly with his arms crossed in front of the Ursa's face. She flipped to the inner pages and scanned over the story. The first picture that caught her eye made her blood start to boil. It was Matt sitting there with the girls.

She gritted her teeth and an eye twitched. "He's friends with Twilight Sp...RAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" and she ripped the paper in half.

"Okay, you're payin' for that!"

Chapter 13

Matt had asked the night before at dinner for the girls to meet him at the library in the late morning with their saddlebags. It had been a couple days since he viciously killed the Ursa and it was beginning to stink a little. He had mentioned to the reporters that he had an idea on how to get rid of it. Unfortunately, he wasn't completely sure if it would work. If it didn't, they'd be back to the drawing board.

Pinkie was already working hard at the bakery getting her confectionery delights prepared for the party the following day. The others arrived at the designated time and Matt explained his idea. Concern filled the room, but Fluttershy expressed her disapproval of his idea by shaking uncontrollably.

"Uh...are ya sure that's such a good idea, Matt? Ya remember the agreement y'all made, right?" the farm pony asked. "How do ya know he ain't gonna be upset over what he'll probably see as you breakin' your word?"

He shrugged. "I don't. Maybe I can give him another award-winning performance. I want you to come with me just in case things head south. I honestly don't expect them to if he sees my little 'gift'." He looked down at his bare feet and frowned a bit. "Climbing the side of a mountain without shoes though? That's gonna suck. Shame that Pinkie's party is tomorrow. Would have said that we go tomorrow once your friends were finished doing their thing," Matt said as he looked at Rarity, referencing her shoe-making friends.

"Eh, I'm sure we'll figure out something. Maybe Twilight can put a protective spell on them or something," Rainbow suggested.

"Probably the easiest thing to do. It's a simple spell, after all," Twilight commented. Matt nodded in approval. At least the easier problem was taken care of. The big problem still remained and wouldn't be resolved until they reached their goal later.

"How long did it take you to get up there the last time?"

Twilight reached an estimate first. "Several hours. We had to wait a little longer once we finally got up there because Fluttershy needed to take a different route up the mountain, so we weren't ready for about another hour." Matt was perplexed at the idea that it'd take longer for a pegasus to reach a mountaintop than a grounded pony.

"You know how I feel about d-d-dragons, Twilight." Fluttershy looked ready to panic ever since Matt laid out his idea. It'd be the third time she'd have to face the reptile, which is three more times than she ever desired. She desperately wanted to stay away this time around, especially since there wasn't a seriousness to his presence like there was when he originally appeared.

Matt held up his hand to relax the frightened pegasus. "No big deal. I was hoping you'd join us since you were able to calm him down once before, like what you guys told me about, but I'm not going to force you. Any of you. I just don't know the way there. Why I'm asking you to come."

Rainbow Dash gave him a friendly jab on the shoulder. "I wouldn't miss this for anything. It'll rock to see you in action again."

"Ya can count on me, too," Applejack said proudly.

"Likewise."

"Same here, Matt."

Fluttershy looked away depressed when knew she just couldn't join in. No matter how hard she tried to fight through the fear, the thought of encountering the dragon yet again was too much for her. "I'm sorry, girls. I just...can't."

"Relax, Fluttershy, jeez! I told you, no big deal," he said as he tried again to calm her down. He leaned over and ruffled her mane, causing her to let out a little squeak in surprise. Her newly frazzled mane made her cheeks redden. Despite the shy pegasus not wanting to accompany them, the others had confidence in Matt. He was more than capable of getting out of the few sticky spots he got into in his short time in Equestria.

"So, when were you intent on departing, dear?" Rarity asked.

"Was thinking we have an early lunch and head out. May need some extra time to reason with him. You never know."

Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Applejack had their respective saddlebags draped over their midsections with some meager supplies for the hike up the mountain. Even though the situation wasn't dire this time around, the familiar path was bringing back some upsetting memories. They all made it a point internally not to bring them up so as not to distract them from the reason they were taking the trek again.

They made it up to the mouth of the cave faster than before, likely since they didn't need to stop multiple times. Their only break was about half way up, for about fifteen minutes. They caught their breath and had something to drink. Matt still felt a little winded even though his endurance had increased thanks to working the farm. They took a few minutes when they reached their destination. Even though they were a long way from the town, they could still see the Ursa laying on the ground.

"Okay, just let me do the talking. Here goes nothing," he said, looking into the cave and breathing deeply.

Matt took the lead with slowly headed inside. It wasn't a very deep cave so the midday's sunlight allowed them to see inside without the use of magic for a short distance. He could hear the sounds of slumber and almost immediately noticed the outline of the familiar red dragon. A massive pile of jewels and gems glistened faintly. Matt figured that must be his hoard. He didn't see his old cell phone anywhere, but that didn't necessarily mean that it wasn't present. He didn't dwell on the thought and approached the sleeping giant.

"Uh...hey there. What's going on?" he said with a hint of nervousness.

The groggy dragon blinked a few times, clearing his vision and adjusting to the light trickling in from outside. He looked down and recognized the morsel he became acquainted with and four of his friends. Matt's quickly masked his uncertainty with a smile and greeted the drake. 'Time to put on a show again,' he thought.

The large reptile was shocked and irritated that he had the audacity to intrude in his home. "You! What are you doing here? We had an agreement!"

"We did, and we still do, dragon. I'm sorry for bothering you here in your home–"

"Wait a minute," the dragon cut him off. "Why are you even still here? Shouldn't you have gone back to your people?"

"Well, I did. But when I got home, I have to admit I started missing the hospitality and atmosphere here in Ponyville. So much more peaceful than where I came from. I quit my position and decided to return here. I asked the Princess in charge of the land if it was alright if I could stay, even though I'm not a pony like my friends here." They waved as Matt continued to perform. "She said it was okay, so here I am."

"Yes, you are here. You agreed to leave me alone. Perhaps I should break the agreement as well," he said as he leaned down to look Matt in the eye, baring his teeth.

Matt held his hands up innocently in an effort to calm the beast down. "I know you're angry, and you have every right to be, but I'm actually here because I have another gift for you."

The dragon cocked his head. "Another gift? What are you talking about?"

"We had a...situation in Ponyville the other day. It's been resolved but we were at a loss as to what to do after it was settled," Matt explained. "The problem was a rather large one, literally. I put some thought into how we were going to clean up the mess and an idea came to mind. That idea was you." The girls silently looked at each, unsure of what Matt was getting at.

"What do you mean?"

Matt motioned for the dragon to lower his head. He whispered in his ear, deliberately loud enough for the girls to overhear. "This particular gift will pretty much make my previous gift to you, that ancient relic, look like a pile of nothing. You probably enjoy fresh meat, and this gift is loaded with it. Plus – and trust me with this – if you were to tell females that you were the one who disposed of this...problem, weeeell..." He wiggled his eyebrows and grinned.

The dragon stared at him for a moment before coming to his senses. "Okay, you've got my attention. So, where is this gift?"

"Follow me outside."

The beast glared daggers at Matt. "If this is a trick–"

"No trick, I promise. If I'm lying, you have my full permission to eat me. Won't even try and stop you." The girls shot open their eyes, horrified at Matt's comment, given what they just went through recently. "Curious, didn't you hear anything unusual or feel any earthquakes in the last few days?"

"I was asleep for a while before you disturbed me."

Matt and his friends led the dragon outside to the edge of the cliff outside his shelter. He pointed to the Ursa in the distance. "There it is, sir."

It's massive purple frame was easy enough for the drake to spot against the lush green field at their height. He remained still as he stared dumbfounded at the gift. He finally spoke up, "Is that what I think it is?"

Matt grinned broadly at the oversized lizard. "What else could be so noticeable at such a distance?" He took a minute to admire his work while the dragon continued to gaze. "Like what I did with the place?" Matt joked.

The dragon eyed the human rather dubiously. "Are you suggesting you had something to do with that Ursa being dead?"

"I am."

"Now I know this is a trick," the reptile said sardonically.

"I didn't think I could convince you that I was able to kill it myself, even with a little help from my friends here in getting ready, but that's fine. The fact of the matter is that there's an enormous gift waiting for you on the outskirts of town, and like I said before, feel free to spread the word that it was you who killed that thing. You probably wouldn't be getting much sleep after that for a while, if you know what I mean, but I don't think you'd really have a problem with that," Matt said with a wink. The girls understood the not-so-subtle hints and looked away, blushing uncomfortably.

The dragon thought for a moment and looked over the area. There was no way it was going to fit in his cave. The top of the entrance wasn't much higher than he was and the Ursa was about twice as tall as him. Who knows how much heavier it was. He was a fairly average sized drake, but the Ursa was thick in most places.

"Where exactly am I expected to put it? And how am I even supposed to get it here?"

Matt bit his lip and searched for an answer that wasn't forthcoming. "Maybe you could leave it near the base of the mountain? Would be a pretty good 'Keep Out' sign I suppose. But you've decided to take it?" the human asked.

The drake nodded once with certainty. He could probably hibernate for months, if not longer, after gorging himself on something that size. Ursa was one of the only meats he had yet to taste over his lifetime too. This opportunity was too good to pass up. Matt just hoped he wouldn't mind that the carcass was already a few days old. He knew most predators preferred the fresh kill performed by their own hands.

"Great!" Matt exclaimed. The girls delighted at the news but remained quiet. Their tall friend looked up at the dragon with uneasiness written all over his face. "I, um...don't suppose it'd be too much to ask if you could fly those of us without wings down there? It's a pretty long walk. I don't mean to impose, just..." he asked as he trailed off. The question made the girls nearly jump out of their skin. Being carried around – thus being extremely vulnerable – in a large dragon's claw wasn't something that Matt had discussed with them.

The idea of being a taxi for the group didn't sit well with the beast either and he glared at Matt. "You've got a lot of nerve asking something like that. Why do you think I'd do that?"

"You kept your word about not attacking Ponyville. I trust you."

The monster had never heard stranger words. Since when was a dragon ever supposed to be considered trustworthy? He sighed, almost embarrassed, and lowered a claw onto the ground. Hopefully this wouldn't get out to other dragons either. Only one of the ponies were going to fit alongside Matt comfortably. Applejack stepped up and hopped onto the large hand. The dragon rolled his eyes and lowered the other. Twilight and Rarity cautiously approached and jumped on after a moment of contemplation. They trusted Matt's judgment and followed his example. The dragon lifted them up carefully and, with a flap of his wings, lifted off toward Ponyville and the waiting prize.

They arrived on the outskirts of the town within a couple minutes. Matt and the rest didn't expect such a ride. They weren't sure whether they should be feeling thrilled or nauseated. They began their descent to the corpse and Matt started to hear faint screams coming from Ponyville between the flaps of the dragon's wings. They probably thought they were suddenly under attack again.

Matt pointed to a destination on the ground and addressed their carrier. "Try to land over there so they can see us getting off your hands. They're probably panicking right now."

The dragon honored his request and settled gently on the ground between the body and the town. His passengers jumped down and their large red acquaintance scanned the Ursa's body, still in disbelief that it was there to begin with.

Several passerbys who saw the dragon land near them were shaking in place or huddled together in fear. Matt turned and saw the commotion and shouted, "It's okay, he's with me."

Most of the frightening ponies took their eyes off the dragon standing over the Ursa. Matt waved at them to keep their attention. Hushed whispers were passed around through the crowd when they realized that new human thing that was in the papers that morning was running around with a fully-grown dragon.

"I have no idea how I'm going to get this back home," it said, never looking away from the body.

"Probably going to have to drag it. As big as you are, I have no idea how you'd be able to carry it, and I sincerely doubt we'd be able to help you in any way. We're kind of puny next to the two of you." Matt hoped the dragon wouldn't feel insulted by the insinuation, despite how true he knew it to be.

After examining its limbs, it decided to grab the Ursa by one of its hind legs and prop it over his shoulder. He had to fold his wings in to do so. Most of the dragon's body was lost under the mountainous purple beast and lifting it up proved to be quite the struggle. Thankfully, he was holding up well enough so far. The dragon slowly turned back toward the mountains. The corpse fought him as he tried to make it move with him, but eventually the dragon won the battle. He spun his neck around and nodded at Matt.

"Enjoy your gift!"

He stared at the human briefly before responding, "What gift? I killed this thing myself." Matt grinned slyly as the dragon slowly lumbered away with the Ursa. The huge corpse dug up the ground as it was dragged away. Missing grass would be the easiest thing out of the whole situation to fix. It took most of the rest of the day for the dragon to finally be out of sight.

There was one thing that Matt could concede since almost as far back as the first day when he originally arrived. Pinkie Pie always seemed to outdo herself when it came to throwing a party. The first one he attended, which celebrated his arrival, he thought seemed kind of silly with balloons and streamers and almost what one would think are kids' games, but the girls made it fun regardless.

He saw most of the town for the first time only a couple days, and a lot of it had various amounts of damage. The townsponies had been working over the weekend after his famous interview at cleaning things up. One thing was for sure, though. The ponies who would be replacing the windows would be very, very busy over the coming weeks. But today was a celebration, regardless of how good things looked.

Even though Monday was typically a work day, the stands and businesses had been closed. Even the normally workaholic Apple family had taken the day off and made their way to Town Square where the festivities were being held. The elementary school also took a holiday and the energy levels skyrocketed thanks to all the hyper fillies and foals running around.

Rarity had made an early trip to her friend Cobbler's place to pick up Matt's new shoes and brought them to the library. They did an exquisite job, given that they were used to making shoes for ponies. Matt tried the three pairs on and they fit very snuggly, allowing him to bend his feet as he walked. He was pleasantly surprised they were able to accommodate his differently shaped feet. He thanked Rarity by jokingly kneeling like a gentleman and giving her a kiss on the hoof, much to Spike's chagrin. Rarity rolled her eyes and giggled at his silly antics. Spike snorted his disapproval at that, too.

Matt, Spike, Rarity and Twilight ran into the rest of their friends in Town Square. Sure enough, it looked like the entire town had shown up. Matt couldn't have counted the number of times he said hello or was cheered on from a bystander if he had the rest of his life. He and the girls made friendly small talk with the party goers as they took in the atmosphere. He made his way through the crowd to get his hands some of the ridiculously delicious treats Pinkie had laid out but ran into a familiar pony pairing and stopped himself short thanks to the seemingly insane expression on one of their faces.

"Oh my Celestia, he's finally here!" Lyra yelled at her friend. She wore an almost impossibly big smile like the few other times he met her.

"Uh, hi Lyra," Matt muttered, trying to be polite. She was the only pony he had met up to that point that creeped him out at all. When he first met Twilight and her friends, he wasn't nearly as spooked as he was when he ran into Lyra the first time. Even Pinkie wasn't as bad as the mint unicorn. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, I'm sorry! This is my roommate Bon Bon."

"Hello."

"What's going on, Bon Bon?"

"Just wondering why I hang out with her. She hasn't stopped talking about you since that interview."

He met Lyra's gaze and it almost felt like she was trying to stare into his soul. "You don't say?"

"Oh, what? You love it," Lyra said to Bon Bon sarcastically. She looked over Matt with wide eyes and what he could swear was a bit of drool falling out from the corner of her mouth. "Oh, if you only knew what I'd do to you if I got you home," she mumbled her inner thoughts. Much to her embarrassment, however, she happened to do so a little too loudly. She snapped her hooves over her mouth when she realized what she said. Once it registered, Bon Bon turned her head at a snail's pace and stared at her friend with a mixed look of shock and disgust.

Matt heard her as well and nervously cocked his eyebrows. "And I'm so very glad that I don't. Uh, look...um...I actually wanted to talk to someone...over there!" he exclaimed, pointing in a random direction. "I'll see you later. Nice meeting you, Bon Bon."

"Uh, yeah. See ya."

Once he felt they were finally far enough out of sight, he hunched over and facepalmed. Listening to Rainbow Dash chuckling most of the way didn't help things.

"Looks like you have a fan, Matt!" the pegasus managed to say between laughs.

"Don't you have a fan club, Rainbow?" he asked.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Who's the president?"

"Scootaloo, why?"

"Picture her wanting to take you home so she can 'do things' to you."

Rainbow thought for a moment and her eyes slowly widened in horrifying realization. "Aww.. awwwwww! No, no! Dear Celestia, no! That's just wrong on so many levels! Ugh, now I have to go wash my brain."

Another unfamiliar pony trotted up to greet the guest of honor. This one was tan and had a gray mane and glasses. "Ah, there you are! I'm so glad I you're here, Mr. Matt!"

"Hey, what's up? And it's just Matt."

"My apologies! I'm Mayor Mare. It's a pleasure to meet you finally! I cannot thank you enough for saving the town from that Ursa Major, and this party that Pinkie Pie threw was a wonderful idea!"

"Thanks!" Pinkie said, bouncing happily at the compliment.

"On behalf of the citizens of Ponyville, I welcome you to stay as long as you like! I know you said to the reporters the other day that you've been here a few months. Do you plan on staying long? I'm honestly surprised they never asked that question," the diplomat inquired.

"Probably. There's no way for me to go home, as far as we know. I've been sleeping in Twilight's basement at the library since I arrived."

"Oh, that simply won't do! Starting first thing in the morning tomorrow, I'm going to personally see to it that we have a home custom built for what you need," the Mayor insisted. "It'll be a simple task to write up the permits and pass them along to the contractors."

They all perked up at the Mayor's offering. "Wow, are you serious? You don't have to, really," Matt said.

"Oh, nonsense. It's the least we can do."

"Oh my God, I don't know what to say. Thanks!"

"You're very welcome, Matt. I'll be seeing you around." With that, the Mayor happily trotted off to enjoy more of the festivities.

"Oh my gosh, that's so cool! You're getting your own house!" The looney pony gasped. "Do you know what this means?!"

Matt thought for about three seconds. "House party?"

"Heeheehee! You know me so well!"

A few hours had gone by and the party was still very much alive. Matt had separated from the group to sit down on a bench. He had been standing for a long time and his feet were getting tired. The girls went their own ways to mingle with the crowd and enjoy some of the snacks.

Another pony, this one appearing to be a stallion by his squarer muzzle, walked up to greet Matt while he rested. His coat was light brown and his spiky mane a much darker brown. He spoke with an almost posh accent. "Ah, there you are. My, it's been quite the long time since I've seen one of you."

"One of me? What, you mean a human? I thought Twilight said that there's never been a human in Equestria."

"She would be right."

"Then what do you mean you've seen one before?" Matt's curiosity reached new levels with the implications.

"Well, I am rather...well traveled, so to speak. I've seen a lot of places and things on my journeys."

"Right. So, what's your name?"

"As much as I would like to tell you, my situation here dictates that I must remain incognito as much as possible, so unfortunately, I cannot say," the mystery pony confessed. He put a hoof to his chin. "In fact, I probably shouldn't have even mentioned bumping into others like you before. I may have inadvertently compromised myself. Ah well, we'll see what happens. Could be fun!"

"I'm sure you're probably aware, but my name's Matt."

"Yes, I saw you in the papers. Bang-up job handling that Ursa for me. Maybe defeating that beast was why you were brought here by...whatever it is that brought you here. Which would be odd, considering that's usually my department. Curious, you didn't bring yourself here by any chance, did you?"

"No, I don't know what brought me here," Matt said, completely perplexed at what the stallion was talking about.

"Drat. I would so love to learn how you came to be here, as I'm sure you would as well. Eh, perhaps another time," the stallion said with a shrug. "Well, it was nice making your acquaintance, Matt, but I must be off. You said you were from a place called Alabama, correct?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh, I'm almost sure I remember a greeting of sorts that I found where I do my work from. Or perhaps it was a way of saying goodbye? Maybe it was just a common phrase in that area?" Matt continued to stare in utter confusion as the light brown pony collected his thoughts. "Ah yes, that's it. Now I remember. Roll Tide," he said as he smiled and trotted away.

"Yeah! That's right!" Matt grinned widely and looked around at the goings on at the party after his new friend had left. He suddenly froze up and stared at nothing for a moment as what was said finally sank in. He turned his head back in the direction the pony trotted off to. "What?"

Chapter 14

The Mayor had made good on her word to Matt to get the plans for his new house written up. She also wrote up some papers to have some landscapers fix up the ground that was torn up by the dragon carrying the Ursa's body back to his cave. Per his request, she had the a lot reserved near the library. The construction crews began their work on Matt's home right away. It took them about two fast months to finish with a full crew, but his house was simple enough.

On Earth, what he had would have been considered small, possibly 'cozy'. All he had was a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room. An entertainment area wasn't going to be on the list since they didn't have computers or television. Most of his furniture came from custom made donations from the citizenry, who were more than happy to help after what he did for them. He was grateful for the unexpected amount of generosity from the town. Their sentimentality would have likely been considered something that uppity folks back on Earth did to make themselves feel superior, but here it was completely genuine.

The library had become a much more frequented place as he told many of the ponies in town where he was staying as they were working on his house. Twilight and Spike didn't mind the extra business he brought, even though most of the time, their guests were interested in seeing Matt. The other girls all also received a noticeable increase in attention, whether personal or business related. Being close friends with Matt had their benefits all around, it seemed.

He got many requests for assistance with various tasks, but he didn't mind in the least. Having extra size and fingers turned out to be more useful than he anticipated. It gave him something to do most days and sometimes he was given a few bits for his trouble. He never asked for them, but the ponies he was helping were more than happy to pay him for his time. He had to remind himself a few times that he was going to need to be fending for himself soon and having a source of income was going to become something to think about. He wasn't about to let himself freeload groceries and the like. Matt even started putting together weekly schedules just to keep up with all the requests, prompting Twilight to joke that she had been rubbing off on him.

The Mayor had a small ceremony when the house was finally finished, complete with a ribbon to cut. Normally, building a new home wasn't a big deal, but after everything that had happened, she felt it necessary. Plus, it was a nice little boost in the polls for her, and there wasn't any reason to pass that up. The Elements bearers and Spike helped him move his stuff into his new home, and good to her word, Pinkie had a party ready to go once they were finished. It was just the eight of them this time though. Moving was quite the workout for everybody and a relatively quiet party was all that was needed.

Even after he had gotten settled in, Matt still had many visitors asking for some form of assistance. The only time he ever said no was when he already had something else set up on the day they needed him. They were never disappointed though and completely understood that he was pretty busy. Matt got the occasional visitor who just wanted to come say hello, but the townsponies respected his personal space. Even his wide-eyed admirer only stopped over once in a while and, much to his relief, never attempted to tie him up.

He always was ready to welcome Twilight and her friends and their families over, however. They never needed an invitation and could stop by any time of the day. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were fairly frequent visitors and he did what he could to make some time for them, much to the appreciation of Applejack and Rarity in particular. They also had enough respect to honor his busy schedule and stopped over only when he had some time available, which surprised their big sisters to no end but made them very proud of their maturity.

Matt had reserved one particular Monday per Cheerilee's request to visit the elementary school as a surprise guest. His visit took most of the day but none of the kids cared. They bombarded him with another set of nonstop questions, much like his three little friends in the class did. The Crusaders relished in the fact that Diamond Tiara in particular resented that he was a personal friend of theirs. They figured she probably would be begging her dad later in the day for her very own human 'Nooooow!' to boss around and wait on her head to hoof.

This particular Saturday, Twilight had made a late house call to Matt. She was in some need of help the following morning after breakfast and was hoping he was free. It wasn't an emergency, but she was getting desperate for some help. He had always kept his Sundays open so he could relax at least one day a week. Thanks to this schedule, he had no issues with assisting her.

He decided to go to bed early that night so he was well rested for whatever Twilight needed. She didn't go into detail, but for her, Matt didn't need to hear what the issue was. There were only six mares in town he was always ready to lend a hand to, regardless of the situation. As he slept though, Matt heard a quiet but noticeable laugh echo through the room. He sat up and looked around the darkness. He didn't recall dreaming at the time. He called out, looking for a response that ultimately didn't come. He saw no shadows at the windows either.

He glanced at the clock on his nightstand. 3:17. He sighed and laid back on his pillows. He utterly hated his sleep being interrupted. It always seemed to make his brain restart. Even though he'd been asleep for about five hours, now that he woke up, his body would likely demand a fresh eight hours he wasn't going to give it. He yawned and rolled over, closing his eyes, begging to get right back to sleep. Unfortunately, this didn't happen for about another half hour.

"I'm so glad you had some free time today, Matt," Twilight said. He was waiting for in the lobby of the library as she made her final preparations. "I've been meaning to visit Zecora for some time now and it seemed everypony's been busy almost every day for the last couple of weeks, and when they're not, I'm too distracted myself." She paused, spotting the bags under his eyes. "You look kind of out of it. You okay?"

"Yeah, just had a little trouble sleeping," he said with a yawn. "Who's Zecora?"

"Oh, that's right! We've never mentioned her to you. She's a zebra that lives in the Everfree Forest. She's really nice. You'll like her."

"Isn't the Everfree Forest supposed to be all dangerous and stuff? Wait a second, wasn't that Ursa supposed to be from the Everfree Forest?" he asked.

"It can be dangerous, yeah. That's why I was hoping you'd come along. I hate the idea of going alone and Spike absolutely refuses. As far as the Ursa goes, its cave is further north of where we're going, so hopefully we shouldn't be seeing any of them. Besides, nothing seems to scare you." She gave him a friendly nudge as she lifted her saddlebags onto her midsection and floated a pack up to Matt.

Matt smiled and puffed his chest a bit at the compliment. "Well, y'know, if we do..." Twilight glared at his implications. "I'm just teasing!" he said, gently backhanding her flank. "What are we going out there for anyway?"

She rolled her eyes, shook her head and sighed at him. "What am I going to do with you? Anyway, I need some special herbs and potions for some spells I've been wanting to try out. Zecora always seems to have a myriad of such things and I wanted to see if she could help," Twilight explained, a smile returning to her face.

He threw the pack around his shoulder and extended an arm toward the door. "Then, shall we?"

Twilight and Matt had reached the treeline to the forest after about an hour and were deep enough into the woods that they couldn't see any sign of civilization behind them. The sun poked through the few spaces overhead, leaving most of the forest as dark as it usually is, even during the day.

A faint howl in the distance caught Twilight's attention and made her jump nervously, unconsciously leaning toward Matt. Despite hearing it as well and taking notice of it, Matt didn't seem bothered. Every crack of a dead branch spooked Twilight, even if it was only the wind that made it snap. Matt suddenly stopped in his tracks and rubbed his chest. The pain was back again, but nowhere near as violently as before. It was a steady, annoying throb this time, but it wasn't going to be enough to bring him to his knees as it had before. He hadn't felt it in nearly three months but it was a sensation he wasn't likely to forget.

Twilight turned around a step when she saw Matt wasn't beside her and saw his annoyed look and his hand at his heart. She remembered the last time Matt was in such a position, too. "Oh no. You're getting that pain again?" He nodded and smirked. She huddled up against him in fear, scanning for any signs of danger. They'd be in a world of trouble if something like a timberwolf or manticore decided to show up when Matt was in pain. Even though her magic was incredibly powerful, she knew Matt was more tenacious than she ever could be.

His chest pains cleared up after a moment as it had in the past, just as unexpectedly as it had appeared. He looked around for a few minutes, poised for something to leap out at them, but fortunately nothing ever came. He relaxed his posture and put an arm around Twilight's shoulders. She looked up and saw he was alright again. He nodded at her reassuredly. "How much further is Zecora's from here?"

Twilight looked around one last time for any trouble. Nothing. When she was finally sure it was safe, she pointed in the direction of her friend's hut. "About fifteen minutes that way."

They took only a few steps into a clearing when they heard a gutteral crowing sound nearby. Twilight instantly recognized it and froze. Matt continued a few more feet before he realized the hoofsteps next to him had stopped. He turned around and saw Twilight shaking. She dropped to the ground and put her forelegs across her face.

Matt raised an eyebrow in concern. What in the world would make Twilight simply duck down and cover her face instead of running for her life? He looked forward and saw a chicken's head pop out of a bush in front of them. It looked at him and lifted the rest of its body into the air, cawing maliciously. It looked like a small dragon, which took Matt by surprise. He tilted his head in confusion. This was a new sight.

Twilight peeked out from under a hoof and gasped at the cockatrice that was making a beeline for Matt. "Cover your eyes!"

He spun around and faced the terrified mare. "What? Why?"

"It's a cockatrice! It'll turn you to stone if it looks in your eyes!"

Matt turned back and looked over the weird creature as it got closer. A purple glow grabbed hold of his hand and slapped it onto his face. "Ow!"

The demon bird flew right up to Matt's face. He could feel it breathing on his hand as it crowed and screamed at him, trying to get his direct attention. It was succeeding, but not how it had hoped – Matt was getting annoyed. The cawing was like fingernails on a chalkboard and getting louder. He slowly bared his teeth and when he finally had enough, he balled the hand on his face into a fist.

"Shut...up!" he yelled, backfisting it to the ground, snapping his eyes open in rage. The cockatrice crashed hard and shook itself off. Matt stared hard as it charged back toward his face. It was stopped short by a sudden grip around its neck. It scratched at Matt's arm, lacerating it with its claws, drawing blood in a desperate attempt to get loose. Its wings weakly smacked at whatever they could as it tried to get away.

"What? Do you have a problem with me, you little shit?!" The cockatrice had only one option when it realized Matt wasn't letting go, even after being torn up. It glared into his eyes and Matt's feet started turning to stone. The unusual sensation prompted Matt to look down and realized Twilight was telling the truth. "How very cute. Sure, go ahead! Turn me to stone! See if I care! I'll just be sure to squeeze a little harder right before my arm goes too! What do you think about that?" he yelled, becoming more consumed by his fury as his legs became stone.

The cockatrice saw his work slowly crawling up Matt's body and redoubled its efforts, glaring hatred into Matt's eyes and digging its talons in harder. It hurt like hell, but Matt was too infuriated to notice or care. The monster's clawing had allowed it to begin to slip out of the hand choking it. As Matt's midsection turned to stone, he reached up with his other hand and cradled the creature's backside, forcing it back into his tight grip. There was nowhere for it to go now.

"Won't this be amusing? You kill me, and you choke yourself to death afterwards! Go ahead, finish it! Finish it!" Matt strangled the cockatrice harder and it emptied its bladder onto the arm below in panic. Matt's arms had begun to change. The beast shot its gaze between the hand around its neck, Matt's murderous eyes and his arms several times as it shook in fear. Only a few more seconds and it wouldn't be able to get free. The cockatrice shut it eyes and Matt's stone form cracked and shattered, leaving his body unharmed.

Matt smirked, almost annoyed that cockatrice couldn't go through with it, and flung it violently toward the ground. It rolled away from him for several feet before coming to a stop. He marched over to it and knelt down, leaning his head in to meet it face to face. He squinted ominously at it and sneered.

"Run."

The cockatrice backed away, rolled over and sprinted back into the jungle. Matt's eyes followed it until the sounds of bushes being torn through in retreat had subsided. He got up and went to check on Twilight.

The unicorn was still laying on the ground, huddled in terror and trembling. Matt knelt and leaned his shredded arm in, grabbing onto her shoulder. She jumped at the sudden feeling and slowly removed a hoof from in front of her face to see Matt looking down on her. She scanned the area for the cockatrice, uneasy of how quiet it was after all the screaming she just heard.

"It's gone. Trust me, that stupid thing going to bother us again," he said with disdain.

Twilight saw his bloody arm and gasped. "You're hurt!"

"It's nothing. I'll be fine."

"It's not nothing! You're a mess! We've gotta get this taken care of!" Matt started to think she may be right, though he was unlikely to ever admit it. Now that he was calming down, the scratches were starting to sting pretty badly.

He sighed in defeat. "Well, you said this Zecora has herbs and stuff. You think she'd have anything for this?"

"Probably. Come on, we're almost there anyway. I just hope we can get you cleaned up before it gets infected." She got up and doubled her speed from before, anxious to get to her friend's hut. Matt rolled his eyes and followed a few steps behind her.

Chapter 15

Their visit with Zecora was more brief than the unicorn would have liked it to be. Twilight was hoping to spend a few hours there chatting with the zebra about her goings on and if life was treating her okay. Matt's recent behavior with the cockatrice left her uneasy, however. Even though Zecora had given no indication that she had heard anything, she could tell something was bothering the pair. She felt it best not to pry, though. If something was eating at them, they would talk about it on their own terms.

After acquiring the herbs and potions she needed, as well as having Zecora treat and bandage Matt's wounds, she decided it best to cut the small talk short and head home early. Matt had been exceptionally quiet, even while getting the lacerations dressed, save for a polite thanks. His perpetual scowl even unnerved the normally collected zebra a bit. The walk back through the forest was no different.

"Matt, what is it? Ever since you scared off the cockatrice, you've barely said four words."

He shrugged and made up an excuse. "I'm always pretty irritable the next day if I sleep like shit. I'm sure I'll be fine if I head to bed early tonight." He chuckled to himself, "You don't happen to have sleeping pills here, do you?"

"I'm sure they have medicines at the hospital that would put you to sleep, but you probably need them to prescribe them for you," Twilight said. "Zecora probably could brew up something if you want to go back. I doubt she'd mind."

Matt shook his head and waved off the idea. "She talks funny. Not in the mood to play guessing games trying to figure out what she's getting at. She is nice, yeah, just..."

The unicorn half-smiled. "The rhyming can take some getting used to, I suppose. How's your arm?" Matt nodded and rubbed the bandages. "Good. What do you say we go get some lunch when we get back to town? My treat. Anything in particular you want?"

Matt looked to his right into the thick brush, intently listening for anything that may be lurking in the shadows.

"Chicken wings."

The pair settled for one of the more leisurely diners near Town Square. Matt still garnered a lot of attention wherever he went for obvious reasons and tried to be as polite as his mood would allow him. He told those who asked about his arm that he scratched it up pretty badly on some bushes while heading to Zecora's. It was close enough to the truth that he didn't have to worry about constantly making sure he was saying the same thing to everypony.

"So, Matt, why don't you tell me what's really bothering you? And don't give me that sleep excuse. I'm no foal, y'know," Twilight said bluntly. "I still remember the last time you lost it like that."

He had been fairly quiet at lunch too. Save for saying hello to ponies here and there, most of his time had been spent staring at a wall lost in thought but not oblivious to Twilight's question. She patiently waited for Matt to form an answer, making sure not to pressure him and possibly set him off again.

"Probably just the same stuff as before," he said dismissively. "Rarity suggested I read the local paper and see what else goes on in Equestria. Try and get a better understanding of your culture and stuff. You know something I've noticed? Nothing ever happens anywhere else. Ponyville seems to be a magnet for insanity."

"I'm sure plenty of insanity happens in other places. We told you about what happened in Appleloosa a couple years ago. They probably just don't report events like that to try and keep the peace. You of all pon...err, people...should know how influential the media can be," Twilight explained.

He grinned slightly at the notion. "Funny how back home that insanity is what sold papers instead of the good news. It's almost like the only reason the Ursa was in the paper was because a 'mystery creature' was involved with it, if what you say is true." He looked down at his fruit dish and shook his head. "You know what I'd give for a big, juicy steak right now? You think anyone would freak out if I went out hunting and dragged a fresh boar or something back through town? Fire up the grill!" he half joked, trying to changing the subject.

Twilight stifled a chuckle. "I think a few ponies would be a little scared, yes. Some of them would probably think they'd be next on the menu. It's probably a good thing only our friends know about that for now." She saw through the pleasant mask he was trying to wear and gazed at him sadly. "I wish there was a way for me to fix things for you, Matt. I remember coming here a few years ago from Canterlot and I was told to make some friends. I was sure I was going to be miserable in this new place, but it's been the best experience of my life."

"It's not quite the same, y'know."

"I know it's a lot different for you," Twilight continued. "You're the only one of your kind here. We don't have the technology you do. Different diets, different ways of life, and I don't expect you to forget your home. I just hope you realize that, even if you were never supposed to be here, you've made a difference in our lives, and we wouldn't change that for anything in Equestria."

She reached across the table and laid her hoof on his hand. Her smile was as warm as the morning sun. He looked up and got lost for a moment in her eyes. "I'm not going to kiss you if that's what you're going for."

"Oh, shut up!" She giggled and magically tossed her napkin in his face. "I think you watched too many movies back home."

Matt glanced away trying to hide his mild embarrassment. "Can thank my girlfriend for that."

"Hello, Twilight. Hello, Matt," said a familiar voice. They looked up and saw Fluttershy descending beside them.

"Oh, hey Fluttershy!" Twilight said. "What's going on?"

"Just heading to the market to get some–" She gasped upon seeing Matt's injuries, "Oh my, what happened to your arm? Are you okay?"

He nodded and smirked knowingly, "Just had a run-in with a...what was it? A cockatrice?"

The word alone sent a shiver down her spine. Finding Twilight laying on the ground frozen in stone very nearly traumatized the timid pegasus. "Oh goodness, what happened? Are you alright? How'd you get away?"

"We didn't. It got in my face, I grabbed it around its throat, it struggled to get free–"

"Wait, you what?" Fluttershy asked, mortified at the implications. "Why would you do something like that? I know a cockatrice is dangerous, but it's still a living creature! You could have hurt it or worse! There are better ways to resolve something like that!"

Matt couldn't believe what Fluttershy was saying and raised his voice. "What, are you saying you rather it turned us to stone? The hell's wrong with you?" His loudness was beginning to garner the attention of the others around him.

Fluttershy flew up a few feet and peered at him angrily. "I didn't have to resort to trying to strangle it to fight it off when it attacked me and the Crusaders some time ago!"

He stood up and met her eye to eye, suddenly furious that she seemed to care more about some mutant chicken than her friends. "Well, good for you!" he snapped. "Funny, you didn't seem to care when I killed that Ursa! Should I have sat it down and invited it over for tea instead?"

"That was about to destroy the whole town and is a little bit bigger than a cockatrice!"

"And I still got my point across to that little bastard!"

"Maybe you'd like to see how I get my point across!"

"Try me," he growled.

A purple glow surrounded their heads and separated them. "Guys! Calm down! Why are you jumping down each others' throats?! Can't we talk about this rationally?" Twilight pleaded.

The two glared flaming daggers at each other, gritting their teeth and refusing to back down. After a tense moment, Fluttershy huffed and snubbed her nose at Matt. "I am being rational, Twilight," she firmly stated.

"Oh, get over yourself," Matt muttered.

Fluttershy ignored the insult and turned back toward the marketplace. "Twilight, I'll see you later," she said calmly before getting back in Matt's face. "And don't you come near my cottage or my animal friends again. Understood?"

"Whatever."

The pegasus flew off to continue her shopping. Their outburst attracted the nervous stares of everypony in the area. Matt had never gotten angry with anypony since his existence was made public. Murmurs and questions quietly echoed among the populace nearby. Twilight stared in shock at what just transpired between two of her closest friends. He continued to stare at Fluttershy as she headed back to her business and until she was out of sight. Matt grabbed his pack and began to leave.

"Where are you going?"

He paused and turned back. "Gonna go drop this off at your place and go home. Wonderful day this turned out to be."

Matt got a few steps away before Twilight called for the check. He was a third of the way to the library before she finally finished paying. She had tried to spot Fluttershy from the diner so she could go reason with her, but the pegasus was nowhere to be found. She sighed and sprinted after Matt, catching up with him after a few moments. She lifted a hoof to try and reason with him when she found him but decided against bringing up the fight again.

The awkward silence on the last half of their trek back to the library was deafening. The anger painted on his face made the ponies they walked past step out of the way, unsure as to what was going on. Twilight's heart sunk since she felt that everything she said to Matt at lunch had been thrown out the window in a matter of seconds.

He threw open the library door, startling Spike from an after-lunch nap. He rolled over and rubbed his eyes. Glancing over the balcony where he slept, he greeted his friends, but Twilight silently shook her head at him. The baby dragon saw how upset she was but followed her unspoken advice and kept quiet.

After setting the potions he was carrying on the kitchen table, he tossed his pack onto the floor and marched toward the door. "See you later, Twilight. Spike." He didn't bother to wait for a reply and left.

Twilight hung her head slightly once she heard the door shut. She removed the contents from her saddlebag all at once and laid them beside the supplies Matt brought in. She quickly decided to follow after him. Spike watched her leave and rolled back onto his bed. He silently tried to figure out what happened but ended up feeling down when he just couldn't come up with an answer.

Matt reached his home with his purple friend right behind him. He knew she was following but didn't mind that she wanted to tag along. She wasn't to blame for the mess earlier. He was actually starting to get over the doldrums he was in at lunch before Fluttershy came along. He had Twilight to thank for that, and it wasn't a surprise that she wanted to help him again. He grabbed the doorknob and took a step inside before pausing to nod Twilight inside as well.

The living room wasn't terribly spacious, but he didn't have many possessions anyway. Up against the largest wall was a couch in front of a coffee table, and to the sides of the table sat a pair of matching chairs. A half empty bookcase with a small plant was directly across from the couch on the other side of the room, and by the front window was a small desk with various papers strewn across it. Matt plopped himself onto the couch, stretched his arms out across the top and put his feet up. Twilight sat on one of the chairs and finally broke the ice after a few minutes of silence.

"I'm sorry about what happened at lunch, Matt," she said regretfully.

"Why? You didn't do anything."

"No, but there wasn't any reason for either of you to fight like that. I know she wasn't aware that you were miserable earlier, and that was no excuse for her to yell at you, but you know better too," she remarked gently. "You know how she is with animals. But you also know how much she cares about you, just like the rest of us. She refused to leave your side when we pulled you out of that Ursa's mouth for any reason, and I don't know if you were aware enough to remember, but she even held onto you like you were her own while you recovered in that field. Nopony wanted to lose you, but I can't imagine what it would have done to her if something happened," Twilight argued.

Listening to Twilight speak on behalf of her friend started to make him feel guilty. Matt had stopped by her cottage from time to time after he had stopped hiding, and he had seen how caring she was to that ungrateful little bunny of hers of all creatures, even when they bickered. He never understood why she would be sweet to the annoying rodent after how it would treat her, but he never suggested to Fluttershy that she get a little angry with Angel and put him in his place. He sometimes wondered as he watched them if something happened to her when she was young to make her be this way but he would never pry. It wasn't any of his business.

"I just don't get why–" A quiet knock at the door interrupted him. He suspected he knew who that was. "Come in, it's open." The door creaked open and a yellow pegasus cautiously crept inside and shut the door behind her quietly. She tried but ultimately couldn't make eye contact with either of them. Matt was having a hard time looking directly at her as well.

"Hello, Twilight. H-hello, Matt," Fluttershy whimpered. She sounded like she was about to burst into tears at any moment, even though she only said four words. Matt subtly nodded as she flew up onto the chair opposite Twilight. A desire to say something permeated the air but no words came for a couple minutes.

The unicorn was the first to break the awkward silence again. "You got your shopping done pretty quick, Fluttershy. Did you get everything you needed?" It had only been about twenty minutes since they fought, but considering how far from Town Square Fluttershy's cottage is, the only way she would have been able to finish her chore and get everything back home was if she raced around the market as if Rainbow Dash was on her tail.

"I...didn't get any shopping done. After I left, I just...I started thinking about–"

"I'm sorry, Fluttershy," Matt said solemnly. The girls were taken a bit off-guard by his action. He wasn't the first to show any anger towards the other when things started to go downhill. "I shouldn't have acted like an asshole to you. I just didn't really know what else to do to protect Twilight at the time. That thing was rather loud in my ear, too."

He felt it was probably best if he took the initiative the way he did and hoped that his little quip could lighten the mood a bit. While no one was really to blame for the argument, Fluttershy would undoubtedly feel responsible, given her nature. Perhaps this way, they could ease things along a little better.

"Oh, um, that's okay, Matt. I-I guess as long as everypony turned out alright, there isn't any real reason to get upset," she admitted. "I've heard ponies tell me that my stare can be...kind of scary when I've had to use it." She rubbed a leg, almost embarrassed at the idea that somepony as meek as her could ever be considered scary. Memories of what happened at the Grand Galloping Gala resurfaced, almost to remind her of what happened what she could be like at her lowest point. What was worse, she had taken her rage out on the critters that she claimed to care about. It was almost appropriate that the events came to mind.

"You haven't seen me on a real bad day yet," he mumbled.

Fluttershy scrunched her head into her shoulders. It even made Twilight take notice. "Not even when you yelled at Rarity that one time?" the unicorn asked.

Matt shook his head. "Back home, I'm kind of surprised they never tossed me away when I did lose it," he stated. He immediately regretted admitting such a thing. If he wanted to help the girls relax, particularly the shy pegasus, he wasn't going to saying stuff like that. He mentally slapped himself and apologized again.

"I don't know why you would be. You may have gotten angry, but, well...you're still a good pony...err, person. We've all been angry from time to time, though I don't really like it when I am," Fluttershy said.

Matt met Fluttershy's eyes for the first time since she entered his home. He motioned her over to the couch and patted the seat next to him. She sat down next to him, unsure what to expect. He laid his arm over her neck and scratched her head through her thick mane. She nuzzled up next to him and smiled sweetly. His fingers were very relaxing and broke the tension in the air.

"Tell you what. Someone makes you upset, they answer to me. Fair enough?" Matt asked.

"Fair enough."

Twilight joined in, seeing how the pair appeared to have settled their differences. "What if you upset her, Matt? What then?" she asked lightheartedly.

"That's why we have you! I'll just have you magic me to death or something."

"I'm not really a fighter. I could talk to Applejack or Rainbow Dash if you want, have them buck you upside the head," she kidded.

"That could work. I am thick in the head, so..." His pony friends giggled at his self-depreciation.

As the group sat and enjoyed each others' company without unease again, it began to rain outside. Twilight and Fluttershy looked at each in confusion. "That's weird. It wasn't supposed to rain today, was it?" the unicorn asked.

"I don't think so. Maybe there was a last minute schedule change?"

Fluttershy explained, "I couldn't imagine so. The Cloudsdale weather team is supposed to adhere to a pretty strict schedule."

They glanced over at the window. Matt got up and walked over to take a closer look. Aside from an unscheduled downpour, something else seemed a bit off. "Why is the rain...brown?"

Chapter 16

"Brown? What do you... Oh no. It can't be," Twilight stammered. The realization hit her like a truck.

"You don't think–" Fluttershy tried to say.

"What else can it be? But, I don't understand. It's only been a hoofful of months! It took him much longer to get free before."

"The Elements are still in Canterlot, right?" the pegasus asked.

Twilight hopped off Matt's chair and headed to the door, Fluttershy a step behind her. "They should be. We need to get a letter to the Princess immediately and inform her he's back. Hopefully she can get the Elements here to us right away. There's simply no time for us to round up the girls and take the train up there."

Matt stood at the window mesmerized by the unusual weather activity. He always enjoyed a good thunderstorm but the rain was never brown. He saw a few ponies running away, all in the same direction, after a few minutes. He hadn't heard anything his friends had said either, being too caught up in his own thoughts.

Twilight and Fluttershy stepped outside into the coat-staining rain and headed toward the library. Fluttershy took a momentary glance at Canterlot, hoping Celestia would be prompt with her response to the situation. "Oh, I think the Princess already knows."

"Why do you say that?" Fluttershy pointed to the 'castle' in the distance. It had been turned into several gigantic ice cream cones with chocolate flowing where the waterfalls used to be. Twilight's jaw almost came unhinged. "Come on!" They galloped back to the library, even though it was visible from Matt's house.

Matt snapped out of his stupor after he saw Fluttershy and Twilight dashing away in front of his window out of the corner of his eye. He stepped outside and held his hand out. The liquid that collected in his palm didn't feel like water. It was thicker and had a strange but familiar consistency. He closely inspected it and threw caution to the wind, slurping it up. The flavor was instantly recognized. "Chocolate milk? Is Pinkie doing something crazy again?"

Almost as soon as he finished his thought, the rain disappeared and the sky went dark. He didn't have any witty comments for this. He had seen a lot of strange things in the roughly seven months since he landed in Equestria. Twilight seemed to have an entire arsenal of magic at her disposal but none of the feats she ever performed had such an element of randomness.

"Maaa-aaaatt..." A ghostly voice echoed through the air and caught his attention. He didn't answer back. "Maaa-aaaatt..." it said again, almost playfully. A faint trail of light rose out of the ground, barely visible even in the darkness of the sudden night. "Come here! I have something to show you."

He smirked at the ridiculousness of the situation and closed the door behind him. "Why do I suddenly feel like I'm going to be the first victim in a slasher flick?" he sighed. He stepped onto the trail leading from his home and the first step he took made the ground play a note. He jumped in surprise, lifting his foot up. He tapped at the same spot on the ground a few times and the same note played each time.

"It's okay," the voice whispered, "I won't bite. Just follow the light and you'll understand everything."

Matt stared into the distance that the voice seemed to trail off towards. A few other ponies ran by him screaming as he stood in front of his home. He tried to get their attention and ask what was going on but they ignored him and kept running. He groaned in frustration and figured he may as well get it over with. He walked onto the trail of faint light and the path played him a nonsensical musical number.

"Spike!" Twilight shouted upon bursting down the door of the library.

The jolt startled him out of the nap he had returned to shortly after his friends left. "Ugh. What is it, Twilight?" he said, rubbing the sand from his eyes.

"Take a letter to the Princess immediately!"

The cobwebs were instantly shaken from his head when she gave the demand. He had sent plenty of letters to Celestia during their time in Ponyville, but Twilight had never sounded so dire about it, even when she went into a panic about having nothing to report to her that week so long ago. He grabbed a parchment and quill and readied himself.

'Princess Celestia,

Discord has returned. You have the Elements of Harmony in the vault at Canterlot. Please bring them to the library as soon as possible.

Signed, Twilight Sparkle'

It was the most informal and almost demanding letter she had ever had Spike write. Given the situation, the tone of the letter would probably be overlooked by her mentor. He breathed his green fire onto the paper and it was away. A few seconds later, the dragon belched up a reply and read it to them.

'Twilight Sparkle,

I've been on my way to the Elements ever since the castle turned into ice cream. I'll see you as soon as I can.

Signed, Princess Celestia'

"We need to wait for the others. They're probably on their way here if things are going nuts for them too."

Applejack was working out in the orchard when several of the trees suddenly uprooted themselves and began running around, throwing the apples on their branches at each other like snowballs. The moon popped out in place of the sun and the pigs in their pen were suddenly sitting in a bunch of upper crust chairs by a fireplace, monocles on their snouts and top hats on their heads. They appeared to be reading the Manehattan Times and snacking on crumpets.

"Oh no," Applejack mumbled. She ran to the house and came across Big Mac, who had the same idea upon seeing what was going on. "Big Mac, I gotta go! It's Discord again!"

"Eeyup."

She instinctively headed toward the library. 'How's he back again so soon?' she pondered. The reasons ultimately didn't matter and she focused on getting to her destination.

Pinkie was bouncing around the kitchen in Sugarcube Corner putting some goods together for any customers they may get later in the day. She pulled a fresh, hot tray of cupcakes from the oven and spread some frosting on top of them. She had to resist the urge to devour a few of them like she typically does. The Cakes were getting a little upset with her doing so lately and she didn't want to risk losing her job.

She picked one up and admired her work with hungry eyes. She brought it closer to her snout, almost daring herself to take a bite. The cupcake suddenly opened a mouth it didn't have a second ago and took a snap at Pinkie's nose. She barely jumped away in time before it bit down. The other treats popped out of their cups and started picking pieces off their tops and eating them while others arranged their frosting into various 'hair' styles.

The rest of the shop fared no better. There were appliances floating in midair upside down, counter tops turning into icing and the staircase leading upstairs turned into a water slide complete with a chocolate milk cascade flowing forth and soaking the floor.

The pink pony darted her attention around, twirling her head into a corkscrew as she tried to survey everything going on around her. When her neck had enough, her body spun around and straightened her out again. She hovered in the air for a second before plopping onto her stomach. The bright sunshine pouring in from the windows suddenly went dark.

"Uh oh." Pinkie sped out the door in a pink blur and raced to the library.

Rarity was humming away in her inspiration room trying to come up with the next big fashion trend. She took some fabric and started feeding it through her sewing machine, a few potential ideas going through her head. After she finished, she spread out the fabric to examine her work and see if everything looked in order. The thread she just stitched into the cloth looked bizarre however. It was thick and looked strangely sticky. She took a close look and an odd scent tickled her nose.

"Licorice? What in...?"

Singing appeared out of nowhere behind her. She spun around and her ponyquinns were dancing together in a chorus line, standing on their hind legs and kicking like they were part of a Bridleway musical. They reached their finale and burst into an explosion of marshmallows. Through the windows, the sun turned itself off.

Rarity ran shrieking down the stairs. She stopped short when she came across her gem collection floating around the store. They popped and turned into stones and fell to the floor. She picked one up and stared at what used to be a ruby, her eyes starting to water.

"My gems! My precious, wonderful, beautiful gems! Ruined! They're...wait a minute," she said as she noticed something peculiar about them. They all had the same shape. A familiar shape. "They all look like–" she squinted angrily, "–Tom!"

The door to the boutique slammed open with a light blue glow and Rarity galloped out, heading to Twilight's.

Rainbow Dash was lazily sleeping on a random cloud over Ponyville. She rolled over and felt a squish on her foreleg, startling her awake. She didn't remember falling asleep on a raincloud. She sat up and looked at her airborne mattress. It was pink and seemed to bleed brown.

"Uh, what's going on?" Almost in response to her question, it began to rain. Upwards. She swatted at the backwards weather as it flew up her snout and almost gagged her. The sun winked out of sight, replaced by the moon. The sudden darkness made her jump off the cotton candy cloud.

Below, Ponyville was in complete disarray. Buildings were floating on small islands in midair, the arms of the clock tower in the distance were spinning backwards, and she did a double-take when she saw what happened to Canterlot. Most of the townsponies had already gotten out of the city, but the few brave enough to stay as long as they had were seen dashing out of town as fast as they could from Rainbow's vantage point.

"Discord!" she snarled, glaring at the mention of his name. She started heading for the library when a certain white unicorn caught her eye on the ground. She swung down to meet her. "Rarity!"

"Rainbow Dash! Discord's returned!"

"Yeah, I figured. I don't get it. He hasn't been gone that long."

"I don't understand it either. I was heading to Twilight's. She's probably already gotten in touch with the Princess."

"I was, too. Hop on," Rainbow said, landing beside Rarity, "it'll be faster if I carry you. The library's a pretty long run from your shop."

After debating herself for a moment, she climbed onto Rainbow's back and wrapped her hooves around her neck. "I won't be too heavy?"

"Can't worry about that now. Hold on!" She spread her wings and raced off.

Matt was following the path of faint light down a few back streets near the center of town. He was all alone but kept his wits about him. The ground hadn't played for him in a while, but in place of music, he got checkerboards as he continued. They didn't light up more than the trail he was following or play notes; they just looked weird. Matt figured with the way things were at the moment, a simple checkerboard could be considered normal. Some of the buildings he walked by floated overhead, some right side up and others not. Other houses were made out of cards. He could have sworn he saw pigs flying overhead and fruit running by him.

"That's it, Matt. Just a little farther ahead." The voice chuckled in the wind, annoying Matt to no end. Chasing ghosts through a maze of insanity wasn't exactly on his repertoire that day, especially after getting past the fight he had a couple hours ago. The sun appeared and relit the sky, causing Matt to shield his eyes for a moment. He continued onward and came across a clearing in the middle of Town Square. The normally majestic, motionless stone statue at the fountain in the center had a hat on its head, cane in its hooves, and was tap dancing. Bubbling soda had replaced the water.

Matt stopped dead in his tracks and called out whatever it was luring him around. "Where the hell are you?!"

"I'm right here," it said, right before a flash of light burst forth in front of him. Discord finally appeared, laughing at his anger. "Hello, Matt. A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."

Matt stared stoically at Discord's unique form, silently baffled. He thought the cockatrice from earlier looked weird but this guy took the cake. "And you are?"

"I'm Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony, and the most beautiful thing in all of Equestria! Your friends are familiar with my work, which you see all around you," he explained, extending an arm with pride at the state of the town. "Do you like it?"

He ran his view slowly across the chaotic square, taking in every detail he could. "This is ridiculous."

Discord leaned over and draped his lion's arm around Matt's shoulders. "I know! Isn't it great?!"

Matt backhanded him away. "Don't touch me."

The chaos god was humorously taken aback by Matt's gall. "Oh my! You're a feisty one, aren't you?" Discord hunched over to look down at the human. "You really have absolutely no idea how happy you've made me," he said, grinning mischievously.

He grabbed Discord's elastic beard and pulled down on it forcefully. "I barely know you and I can already tell I hate you," Matt said, snapping the beard from his grip and sending the draconequus reeling. Discord laughed at Matt again and laid on his side.

"Oh, I simply can't wait to tell your friends!"

"What?"

"Everything."

The sun had been shining in through the windows at the library for a short time. Books started flying around a few minutes ago and the girls tried to coral them with little success. The door suddenly flew open and a blinding light grabbed everypony's attention. Princess Celestia formed out of it, carrying the chest that contained the Elements of Harmony.

"Princess! Thank goodness you're here!"

The regal alicorn nodded and set the chest on the floor in front of the group of friends. She opened it and there sat the magical devices used to stop Discord in the past. Twilight set the Elements on her friends' necks and the tiara on her head.

"You know what to do. Be careful, my little ponies."

They nodded at their princess and smiled victoriously at each other.

Discord paced impatiently as he waited for the girls to arrive. Matt stood with his arms folded, barely moving. Neither had said much since Discord had mentioned wanting the Elements to show up. He paused to look around for any signs of them and spotted Rainbow Dash overhead, likely scouting for him. He grinned an evil grin.

"Ah, wonderful! They'll be here soon, and then the fun can really begin!" Discord zipped over, nose to nose with Matt. "You're going to love this, trust me," he said as he dragged a finger along Matt's cheeks before being slapped away again.

A few minutes passed and the girls galloped onto the scene. Matt's never separated his glare from Discord but still heard them show up. "There you are!"

"Ah, Twilight Sparkle, so good to see you and your friends again! How I've missed you! Oh, I've got such a huge surprise for you!"

"Stuff it, loudmouth!" Rainbow commanded.

"And it doesn't look like any of you have changed a bit," he said, his voice bleeding disappointment. "How boring. Oh well. After today, you'll be nothing but a memory, I can promise you that."

"You know you can't win when we have the Elements, Discord!" Twilight snarled. "Matt, back away. I don't want to risk you getting hurt." He followed her suggestion and fell in behind them.

He twirled his clawed talon nonchalantly. "Right, right, that. Oh, by the way, I'm much more powerful than the last time we faced each other. Just so you know," he asserted. Knowing Discord, the girls figured he was likely just blowing smoke like he always did.

"We'll see about that. Hit it, girls!" The Elements activated and lifted the six into the air, shining brightly from the gems. Their eyes opened and a familiar blinding light came forth. The unstoppable rainbow lifted high and hit its zenith.

"Okay, this is pretty fucking cool," Matt mumbled to himself.

Discord was watching their display in silent anticipation. As the cascade of color started to barrel down on him, he lifted his paw and spun it around as if he had no joints in his wrist. A black whirlwind firing terrible lightning emerged and swallowed up the rainbow before it came crashing down. After the last of the rainbow came, Discord lifted the whirlwind into the air and popped it out of existence.

The ritual completed and lowered the girls back to the ground. They were horrified to see Discord standing there, unharmed, with a wicked, toothy smile across his evil face. "Told you."

"But..but that's impossible! How's he still standin'?!"

"What were they supposed to do?" Matt asked. They had never told him exactly what they did when the subject was brought up. All he knew was that they were always able to take down any evil that challenged them.

"They've always turned him to stone before," Rarity explained, "but Applejack's right. He should have been defeated!"

Discord floated up and laughed as they became more frantic trying to figure out what may have gone wrong. "This is wonderful! The Elements are useless against me, just as I had always dreamed, and now I can spread chaos to all of Equestria forever!"

Matt snorted when he heard that word. "What, this? This is what you call chaos? This looks more like a four-year-old's fantasy land. Some 'spirit of chaos'," he mocked with quotation marks.

"You watch your tone, you little gnat. I was doing this sort of thing before you and your whole pathetic species were even a thought, before those Princesses of theirs trapped me in stone!" Discord's impish tone suddenly turned malevolent.

"All that time and you're still this terrible at it? Wow, I'd hate to see you trying to do something you thought you sucked at."

Twilight cried out, trying to stop his sarcasm, "Matt, what are you doing?! Don't antagonize him!"

He ignored his friend's pleas. "I can't believe you think this freak is so scary and dangerous. The guy's a damn joke. His jokes are damn jokes! He wouldn't know real chaos if it punched him in the face!" Matt yelled. His anger at Discord's clownish ways was become more obvious by the second.

He slapped his paw against his chest, pretending to act insulted. "I'm sorry, freak? I'm a masterpiece! Look at you–" he poked at Matt's chest, "–you don't have a tail, you don't have a horn or wings, you have no fur or scales or feathers or whatever, you're so dull! But please, tell me how you really feel. You think you know what real chaos is all about?"

"You have absolutely no idea what my 'pathetic species' is capable of." His friends couldn't believe what they heard. Discord slowly smiled from ear to ear.

"Prove it."

Chapter 17

"Prove it? How? What, am I supposed to...to tickle someone to death?" Matt's lack of amazing abilities left him with a bit of a conundrum as to how to put Discord in his place.

The chaos spirit held his stomach and laughed. "You...haha! You can't use magic, can you?"

His eyes narrowed in anger at Discord's insinuations that magic was the end-all, be-all of what a person, pony, or any other creature could do. "My people's magic was our technology, and I'm afraid I forgot to bring my missiles when I landed here. So sorry, asshole."

"And whose problem is that, hm?" Discord asked dismissively.

Matt ignored his remark and continued, "When I sat in Twilight's library for months, I did quite a bit of reading about magic and I'm willing to bet you can do what I read about."

Discord folded his arms proudly and smiled smugly. "Well, I am an all-powerful spirit of chaos, so it's highly probable. Tell me, what exactly did you have in mind?"

"I saw that some of Equestria's more powerful magicians could share their power with another if they wanted to. Are you able to do that, or are you really as pathetic as these stupid jokes all over the place?" Matt queried.

"That? Hah! That's an easy one. I thought you were going to give me something difficult. I should have known that that feeble little brain of yours would be so easily amused," Discord said, spinning his finger through Matt's hair. He swatted at the eagle talon but Discord pulled away at the last second. "So, what, you want some of my power? Is that it?"

"You want to know what's swimming around in my head? What chaos is really all about? Then give me some! Now!"

"Matt, what are you doing?!" Twilight screamed.

Discord's body snaked around Matt and a smirk crept across his long cheeks. "And just what you expect to do with any magic I give you? You say you've never used actual magic before. What makes you think you'll be able to control it properly?"

"I read about that too, and I'll bet you can give me innate control, can't you?" The draconequus fluttered his eyes and smiled innocently. "Then, do it already!"

"No slapping!"

"Oh, shut up."

He grinned maliciously as his talon glowed its signature whitish yellow. Matt closed his eyes as Discord touched his head. The aura that emitted from Discord's finger surrounded Matt's body. The girls watched horrified as their friend appeared to let himself be taken by their enemy. After a few seconds, the glow subsided and Discord pulled away. "Alright, boy, amuse me."

Matt stood motionless, his eyes darting back and forth beneath their lids. He snapped them open after a moment and sneered. In a heartbeat, he grabbed Discord by his beard and pulled him in close. "You're serious? What do you expect me to do with this shitty amount of magic? You want to see what I can do? Then give me more. A lot more!"

"Exactly how much more?" Discord asked, annoyed that his free gift seemed rather unappreciated.

"All of it!"

Discord guffawed at the notion. "Don't be stupid. I'm not giving you all of my power and leaving myself wide open to the Elements. I'll tell you what. Since you're so confident in your abilities, I'll give you half my strength. Even at half my current power, I'm more than a match for the Elements of Harmony."

"Matt, darling, stop! Don't play his little game! You'll get yourself killed!" Rarity pleaded.

His tiny red eyes glowed and Matt's body was lifted into the air, the magic surrounding him again, pulsing with life. Discord rolled on the ground laughing once the ritual had begun. "Wow, I simply can't believe how well this has all gone for me!"

"Give us our friend back!" Rainbow demanded.

"'Back'? You never really had him to begin with," Discord said venomously.

"What are you talking about?" Twilight scowled.

"Did none of you ever stop to wonder where he came from?"

Twilight glared daggers at him. "We never found anything about him or where he might have come from. What are you getting at, Discord?"

"Do you remember the last time we fought? I do," he casually reminisced. "Right before you finished trapping me in stone for the second time, I released a tiny portion of myself – my essence if you will – whose sole purpose was to find a source of chaos I could use to feed off of without anypony knowing about it.

"It searched across time and space until it happened to stumble upon a source that bled chaos so much it could taste it – his home world! It headed on in to look for the most chaotic creature it could find, and it happened to find dear Matt here," he explained as the girls listened intently.

"But don't worry," Discord continued, "he's not some 'chosen one' or anything silly like that. He was just some poor random soul that my essence happened to pick. He was the first one it found, you see. It pulled him through to Equestria and latched itself onto him so I could feed on whatever chaos he would inevitably bring, and it was such a small amount that not even Celestia would have been able to detect its presence, had she even bothered to look!

"Once I reached full strength again, I figured I was finished with the little whelp. Certainly you remember seeing Matt in such terrible pain from time to time?" Discord smiled with feigned innocence. "That was me! The part of me that was attached to him called out for something to come and take care of him for me every time, like moths to a flame. When that dragon showed up, I thought 'Hey, great! Maybe he'll turn you six into piles of ash or step on you or something and you'll be out of my way for good!'" he joked, shooting a smirk at Matt, "but he managed to weasel his way out of it and even save you. His response to the whole ordeal though? Priceless!

"After a while, I decided to give it another go. I'm sure you all still remember that Ursa Major? Me again! The amount of chaos I could consume if the entire town was destroyed would be amazing, and you all would likely have been killed too! Not only did he manage to somehow stop the thing–" he zipped up to the girls and squeezed them together in his arm, "–by the way, remind me to tell him that what he did even I think was absolutely incredible–" and zipped back to where Matt hovered, anger replacing his amused tone, "–but thanks to you, he survived."

"Sorry to upset you, Discord," Twilight deadpanned.

He chuckled at her sarcasm. "Oh, but I should be thanking you. After all, if he hadn't shown me how resilient he could be, he wouldn't have given me a even better idea as far as what to do with him. But I needed to put him through one more little test. I tried sowing chaos using the six of you and then the town. The only thing left was to attack him directly."

"The cockatrice..." Twilight remembered.

"Y'all ran into a cockatrice earlier?" Applejack asked.

"It's why his arm is bandaged up. I asked him to come with me to see Zecora's earlier. It showed up and attacked us. Matt grabbed it and was going to let it turn him to stone while he choked it so it would suffocate in his hand. It scratched at his arm trying to get away, but it eventually gave up when it saw Matt wasn't letting go."

"That's crazy!" Rainbow exclaimed.

Discord spun around in the air, pumping his fists victoriously. "And that's exactly what I was hoping for! Everything that's happened to him, even if he just stubbed his toe and punched a wall over it, gave me strength. That little fight he had with you earlier was just icing on the cake!" He teleported over to Fluttershy and patted her on the head before reappearing next to Matt. The timid pegasus looked away feeling guilty all over again.

"You guys had a fight? What happened?" Pinkie questioned.

"I'll tell you later."

"Just think! If one of his species gave me this unheard of amount of strength, imagine what a dozen of them could do! I could rule over all of existence for all eternity!" he cackled with a roar of thunder and flash of lightning filling the skies.

"You...you used him as a guinea pig! You...you...MONSTER!" Twilight shouted, her eyes watering. She lifted a large piece of the dirt road and flung it at Discord desperately. It shattered against him with no effect. "We won't let you! We'll stop you somehow!"

"Let me? Hahaha! I told you months ago just before you beat me that I had already won! I had this plan brewing for a while and now that it's come to fruition, it's turned out better than I ever dreamed! You and your precious Elements can't stop me now! Nothing can stop me!" Another bolt of lightning crackled at his words. Suddenly, an oven timer dinged and popped out of his ear. He pulled it out and looked at it, smiling at what it indicated. "Correction. Nothing can stop us."

Terror instantly covered their faces. "W-what do you mean?"

Discord's widened his eyes in delight, "He belongs to me now." He turned to Matt, who floated back down to the ground as the yellow glow that surrounded him faded away, and smiled villainously. "What do you say, Matt? Are you ready to show me now?"

His eyes shot open and the chaos god's yellow light erupted from them. He slowly looked up at Discord, who threw his head back and laughed triumphantly. Matt sneered and lit up his hand.

Chapter 18

Matt raised his hand skyward. He was in complete control of his new abilities, just as Discord promised. A yellowish ring of light emitted from his feet and rapidly expanded across the ground, covering everything in its path. The buildings and cotton candy clouds floating in the air turned yellow as well as the ring passed by. It expanded as far as the eye could see, eventually reaching Canterlot. Everything began turning back to normal one piece at a time.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Discord growled.

"Hah! Way to go, Matt!" Twilight cheered.

Matt reached out and magically pulled Discord close, staring through him. "Starting from scratch. This is my show now, remember?" he said, releasing the god and lowering his arm to his side slowly.

Their hope turned to despair in an instant. "Oh no," Twilight mumbled. "Matt, snap out of it! Come back to us! Please!"

Discord zipped behind Matt and leaned over his shoulder. "You can have him back, sure! All you have to do is blast me with the Elements." A mocking gasp escaped him. "But you might hit your friend, and I've already shown you how useful your Elements are. Oh, what to do?"

"That won't be necessary," Matt said coldly. He snapped his glowing left hand over his shoulder and ripped the Elements away from their bearers. Discord jumped back in surprise, wondering what his puppet was up to. The necklaces and tiara floated behind him surrounded by the same magic Matt was wielding. He tightly clenched a fist and the Elements were crushed, the jewels shattering to pieces. He grinded his fist and what was left of the powerful relics turned into dust. He let the remnants fall to the ground and they scattered into the wind.

"Yyyyyes!" Discord cheered. "I don't know why I never thought of that. Magnificent!"

The girls were speechless and now defenseless. Matt had just destroyed the only things that could be used to stop the Spirit of Chaos like they were nothing.

Discord disappeared and reappeared, sitting back in a recliner with a bowl of popcorn in his lap. "Alright Matt, go ahead and amuse me now. This should be fun!" he said anxiously.

Matt looked toward the heavens and the glow in his eyes intensified. A thick layer of black clouds appeared high in the sky with an eye appearing directly overhead. They almost appeared to cover the entire world, having entirely blotted out the sun. Lightning bolts flashed across the sky and loud cracks of thunder shook the buildings. He raised his arms slightly away from his sides and sparks of power shot out from his fingers.

Gale force winds and torrential rains began tearing at Town Square. Twilight had to raise a protective shield over herself and her friends just to prevent them from being blown away or from being impaled by any flying debris. After being hit in the head by a stray lamp post, Discord followed suit.

With a baring of his teeth, he commanded the winds to collect together in several areas around Ponyville. Numerous massive tornadoes slowly descended as the hurricane continue to wreak havoc on the center of town. Trees were uprooted and thrown around like rag dolls. Roofs were torn off buildings. The structures at the farm had been ripped apart and livestock flew across the skies, carried by the raging winds.

"Hm! This isn't bad so far," Discord remarked as he watched the carnage.

The earth began to shake violently. The roads broke apart and chunks of the earth rose out of the ground, toppling homes and work stands. The elementary school was swallowed up as a hole broke open nearby. The mountains in the distance cracked apart, resulting in multiple landslides. The effects of the earthquake were felt in Canterlot as well, windows shattering and structures collapsing.

Much of Ponyville was falling apart by now, but Matt continued his rampage. A mechanical sounding noise approached from the south that his audience was unfamiliar with. Even through the natural quakes, it felt like it was rumbling right toward them. They looked for the source when suddenly a line of tanks, surrounded by Matt's magic, crashed through and around what was left of Rarity's boutique. What was remaining of her beautiful store and home collapsed into pile of rubble. Almost as if they had a will of their own, the tanks rolled through the town, flattening everything in their way and firing their mortars randomly at whatever they saw. One blast fired past the town and hit the mountainside, flinging large chunks of rock into the air that landed in the fields just north of town. A few of the smaller boulders resulting from the blast careened toward Ponyville and smashed into the several buildings including the hospital.

"Oohohoh, I've got to get me one of those!" Discord said with glee, rubbing his hands together. Twilight and her friends could only watch in horror as their worst fears came true in front of them – Ponyville, Canterlot, and everything they had ever known and loved was being wiped out, and there was nothing they could do.

Matt's hands and eyes glowed brighter still, and overhead, half a dozen F-15s flew by. Though no one in attendance but the out-of-control human knew what they were, the girls did know they were intended to bring further devastation, being covered in Matt's yellow aura.

The war planes' missiles fired out randomly, blowing up whatever they came into contact with and leaving fiery craters all over. The flames left in their wake danced in the powerful winds, staying alive in spite of the terrible downpour. When the jet's arsenal was depleted, the missiles simply rematerialized. The smoke that bellowed out from the violent explosions added to the thick, black clouds overhead.

Matt silently looked toward Canterlot. His nostrils flared and in the distance, far above the royal city, a flicker of magic popped out. It was another jet. The girls and Discord took note of where he was staring and turned their attention to the castle as well. A nearly invisible spec appeared to fall from underneath the plane.

"I suggest you hide your eyes," Matt said loudly over the howling winds.

Shining Armor stood where he did months ago when the Ursa attacked after being called for. He and his battalion watched Ponyville being systematically destroyed in shock, unable to come up with any plan of attack. A tiny flicker of yellow light, almost invisible in the distance through the tornadoes and rain, taunted him with the idea that it was the reason for the destruction.

"Shining Armor!"

He turned around upon hearing his name spoken from a beautiful, familiar voice to him. "Cadance! What are you doing here? You should have gotten to safety with the others."

"I've been watching what's happening down there. I'm not going to sit back and do nothing while things go to Tartarus. If things down there come here, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but by your side," his lover said, embracing him. "We'll get through this together, I promise."

High over their heads, a noticeably bright flash of yellow magic appeared. Out of it, a bizarre flying machine popped into existence. Its belly opened up and it almost looked like it laid an odd-looking egg in midair.

"What in the world is that?"

A blinding flash of light consumed them.

The girls, and even Discord, yanked their heads away as the bomb detonated. Matt lowered his head beforehand, knowing what to expect. After the light shining right through their closed eyelids had faded, they turned back to see the ever growing mushroom cloud sitting where Canterlot stood a moment ago. The cap of the cloud seemed to climb higher and higher into the sky, almost as if it was trying to touch the sun through the dark clouds overhead.

The six friends stood frozen under their shield is disbelief at the size of the blast. Discord was stunned as well, unable to come up with a typical, inappropriate comment. A wave of energy visibly crawled along the side of the mountain Canterlot had stood on and was heading toward Ponyville, breaking larger pieces of rock and stone into smaller ones and turning smaller ones into burning ash and dust.

Matt lifted his fist up and formed a thick, yellow shield over himself and Discord. The spirit floated nervously closer. If Matt felt the need to raise a barrier this big, something serious was going to happen. Twilight saw the massive shield her friend erected and quickly padded her own. The shockwave they saw on the mountain suddenly, violently, whipped through town, incinerating and disintegrating what was left of the buildings that barely stood.

The jets and tanks were unaffected thanks to their magical shields. Even with the extra layers of protection on Twilight put on her own bubble, they almost weren't enough. The sudden rapid increase in temperature and the force that they were hit with almost broke through. The unicorn toppled over by the impact and almost lost her focus while Matt stood motionless from the safety of his shield.

Discord looked around at the rampant destruction happily. "The weather I understand. The rest...is this a sample of what your people can do?" he asked. Matt didn't answer, choosing to stare soullessly into the distance. "Okay, I admit it. I'm impressed."

The swirling rains suddenly started to crack as they beat on the shields. The air began slowly cooling, turning the rains into hail and making the hair on Matt's arms stand on end. The girls shivered and huddled together for warmth, their own coats of fur tensing up. A second ago, the heat that permeated and almost destroyed the shield made it nearly impossible to breathe and now they were starting to freeze. Their rapid temperature shift burned their lungs so much they felt on fire.

Matt raised his hand again and the shield throbbed with power. Nothing appeared to be happening otherwise.

"What are you up to now, kid?" Discord asked his protégé.

He glared at the draconequus for interrupting him. "I just vaporized the air. I still like breathing cool air, y'know."

There was nothing of Ponyville left by now but piles of smoldering, smoking ash. The tanks and jets had turned toward the Everfree Forest. With nothing left of the town, the war machines had an itch that still needed to be scratched.

Twilight saw him distracted by his task of replenishing the air. Her friend was gone and only this monstrosity was left. She came to a hard decision and lifted herself to her hooves, planting them firmly in the ground.

"I'm sorry, Matt," Twilight mumbled, shedding a tear.

Her horn channeled everything she had without dropping the shield in a single desperate blast. The purple laser sparked off Matt's shield and ricocheted harmlessly into the air. She collapsed onto her stomach exhausted but still able to barely maintain her shield. Her friends silently comforted her.

After completing his ritual, Matt lowered his yellow barrier and called away the hail and violent winds. The tornadoes retracted into the dark clouds overhead as thunder and lightning continued to make their presence known. He spun around and saw the girls huddled together in terror, shrinking away from the friend who just finished annihilating everything they knew and loved.

Matt narrowed his eyes and his magic wrapped itself around Twilight's weakened shield. Without much effort, he pushed down and cracked the shell. It shattered to pieces and the last of the unicorn's magical strength was gone. He lifted the girls and slammed them down on their stomachs in a circle, flank to flank. In the blink of an eye, six sets of clamps appeared above the girls' midsections and dug into the ground, locking them in place. They tried desperately, fruitlessly, to get free.

"Matt, please!"

"We're your friends! What are you doing?!"

"This isn't you, Matt! Fight him!"

"Matt, stop!"

Their pleads went ignored as he extended an open hand toward the sky, summoning a single, gigantic twister. He led it to one of the piles of debris that was still burning thanks to the bomb's shockwave and hovered the tornado above it. He magically guided the flame into the winds, merging the two forces together. Despite the initial fire being significantly smaller than the tornado, he managed to magically ignite the powerful winds and keep it hot as the fires climbed. It wasn't long until his burning whirlwind was complete.

"Okay, that's pretty cool," Discord said, mimicking Matt from earlier.

He opened the cone of the fiery twister and guided it over the girls before lowering it the ground. He clenched his fist and the reds and oranges turned shades of white and blue. His eyes sparked and the tornado started closing. As it inched closer to the trapped friends, the intense fires burned the earth black.

The powerful heat ignited their manes and tails one by one as it got closer. Their coats singed. Their skin blistered and charred before bursting into flames too. Their screams were drowned out by the intense winds whipping around them. After what felt like an eternity, the fiery tornado was upon them, only a few feet across from one side to the other. It was only a few seconds until the only sounds in the air were a raging twister and death. Matt held his creation in place for a moment before lifting it off the ground and letting the whirlwind dissipate out of existence.

At the center of the large ashen ring that was once the road in Town Square laid six burnt skeletons that belonged to the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Matt relaxed and let his magic subside. He stared emotionlessly at the remains. Discord jumped for joy, laughing at his ultimate victory.

"Ooh, Matt, this looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship!"

Chapter 19

Discord laughed as the battle for control of the human seemed to have come to a close. Matt was his puppet now and with each of them having an enormous amount of power, nothing was going to stop them from destroying all of Equestria. At least, Discord had believed this to be the case.

Matt stood in front of the god, his right hand glowing by his side, and his left toward the Spirit of Chaos. His eyes no longer beamed and he was as still as a statue for several minutes. Discord stood there limp, unmoving. Matt's magic had encompassed him and left him seemingly catatonic.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Discord said as if in a fog.

"Who's he talking to?" Pinkie wondered aloud.

"What in the hay is he doin'?" Applejack asked. "Either of 'em. They're just standin' there."

"It looks like he's in a trance or something." Fluttershy observed Discord's eyes. He looked like he was half between being awake and asleep. The pupils of his eyes were also glowing as brightly as the rest of him.

Pinkie jumped in front of Discord and waved her legs frantically in his face over and over. "Yoohoo! Anypony home? Hellooooooo!"

"Pinkie! Don't distract Matt, whatever he's doing," Twilight scolded.

He smiled coyly. "It's okay. I've got this under control."

"Yyyyyyes! I don't know why I never thought of that. Magnificent!" Discord mumbled. "Alright Matt, go ahead and amuse me now. This should be fun!"

"What in the world is he talking about?" Rarity asked.

Matt explained, "It's what he's seeing."

The girls looked at each other befuddled. "What do you mean, dear?"

Matt knew he needed to go into more detail. "When Discord gave me that tiny sample of power, I felt...something...inside me. I had no idea what it was, but it felt exactly like what he just gave me. So, I figured he had to have something to do with it. I used that tiny bit of power to quietly get it out of my system without him noticing. When he started telling you about why I was here, I heard everything he said, and I kinda figured out what it had been that I had gotten rid of."

"What was it?" Twilight asked.

"It was that bit of him that pulled me here in the first place. I had severed our connection and didn't even realize it till then. It's a good thing too, otherwise...well, what I'm showing him would probably have been a reality," he said grimly. "I don't know why he felt the need to monologue. Probably thought he had control over me at the time or something, I don't know. If that little bit he attached to me had that much influence over things..."
1
"Hm! This isn't bad so far," Discord said quietly.

"What're you showin' him?"

He was unsure he should answer that question, but still felt he had to somehow. "Maybe I'll tell you all some time, but not right now. Trust me–" he shook his head, "–you don't want to know."

The draconequus continued in his trance, "Oohohoh, I've got to get me one of those!"

"I don't get something. How'd you get him to start seeing things without him noticing?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I was watching him. He closed his eyes when he threw his head back. That's when I conjured up my little illusion." He smirked, all proud of himself.

Twilight walked up to get a curious, closer look at Discord. "So, what are you going to do with him now? Leave him trapped in this fantasy world?"

He shook his head. "Too risky. Always a possibility he could get free from it, and he'd still be just as strong as he is now. Noooo, for him, I'm doing something far, far worse. He took everything away from me–" his eyes narrowed, remembering what was gone, "–so now, I'm taking everything away from him."

"What do you mean?"

He sneered over the memories that would never be thanks to the freak in front of him. "I'm taking every last bit of power away from him, including his essence; everything that makes him what he is. Have been since my little illusion began. There'll be nothing left of him but a bunch of random parts."

"Goodness, Matt! How devious! I would normally frown upon such things, but given the circumstances, that's just so... ooooo!" Rarity shuddered in delight.

"The weather I understand. The rest...is this a sample of what your people can do? Okay, I admit it. I'm impressed."

Discord's hypnotized rant piqued their interest. "Okay, I really gotta know what you're showing him if it's able to impress him, even if it is just a dream," Rainbow Dash pouted.

"What are you up to now, kid?" Discord babbled.

"How much more do you have to go?" Fluttershy asked.

"Almost done. I just don't want to rush this and risk him coming out of this early by accident." He turned around and smiled at his friends. "Patience, girls."

"Okay, that's pretty cool," Discord said to nopony.

Applejack looked over the Spirit of Chaos as he stood helpless in Matt's grip, crinkling her nose. "Just wish we didn't have to hear 'im. Blabbermouth."

Matt neared the end of his task and struggled briefly after he had finished claiming all the magic. Discord's spirit itself was stronger than he anticipated and it took a little extra pull to steal it away. Fortunately, Discord was so engrossed by Matt's trickery that he didn't notice.

"Hahaha! Ooh, Matt, this looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship!"

Matt chuckled at what would be his last line in his current state. "Hmph! How ironic. He's going to hate me in a minute. Girls, we're all set."

"I can't wait to see his reaction to all this," Twilight mused.

"It probably would've been even more priceless if we knew what he was watching," Rainbow insisted.

"We've been over this, Rainbow." The pegasus pouted.

Matt's left hand ceased its glow as there was nothing left to take from Discord and he lowered it down. His right hand slowly faded and Discord's eyes became clear again. His laughter turned to confusion as his personal show began to disappear in front of him.

"Wait, what's going on? Where's...what...?" He blinked as his vision finally cleared, showing Matt and the girls together, unharmed. "You?! What's going on here? How is the town still standing? Where are those mechanical things you had everywhere? How are you still alive?! You're supposed to be dead!"

"Dead?" The girls eyed him suspiciously.

"...Hey, I had to sell it." They smirked at his response but decided to let it pass.

Discord tried to zip over to Matt to give him a piece of his mind but fell onto his face instead. He lifted his head up, completely baffled. He concentrated briefly, wanting to vanish and reappear standing again. Nothing happened. "I don't understand. What's happened to me?!" He glared at Matt, who was looking back smugly. He got to his mismatched feet, annoyed that he had to stand up like a common mortal. "You! What did you do to me?!"

Matt's smugness suddenly switched to anger. "You took everything away from me. I'm just returning the favor."

It took a moment but Discord eventually realized what he meant and started backing away. Matt magically grabbed him by the throat and lifted him a foot in the air. The former god grasped at the invisible hands choking him and kicked frantically with his stubby legs.

"Ready to finish this, girls?" Twilight proposed.

"No."

They looked at the human when he spoke up. "Matt?"

"Fluttershy, sweetheart?" He popped next to her. "Um...well..." He whispered in her ear for a few minutes, waving his hand occasionally to emphasize what he was saying to her.

"Uh huh...oh...oh dear...I see." She smiled at him when he was finished.

"Is that all okay with you?" he asked jokingly, playing on how they made up after their fight.

"Um, yes." He took her by the cheeks and planted a big, loud kiss on her forehead. She let out a little giggle as Matt stood up and marched toward Discord.

The rest of the gang wore their befuddlement. "What did he say to you?" Rainbow asked.

"You'll see."

Matt stopped several feet in front of a struggling Discord and let him go. The draconequus gasped for air and looked up at the human staring right through him. Matt stretched out his shoulders and cracked his neck. His forearms burst into fiery magic.

"I know that you're immortal, Discord. It's the only thing I left with you. Which means I'm going to enjoy every...second...of this."

Rainbow Dash saw in Matt the little motions she would go through to get loose before most of her flying routines' practices. She knew exactly what was coming and grinned wickedly. "Get 'im, Matt."

"W-what are you going to–" Discord started to say before being rocketed into a building with a lightning fast right cross. In an instant, Matt reached out and grabbed hold of his limp body while it flied through the air and yanked him back. He lifted himself into the air and balled his fists together over his head. When Discord was in range, Matt connected, snapping his enemy into the ground with enough force to split it open.

Matt picked the monster's already damaged form up and reached across to the stone statue at the fountain. He spun the statue around in the air and smashed it into the right side of his enemy's bruised face, splintering the stone with a loud crunch. He swung the large piece he still controlled back around and reconnected, breaking it further. He lifted the last bit overhead and brought it down hard on Discord's head while he was reeling, knocking him down again.

The girls watched the display with eager fascination. Fluttershy, knowing what his intentions were in the first place, was floating in the air, imitating Matt's ferocious actions in her own little way.

Yellow light encircled Discord's chest as Matt lifted him back up and tossed him lazily away. The demigod rolled over onto his back as Matt walked methodically to his new piñata. Scrapes and bloody lacerations decorated his body. "H-how did...how did you get free from my control? It's not possible," Discord said between gasping breaths.

A jacket popped onto Discord as Matt turned down his magic to a minimum. He wanted the tactile pleasure of punishing the manipulative freak. He walked up and stood over top the chaos spirit.

"I broke your bond with me. Now I'm going to break you."

He grabbed the jacket and pummeled Discord's face repeatedly. Matt gritted his teeth, getting lost in his rage, slowly flaring his magic again. He held Discord head in place and, with his magic behind his punches, released enough force to shatter windows nearby. By now, his eyes were blackened and his cheeks were puffed out. Several rivers of blood ran out his mouth and down his chin.

The jacket popped out of existence and Discord's battered body flopped to the ground. His deer antler caught the corner of Matt's eye and he got a horrible idea. He lifted Discord's head and grabbed the antler, snapping it off like a dead twig on a tree. The draconequus yelled in unimaginable pain. Matt let his head go and stabbed him in the shoulder with it, making Discord scream even louder. Matt floated away a step and admired his work. Discord weakly ripped our his headpiece and let it slip from his hand. He had called himself a masterpiece earlier but now was literally being torn apart.

"Oh, sorry, let me help you with that," Matt added sarcastically. He picked up the antler and drove it back into his head upside down. Discord shook in agony, barely having the strength left to squeak out a scream.

"Matt, stop! He's beaten. Let it go!" Twilight begged. They started looking worried that Matt was letting his anger get the better of him once more. They couldn't blame him for being so, but they didn't want him to go overboard. Even Fluttershy wasn't expecting this much out of him, and he told her a preview of what he was about to do.

His snake tail glowed and Matt took to the air a few feet overhead, ignoring his friend's request. He swung Discord around and whipped him into the dirt. Matt brought him around and onto the ground again and again, leaving small craters in the ground where Discord's face had hit. Having enough, Matt launched his enemy's limp body skyward and winked away. He appeared thousands of feet overhead in Discord's trajectory. A comically oversized baseball bat blinked into existence. Matt readied for the inevitable and smashed his foe with everything he could muster, splintering the bat into pieces and sending Discord rocketing back toward the earth.

"Uh, we need to get out of here, y'all," Applejack suggested. They took off, away from the eventual point of impact that was the middle of town.

The missile that was Discord collided with the ground, leaving a rather large crater. The force with which he landed shook the area. High in the air, Matt put a protective shield over himself and took aim. He hurtled himself at where Discord fell, moving at full speed. He crashed down into the center of the massive hole, causing it to widen so much it swallowed up the buildings surrounding the square, including Town Hall. The girls had just barely made it away in time. The cloud of dust that kicked up blanketed the rest of Ponyville.

Once the air cleared, the girls cautiously went back to where the small war had just happened. Matt was floating over the crater, unharmed, holding up a motionless but still-living Discord. He saw them approach and floated down near them. He also saw the fear in their eyes at what he'd done but didn't seem concerned himself. In spite of his terrible beating, Discord weakly laughed at him.

"What?" Matt demanded.

"You...you really are just...haha...just like me," he struggled to say. "You were...s-so intent on beating me to a pulp...t-that you'd...destroy everything to do it...hahahaha!"

Matt's rage calmed and he pulled Discord in close. "I'm nothing like you. You do what you do for kicks. Everything I did, I did to protect my friends," he said calmly. "I've only been here a handful of months and they've been better friends to me than some of the people I knew back home for half my life. I may not be able to go home again–" he looked at the girls and smiled, "–but I wouldn't have it any other way." Discord hung his tongue out in disgust.

All but Twilight beamed at his sincerity. "But Matt, the town is still in ruins. What are we going to do?" she wondered, ever the voice of reason.

His vengeful attitude was replaced with almost snarky one. "That? Oh, I can fix that," he said and raised a hand skyward. It glowed brightly and, little by little, all the damage that had been to the town while he mercilessly beat Discord was restored. Buildings, pipes underground, windows, trees; everything was as good as new.

The girls looked around happily at their beautifully restored home. "Well...okay then."

Discord watched through swollen eyes as everything was repaired and growled at Matt. His whole elaborate plan had fallen flat on its face thanks to this nopony.

Matt saw his enemy's reaction and grinned impishly, "And you sir need a change in attitude, and I know just how to go about doing that. But first, let's clean you up a bit. You can barely see and you I can't let you miss this."

Matt reduced the swelling on Discord's face until he looked passably normal again. He levitated the freak show several feet in front of him and spread his arms and legs apart.

"Girls, could I ask you to turn around or cover your eyes or something? It's a surprise for everyone!" They looked at each other with amused curiosity and did as he asked. "Especially for you, pal. Here, let's fix that." Matt created a blindfold and wrapped it around Discord's eyes.

"Hey, what are you doing? What are you doing?!"

Discord still glowed all over as Matt did his thing. He hummed and hawed to himself as he worked away at his task. After a moment, he surveyed what he had done and congratulated himself. "Ah ha! Magnifique! Girls, you can look now."

They opened their eyes and were flabbergasted at what they saw. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash tried and failed badly to hold in gut-busting laughter. Even Matt eventually gave in to the giggles and almost dropped the draconequus.

"Oh my..."

"What in...?"

"What did you do? Why are you laughing? Stop laughing!" Discord ordered.

Twilight finally fought through her speechlessness, "What in Equestria did you do?"

Matt shrugged. "I think he looks better this way."

"Matt, I don't remember telling you any of my design secrets!" Rarity joked.

"Eh, must've picked up a few things along the way."

"What did you do to me?!" Discord hollered.

"Alright, alright, you big baby. Here you go," Matt mocked, creating a full body mirror and removing Discord's blindfold.

"Gah! What...! Agh! What have you done to me?!"

In place of his head was his bat wing. Where that wing used to be was his lion's arm. His arms were replaced by his head and goat leg, and his other arm was now his new leg. He wiggled his new limbs around helplessly trying to figure out his new appearance.

Matt said between laughing fits, "I deadened your nerves and pulled you apart to...well..." He dropped Discord onto the ground. As much as tried to maintain his balance, he quickly failed to stand up straight and collapsed. Matt walked over and gave him a final, degrading slap before popping his mirror away and walking back to his friends. "Girls, blast this asshole back to hell and let's go home."

"Now, that's what I'm talking about. Ready, girls?" Twilight asked.

"Ready!"

The Elements went live and their signature rainbow fired into the air and turned down at the defeated foe. "I'll get you for this! I'll get you if it's the las–!" The blast overtook him, turning his amalgamated body back to stone once again.

The girls cheered and celebrated their improbable victory. Ponyville and the rest of Equestria was safe again. As the jubilation died down, Matt glanced over the new statue with unease. It was the first time he'd seen what the Elements did and to someone who was supposed to be all-powerful no less. But it was also said that this wasn't the first time they had to do this to him either. That wasn't sitting well with him.

"So what do we do with him now?" he finally asked.

"Celestia typically kept him in the royal gardens to keep an eye on him," Twilight replied.

It wasn't really an answer he was hoping to hear. It didn't make sense to him that someone like Discord would be just left out in the open, even if he was just stone at the moment.

"That didn't seem to turn out so well, did it?"

"Did you have something else in mind?"

He thought deeply and an idea formed slowly. He looked toward the sky and went through various outcomes in his mind before grinning. "I think so."

"What did you want to do?" Pinkie asked.

He magically grabbed hold of Discord and flew off into the air as high as the oxygen would let him. He held onto the statue with both hands and began spinning faster and faster until he felt he had enough momentum before letting go, launching the menace into the cold darkness of space. His job done, he winked back down to his friends.

"So, where's Discord?" Twilight questioned.

"I sent him into space."

"But what happens if he lands on some other world?" Applejack inquired.

"I don't know if that could even happen," the magical mare said. "There's mostly empty space out in the universe, at least that's what I've seen through my telescopes."

"You mean...Discord might actually be gone for good?" Fluttershy asked hopefully.

"Alright, Matt!" Rainbow cheered, giving him a hoofbump.

"Come on, girls. What do you say we–" Matt cut himself off suddenly. A soft pulsing sound and faint purple glow began to emit from his chest.

Chapter 20

Matt collapsed onto his knees. The stabbing pain at his chest was worse than it ever been in the past and it never glowed before. The purple hue was visible through his shirt and pulsed with evil. The girls backed away slowly. After what Discord had told them about what was causing his agony before, they had a feeling they knew what was going on. It only took Matt a second to figure it out as well.

"But...but he's...how...ngh!"

He fought as hard as he could to keep what was digging out of the recesses of his mind back but it wasn't enough. His eyes glowed again and he struggled to stand.

Matt began to laugh, but it wasn't his voice they heard. "You didn't think it'd be so easy to get rid of me, did you?"

"How are you still here? We just beat you!" Twilight demanded he answer.

"You turned my body to stone, yes, and if this fool...ngh!...that was unusual...if this fool didn't steal away my spirit too...agh! –" Discord struggled to breathe as he felt his own sharp pains, "–then that would have been the end for me. But he did, so here I am! Ah! What keeps doing that?"

"Matt! Can you hear me?" Twilight called out.

"Come back to us! Fight 'im!" Applejack begged.

Matt's eyes lost their glow. "Get...get out of me!" The stress of his internal war was evident on his face. He had no idea what to do. He had suckered Discord out of all his strength, and now he was about to take it all back.

The demigod reemerged and lit up his eyes again. "Um, no. I think I'm going to like it here, even if this...ergh!...stop it!...even if this new body is a bit dull. Maybe I could spruce up the place once you're gone."

"What do you mean 'once he's gone'?" Rainbow asked threateningly.

He winced again and stumbled slightly as Matt continued to fight back. "In just a few more minutes, Matt will be gone and I'll be all that's left, if he wasn't so stubborn!" Discord explained, flaring his nostrils in anger. "The best part? Nngh! The best part is I know everything he knows now, thanks to a quick trip through his head. Maybe once I'm finished with Equestria, I'll–" he clutched at Matt's chest, "–I'll go say hello to Rachel!"

"You leave her alone!" Matt yelled as he briefly returned. His explosion of rage fired bolts of yellow energy from his body and created low-lying dark clouds overhead. Flashes of lightning and claps of thunder seemed to vocalize his anger like a dreadful symphony.

"Why do you even care about a place you can never return to?" Discord angrily snarled. Getting rid of Matt was proving to be more a fight than he originally anticipated.

"It was my home. It was my life! And you stole my life away from me!" Matt screamed, tightly clenching his fists. The ground began to shake as he started losing himself to his anger again.

"And you just tried to steal away mine, so I guess that makes us even!" Discord retorted. "But, once I'm done, your friends won't be able to hurt me, and neither will you!"

Amidst the desperate struggle, Matt was able to make his right hand glow.

His home in Ponyville was peaceful despite the struggle that was threatening to consume its owner. Some of the memories of his time there hung on the wall. A picture of him with the girls after his presence was made public. A copy of Equestria Daily showing him in front of the dead Ursa behind a piece of glass. The pair of knives he used to kill it hung crossed on a ceremonial looking rack. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and only one remained.

The knife appeared in Matt's hand and he drove it down into his thigh with a gut-wrenching scream. Discord's yell mixed with Matt's as he collapsed onto the ground. He heard and felt a sickening cracking of bone when he drove the blade into his leg. Blood poured out of the wound like a river. Matt yanked the knife out and dropped it by his body. He squeezed tightly as the pain increased with each passing second.

Matt managed to mock to his enemy under his breath in spite of his self-inflicted injury, "H-hurts, don't it?"

"Ngh! I hate you!"

"The f-f-feeling's mutual!"

The girls panicked when they saw what he did. "What's he doing?!" Pinkie shrieked.

"Girls! Do your thing!" Matt called out, struggling with his words as he bled. "I...I don't know how long I can...h-hold him off! Do your thing!"

"But Matt, you could be–" Twilight started to protest.

"Don't worry about me," he whispered. "Do it!"

They looked at each other with uncertainty. They didn't want to risk losing him after everything they've been through. Unfortunately, they knew Equestria had to come first. With tears forming, they turned and faced their struggling friend. One by one, the jewels on their necklaces began to pulse.

"Ngh, no! I won't be beaten again!" Discord reached slowly at the six with Matt's arm and it sparked ominously. "I won't let y–aaah!" He was cut off by a blade driven into his arm.

Twilight's tiara came to life and they were lifted into the air by their signature white light. Their rainbow shot to the heavens again and landed by Matt's head on the ground, forming a multicolored whirlwind around him.

"No! Noooo–!"

The whirlwind enveloped Matt's body and absorbed itself into him. His body began radiating bright rays of the same white light and they fired out of him in all directions. A blinding flash overtook Ponyville and faded away shortly after.

The girls laid on the ground, looking utterly exhausted. They inspected the area. The dark, foreboding clouds were gone. The sun shone brightly in the sky. None of the buildings looked damaged. Finally, they saw Matt's body laying motionless on its side in the road with the knife next to him. They galloped up to him as quickly as their legs would carry them. Twilight's horn flickered and gently rolled him onto his back. He was breathing normally.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and took a deep breath. He saw six pairs of worried eyes looking right at him. He carefully sat himself up and quickly noticed he fighting against a demented spirit nor was he in any pain. None in his leg, his arm, or thankfully, his chest. He squeezed his thigh and arm to be sure, but both of the wounds he just gave himself were gone. Even the shattered bones seemed fine.

He noticed the knife laying beside him instead of in him and picked it up. The blood on it was gone too. Any that had been spilled was washed away, even on his clothes, and the bandages and wounds from his encounter with the cockatrice earlier in the day had also disappeared. The girl's worry was replaced with cautious optimism. He set the blade down and looked the mares over. They all appeared to be fine as well.

"Is it over?" he asked carefully.

"I think so," Twilight responded. "Can you still do anything magical?"

He focused, trying to blink away. Nothing happened. He asked the knife on the ground to come to his hand. It laid there motionless. "No."

"Then, yes. It's finally over," Twilight sighed with relief. The others were just as happy that this whole debacle was done as well. Seeing Matt finally free of their hated enemy and back to normal again was just as welcome a sight. He was suddenly enveloped by six big hugs at once.

"Do you think Discord could come back eventually?" Fluttershy wondered.

"I honestly don't know," Twilight stated. "But seeing as how the Elements just destroyed not only his magic, but everything about him as well, plus the fact that his body is careening through space somewhere...I don't see how he could. But if he does, we'll just have to be ready again."

"So, what now?" Matt asked.

Pinkie spoke up with her usual amount of hyperactivity, "What do you mean 'what now'? Discord's gone and you're okay!"

"Later, Pinkie," Matt cut her off.

"Awww."

Twilight had sent a letter the next morning to Princess Celestia reviewing the incident in detail – how Discord had returned, why Matt was here, and how they all had beaten the ancient enemy. Celestia had stopped by shortly after with Luna to scan over Matt and make sure the threat was really gone this time. After an exhaustive amount of magical checking, they concluded that any trace of Discord that resided in Matt had been completely destroyed.

A few days after the ordeal, Princesses Celestia and Luna had a ceremony for Matt in the heart of Canterlot. Just about all of Ponyville was in attendance. At the Princesses' behest, the entirety of Canterlot had joined them as well though they weren't as enthusiastic about his presence as the Ponyvillians were. They may have been aware of who he was thanks to the papers those few months ago, but his heroic deeds didn't occur in the royal city, so they weren't quite as interested as the rest.

Celestia presented him with a medal of honor and had a statue of his likeness created for display in the royal gardens. Matt looked over the award and thought of a place on his wall at home where he could hang it. Celestia even told him of a transmogrification spell she was willing to use on him with his permission. He could figure out what it was thanks to all the gaming he did back home but had to turn her down. He did everything as a human. He felt it would take away from what he accomplished, and she completely understood.

The celebration for their guest of honor lasted well into the wee hours of the night.

A few boring weeks had gone by. They were the good kind of boring though. No ancient evils decided to attack. No invasions from other parts of Equestria. No rampaging wildlife. Things seemed to be exceptionally normal.

Matt was visiting Twilight and Spike in the library that beautiful Tuesday. They chatted about what they had been up to recently and what they had planned for later. The usual pleasantries.

"Oh yeah, jeez, I almost forgot the main reason I came here," Matt said. "Spike, would you take a letter please?"

The dragon perked up at the request. That was something one of the girls usually needed. Matt had never done so before, but that didn't detract his enthusiasm at the task. He grabbed a nearby quill and parchment. "Sure, Matt! Go ahead."

"Dear Princess Celestia and Princess Luna," he began.

"Both of them? Must be something special going on if you want to get both of their attention," Twilight joked.

He shrugged. "Kind of." He cleared his throat, ready to continue. "This is Matt. What's up? I'm having a party this Saturday at Sugarcube Corner, my treat. I'm inviting you both to join us and whoever else Pinkie decides to invite. I haven't told her yet, but I doubt she'll say no. Could you also see if Shining Armor and Princess Cadance would like to join us?" Twilight smiled with glee upon mentioning her brother and sister-in-law. It was so infrequent that she got to see them, given their obligations. "They were really cool at that party you had a few weeks ago, and, seeing that they're related to Twilight here, I wanted them to come too. Let me know, thanks! Sincerely, Matt."

Spike rolled up the paper and sent it away.

"Your treat? I didn't know you had so many bits," Twilight commented.

"Yeah, I've been saving up quite a bit. You know how many little odd jobs I always seem to have. I'm assuming you both will be there?" he asked with a smile, already knowing the answer.

"Heck yeah, Pinkie's parties are always awesome!"

Twilight giggled, "Of course, Matt. Did you want some help passing out the invitations to the others?"

"Nah, I'm cool. Be nice to get out for a little while and take a walk. I'll ask Fluttershy if she'll come with me through the Everfree Forest to Zecora's. Wanted to give her one too and Fluttershy does live right there, and I don't know if Pinkie would stop to think to invite her." Matt secretly hoped the pegasus' shyness wouldn't be an issue when it came to trekking through the forest. Fortunately, she did trust him, and after making up from their fight a few weeks prior, she'd never felt closer to him. "Let me know if you hear from the princesses later, okay?"

"Will do. See you later!"

So far, Matt was four for four with his invitations. Applejack and her folks, Rarity and Sweetie Belle, Fluttershy and Zecora had all agreed to come. He asked Fluttershy if she would give Rainbow Dash her invitation, as well as inform Scootaloo of the party, since he was never sure when or where the weather team captain would be, given his lack of wings. He found Rainbow Dash knocking on his door later that day saying they'd both love to come.

Pinkie was as about as ecstatic as she could get when Matt told her his intentions. As he predicted, she couldn't say no. He gave her full say on who else to invite beside their friends and the Princesses since he wasn't as familiar with everyone as she was, even after a few months. Many of the ponies did have matching colors or mane styles and it would still sometimes throw him off. He also still felt it a little weird to look at their butts as though they were some kind of ID card.

"Hey! This would be a great opportunity to try a nice recipe I wanted to have specially dedicated to you!"

His cocked an eyebrow curiously. "Oh yeah, what'd you have in mind?"

"I dunno. I'm still working on it. I'll have something ready by Saturday though! Promise!"

He put down a nice payment up front to the Cakes and headed on his way.

The party was already underway for a little while early Saturday afternoon. Matt recognized most of the others Pinkie had invited. He was a little apprehensive when he spotted Lyra in the crowd with her friend, but oddly enough, she seemed rather collected. Maybe she had finally relaxed enough to not make him feel wary around her. The three Princesses and Shining Armor all were able to put their duties aside for a day and stop by Ponyville, more than happy to attend such a fun occasion. Spike and the girls sans Pinkie, who was busy at the counter, were sitting together in one of the booths. The Crusaders were running around being themselves.

Matt had been mingling with some of the guests and was already a few cupcakes into Pinkie's new recipe when he needed to know what was in them. He went to go talk to her as she handed out treats. She said she called them 'Cherrinana Mattcakes', and everypony couldn't stop talking about how good they were. He was inclined to agree.

"Where'd you come up with that?" he asked.

"Well, I had a bunch of stuff on the counter in the kitchen, trying to figure out what to use but I couldn't come up with anything. I was getting sooo frustrated I slammed my head on the counter and when I looked up, there was a banana and a couple cherries sitting next to it and I thought about that time in the tub when–"

He wrapped his hand around her snout when he heard mention of the word 'tub'. He couldn't have been more mortified.

"Hry! Is's a lrt ersrer tr trrk whnn oo do ris!"

"Uh, you haven't told anyone else where you got the idea for these, have you?" he asked as he removed his hand.

"Nope!"

"Could you please promise me you never do? Pinkie promise?"

"Aww, okay," she said with a heavy frown. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"

"Thank you," he sighed. He returned to the others at their booth with Pinkie in tow.

"Enjoyin' the party so far, Matt?" Applejack asked. He smiled and nodded, helping himself to another of Pinkie's more interestingly inspired creations.

"I have to say, Pinkie dear, you've outdone yourself again! And these new cupcakes, oh my..." Rarity complimented. Matt looked away, silently embarrassed.

"Thanks!"

"So, how's your day going, Matt?" Twilight asked.

"Good. Damn good."

Chapter 21

Fillies and gentlecolts, though some of you may not appreciate this type of little chapter, considering that this fic was completed well over a year ago, I thought it wouldn't be out of line to let you fans of Welcome the Unknown know that it finally has a sequel out! It came to my head many months later, but I was determined to eventually get it down!

Anyway, for your reading pleasure, I present to you The Blessing and the Curse! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1

"Can't we just blast him and go home already?" Rainbow Dash angrily asked. "All these lame tricks are just getting annoying...again." Pigs flying around and a plaid sky were only a few things among the many that decorated the upside down town of Ponyville.

Twilight nodded. "Right. Ready to lose again, Discord?"

His sinister laugh filled the air as he came nose to nose with the purple unicorn and scratched her chin. "Lose? Oh hardly, kiddo. You can turn me to stone all you want today, but I've already won and you don't even realize it. So go ahead, fire your pretty little rainbow at me! See if I care."

"Whatever you say," she said with a smirk. The Elements of Harmony glowed and lifted the group into the air as they activated. Discord just watched and grinned. Nearly two years ago when he first turned the friends against each other and brought the worst out in them, seeing his reign fall apart in the blink of an eye thanks to the Elements filled him with fear. Now, he truly didn't seem to care.

The girls opened their eyes and bright light poured forth from them. An all-too-familiar rainbow fired towards the sky and slammed into the Spirit of Chaos. Engulfed by the blast, he began turning to stone as he had before. He lifted his head up and a final desperate flash of yellow light sparked from his eyes right before he was completely consumed. The Elements deactivated and lowered the group back to the ground. The statue that was Discord fell over and had retained the devilish little smile he had right before his fate was sealed once again. With Discord defeated, Ponyville was restored back to its original state.

"We won we won we won we won!" Pinkie cheered, bouncing around triumphantly.

"Is it just me, or did that seem awful easy to y'all? Like, easier'n last time?"

Fluttershy asked, "Um, what do you think he meant when he said he already won? We stopped him again, didn't we?"

"Don't trouble yourself with it, darling. Just the rantings of a lunatic. I don't know about you all, but after dealing with this ruffian again, I could use some R and R." The idea of a visit to the spa was the first thing that popped into Rarity's mind and she shuddered with delight, even if it would have only been a half-day treatment.

Twilight chuckled. "We should let the Princess know that Discord's been defeated first. Then, yes, that sounds like a pretty good idea."

A quiet few weeks had passed and the girls had gotten back to their usual goings on. It was later on a Friday afternoon and Sugarcube Corner was closing up for the day. Pinkie Pie was humming one of her many favorite songs and putting away the various cookware downstairs. The Cakes were out of town for the weekend visiting family and had brought the twins with them, so Pinkie had the whole place to herself. She hadn't seen her friends all day and desperately wanted to throw them a quiet party just for them, quiet being a relative term for Pinkie.

However, as she finished putting the last of the cooking sheets in their drawers, her tail began violently shaking, more so than it usually did when her Pinkie Sense went off. She gasped and dove under a nearby table. She poked her head out from underneath and waited. Nothing came. After a minute, she stood up confused.

"That's weird, my Pinkie Sense has never been wrong before."

Outside, a few feet above the store, the winds started to pick up. A flicker of light appeared and disappeared just as quick, followed by a few more in rapid succession. A bright flash fired for a split second, followed by the appearance of an odd looking creature. It yelled in a panic as it fell from the sky and smashed through the roof of the bakery. The few ponies walking around Town Square at that hour heard the scream and the crash. They crept towards the locked building and peeked in the windows to see if there was any signs of what the source of the commotion was.

The ruckus startled Pinkie, and she dove back under the table, shaking. "Heh, I guess it still hasn't," she commented to herself. "What in Equestria was that?"

Cautiously, she snuck upstairs and peeked in a few of the rooms. So far, she didn't find anything. She finally came to her room and immediately saw from behind a weird creature laying there on its right side among the broken roof panels and falling dust. It was curled into a ball and not moving, but its breathing was labored and it groaned in obvious pain.

The groan was all that was needed to scare Pinkie senseless. She bolted downstairs and out the door screaming, spinning a few of the spectators around and onto their flanks. The onlookers saw Pinkie's reaction to whatever it was and backed away from the building slowly, returning to their business with nervous looks on their faces. In a blur, she headed straight for the library. If anypony would have any idea what that thing was, it was Twilight.

Spike was in the main room cleaning up the last of the shelves Twilight had requested him to while she had her nose in a book as she usually did. She typically reserved her Friday evenings for adventure or historical stories. While her passion was studying whatever she could get her hooves on, even the most diligent student needed to unwind from time to time.

"Just a couple more spots to go and the place will be all done, Twilight," Spike said.

Twilight looked up from her story and smiled. "Nice work, Spike. You know how weekends can get around here sometimes. May as well look nice for any visitors." The front door suddenly opened and slammed shut so hard, all of the books flew off the shelves and onto the floor. Twilight and Spike nearly jumped out of their skin. "Or not."

Spike just sighed, shook his head in aggravation and started picking up the books again.

"TWIIIILIIIIIIIGHT!" Pinkie stood on her hind legs with her back on the door, panting heavily from her high speed run.

"Pinkie! What's wrong?!"

"I was closing up Sugarcube Corner and thinking how nice it would be to throw us all a party because it's been about a week or so since we had one and suddenly my tail started twitching and my Pinkie Sense told me that something was about to fall so I dove under a table and nothing happened so I thought something was wrong with my Pinkie Sense but then there was this big loud BOOM! KRSSSHH! coming from upstairs so I dove under the table again because it was so loud and scary and it sounded like something was about to come through the roof of the store but when nothing did I went upstairs and checked to see what it was and when I got to my room there was this weird looking thing that was alive laying on the floor and I screamed and ran out the door and came here as fast as I could and then you asked me what was wrong!"

"Wait, weird looking thing that was alive?"

"YEEEEES!"

"Was it a dragon?" Pinkie shook her head spastically. "Was is a griffon?" She shook her head again. "Was it...uh...a really weird-looking pegasus?"

Pinkie dropped to her forelegs and glared at the unicorn, rightfully insulted. "I know what a pegasus looks like, Twilight."

"Well then, what did it look like?"

"I don't know! As soon as I saw it, I panicked and ran here. I figured with all the reading and stuff you do that if you took a look at this thing, you would know what it was," Pinkie said.

Twilight looked back at the mountain of books on the floor and smirked. Spike glanced back and shrugged, returning his attention to cleaning up Pinkie's mess. Twilight just sighed.

"Fine, let's go see what this thing is. Maybe it'll justify your destroying everything around here."

The mares headed out of the library and off to Sugarcube Corner while the young dragon grumbled under his breath about having to straighten everything out again. It had taken all day, too! Ugh!

The sun had started setting by the time the pair had gotten to Sugarcube Corner. Twilight led the way while Pinkie slinked around behind her, not wanting to go anywhere near the store.

"You said it was upstairs in your room, right?" Twilight asked.

Pinkie nodded, and they slowly moved up the stairs and towards the still open door. The creature was still laying in the same position as when Pinkie found it. The party pony ducked outside her room and stuck her head out just enough to peek in behind Twilight.

The unicorn cautiously tiptoed closer. She had no idea what it was either. She never found anything that resembled this...thing...in any of her reading, either in Ponyville or in Canterlot when she lived there. It had on what appeared to be clothes. Nothing like what Rarity would put together for her clientele; there didn't appear to be anything particularly glamorous or showy about it. The creature was wearing a plain, light blue shirt with short sleeves and tattered black shorts on his, assumedly, hind legs. Its hind...hooves?...had socks and some black shoes with this white, rounded check on them, while what looked to be a set of claws on its forelimbs were bare. They almost reminded her of Spike's.

Its coat was almost completely bare and beige in color, and it had a short brown mane, at least it would be for a pony. At least Twilight believed it was its coat and mane. The shirt had some tears and tatters thanks to the fall through the roof. Twilight glanced once over it and noticed that its eyes weren't open, and there was an nasty wound on its head that had appeared to have stopped bleeding onto the floor only recently. Its breathing was still quite shallow, and its mouth just barely hung open.

"Wow! A new species of creature. This is amazing! You were right, Pinkie! It's a living thing here in your bedroom!" Twilight exclaimed. She looked back and saw Pinkie still hiding terrified in the hallway. "It's OK, Pinkie. It's not awake. I think it may be hurt though."

Pinkie slowly entered her room and approached the odd beast. "Well it can't stay here. The Cakes will be back Sunday night. How would I be able to explain this?" Another plank from the roof snapped off and landed on the thing's hind hooves, just missing them and making them jump.

Twilight looked up at the busted ceiling. "We'll fix the hole tomorrow. As for this," she pointed at the mysterious visitor, "we should try and sneak it back to the library so I can do some research on it in private. Trying to figure out what it is or where it may have come from wouldn't happen at Sugarcube Corner. Plus, with all the customers you'd be getting over the weekend...yyyyeah."

"And how do you suppose we're gonna do that? It's not quite dark yet. Plus, it looks kinda...bigger then us."

Twilight tapped her chin, pondering an idea or two. Pinkie was right. Although she wasn't able to tell exactly how much bigger in height it was since it was balled on the floor, girth wise, it could have easily had at least fifty pounds on them. Just then, she formed an idea. Her horn started glowing and her magic grabbed hold of Pinkie's bed sheet, laying it out flat on the floor.

"What are you going to do with that? You're not expecting me to go to sleep next to it, are you? Because I can't sleep unless I'm on my mattress. It's really comfy!"

"No, Pinkie. I'm going to wrap this...whatever it is...up in your sheet and we'll carry back to my study. At least I hope we can carry it." A purple glow encircled the creature and Twilight strained. Forget fifty pounds; it was a good hundred pounds or more. "Well, this is going to be fun," she deadpanned.

Gritting her teeth, her horn came alive again, lighting the room like the midday sun. She was going to put a lot of her magical muscle into this try. The stranger glowed again and gradually levitated off of the floor, even if it was only a couple of inches. Twilight growled and eventually moved the injured creature onto the waiting linens.

"Grab me another sheet so we can cover it completely while we're moving it. I can't let anypony else see this thing until we get it home. It could lead to a panic if it was spotted. We'll get the girls together in case it attacks when it's awake."

"Okie dokie lokie!" In a flash, Pinkie was in her closet. She popped out an instant later with an equally sized sheet. "Found one!" she exclaimed with a large smile.

Twilight's horn glowed again, and she laid it atop the beast at an angle. Pinkie zipped over to the creature and immediately went from jubilant over finding the sheet to being scared of staying in the same room with it. Twilight guided the corners of the sheet on the floor to the middle of the body and tied them into a tight knot. She tucked the other corners underneath the motionless monster until she had covered any exposed areas.

Pinkie spotted the blood on the floor that poured from the thing's head and gasped in horror. She sprinted off the bathroom and grabbed a thoroughly soaked sponge. Almost instantly, she returned to her bedroom and tried desperately to scrub the dried blood off the wood.

"Come on, come on, come on! I can't have the Cakes finding blood on my floor! WHRRRRK!"

She spat, prompting Twilight to recoil in mild disgust, and continued scrubbing. It seemed to do the trick. It gleamed and twinkled once the blood was gone, good as new. She grinned proudly at her accomplishment and deposited the sponge back in the bathroom.

"Pinkie, see if you can find Rainbow Dash. I'm going to need some muscle and I don't want to drag this thing on the floor. If it is hurt, we don't want to make things worse, and yes, if it needs and wants help, we're going to help it."

Pinkie raised a hoof and hung her mouth open, ready to object to assisting a monster, but an annoyed glare cut her off before she could say anything. She dejectedly closed her mouth and frowned.

The pink pony headed downstairs and hopped outside into Town Square. She figured Rainbow Dash would be hanging out in a cloud somewhere, but didn't want to waste much time searching. There was a...well, something...in her room tied up in some bedsheets and she wanted it gone immediately.

"RAINBOW DAAAAAAAA-AAAAASH! WHERE AAAARE YOOOOOU?!"

Her loud yell practically rattled the entire neighborhood. It was fortunate there were no ponies wandering around close by, otherwise they may have spontaneously lost their hearing.

"Pinkie!" Twilight hollered, throwing open the window upstairs. "I could have done that!"

"Uh, duh!" she fired back. A moment later, she noticed a blue pegasus charging hard with a rainbow contrail following behind. "Hi, Rainbow Dash! That was fast."

"Hey, fast is what I'm all about, you know that. I heard you halfway to Cloudsdale. What's going on?"

"Twilight needs you upstairs. There's something, err...kind of important in my bedroom," Pinkie said as she nervously rubbed a hoof on the back of her neck.

Rainbow jerked back, puzzled at Pinkie's bizarre situation, and regarded at the gaping hole in the roof. "Uhh...in the bedroom? Why's Twilight there? And why is there a hole up there? What're you two up to?" Pinkie was met with an accusing eye.

"There's something heavy up there that she can't pick up and carry by herself, silly! She wanted your help in keeping it off the ground. What'd you think was going on in my bedroom? Sheesh!" Pinkie rolled her eyes and nonchalantly trotted back into the store.

Rainbow facehoofed and shook her head, flying up to the hole. She peered in and saw Twilight standing by the body she had hidden from sight.

"Hey there. What in the world happened here?"

"Oh, Rainbow, you're here. Good! It's a long story. I really need your help here. I have to carry this...rather heavy thing back home, but I have to be gentle with it. I can't let it hit the ground or, uh...it could break," Twilight said with a terribly insincere smile. "Could you please help me get it down the stairs? I won't be able to carry it far using only my magic."

Rainbow could only glare at Twilight in disbelief. "You want me to carry something heavy and be gentle with it? Twilight, you've seen what happens when I practice my routines, right?" Twilight continued with her fake smile. "Fine, fine, let's get this over with. What do you want me to do?"

"Pick this up from the knot there in the middle while I lift it as best I can with my horn. This will a lot easier with the both of us carrying it," the unicorn stated.

"Uh, what is it?" Rainbow asked, poking at the bundle of sheets.

Twilight grabbed her hoof before she could undo anything and get a good look. "Uh, it's, umm...important research material! Yes, very heavy important research material!" A trickle of sweat rolled down her temple. Rainbow stared unconvinced and eventually looked up at the hole once more, trying to piece together what Twilight was going on about. "In Pinkie Pie's room. That crashed through the roof. A meteorite! Yep, that's it, a meteorite. That happened to crash through Pinkie's roof. That's exactly what it is!"

Twilight's phony smile got wider as she whipped her eyes back and forth. Her horn glowed and surrounded the sheets. Rainbow shrugged, grabbed the knot, and lifted.

"Oof! Wow, you weren't kidding," Rainbow said. She adjusted herself just slightly until she was comfortable holding whatever it was that Twilight claimed, stretching her limbs and back out. "OK, there we go. Let's head out."

The strain on Twilight was mostly gone, but lingered just enough for her to notice. With Rainbow Dash helping her, however, she knew they'd be able to make it back to the library without much trouble.

"I can't thank you enough for this, Rainbow," Twilight remarked with a sideways glance. They started to carry the 'meteorite' out of the bedroom door, but in Twilight's distracted state, she hit its head against the door frame. The random clumsiness grabbed her attention, and her cheeks burned red with embarassment.

She turned to Rainbow, hoping that the pegasus didn't notice her blunder, only to receive an angry sneer in response. Twilight groaned and shrunk her head into her shoulders as they continued to slowly move the body into the hall and down the stairs where Pinkie was waiting for them. The party pony stuck her head out the front door and checked around. The coast was clear and she waved them outside.

"Pinkie, if we happen to run into anypony while we're carrying this, let me do the talking if they ask questions, okay?"

Nodding, the earth pony gestured that her lips were zipped, locked closed and that she had thrown away the key. It took a moment for Twilight to translate the random assortment of motions, but eventually got the hint.

It took about a half hour of work to get Twilight's 'research material' back to the library, thanks to how heavy it was. Pinkie opened the door and let them all in, swiftly closing it behind them. Inside, Spike was barely a third of the way done with the mess that the nervous mare made on her previous visit.

Rainbow noticed the remaining chaos strewn about in the main room. "Jeez, Twilight, you're usually such a neat freak. What happened?"

"Pinkie happened earlier when the err...meteorite landed in her room. She came running here and slammed the door a little too hard. Pinkie, Spike, could you clear this area here, please? Thanks," Twilight demanded, motioning toward the center. Rainbow and Twilight set their prize down once everything was ready. "Thanks again, Rainbow, really."

"Hey, no prob, Twilight. Need me for anything else?" she asked.

"Actually," Twilight sighed, "I wasn't being completely honest with you earlier. It's not a meteorite. It is important research...well, I don't know if I'd call it material, but I do need to do some research on it. But I need the rest of the girls here first."

"Why? What is it that would require us all to have to be here?" Rainbow queried.

Twilight glanced at the body still wrapped up. "I honestly have no idea. But I don't want to take any chances with whatever it is. Just...please? I need you to get Applejack over here as fast as equinely possible. Pinkie, could you run and get Fluttershy while I go get Rarity? And Spike, whatever you do, don't touch this until we get back, understood? And...if it happens to, uh, get up on its own, just...hide, okay?"

"'Get up on its own?'"

"Please, Spike?"

"Uhh...sure, Twilight. Got it."

About thirty minutes – and a lot of pacing in the library by a nervous dragon – had passed before anypony else showed up. Twilight and Rarity had been the first to arrive. The door opened on its own, bringing relief to Spike that he was no longer alone with whatever it was that had Twilight so spooked.

"Twilight, dear, I really hope what you have to show us justifies dragging us all out here at this hour. It may still be early in the evening but I was hoping to...what's this thing on the floor?"

The others arrived a few minutes later as Twilight was explaining in little detail what was going on to Rarity. Applejack was the first to speak up when they walked in.

"Alright, we're all here, Twilight. So, what's this all about?" Applejack and Fluttershy noticed the pile in the middle of the room as fast as Rarity did. After a brief pause, the country girl asked, "What, are we supposed to be havin' a slumber party or somethin' that Ah wasn't aware of?"

"Um, I wasn't told of anything like that. But I would be okay with that if we are," Fluttershy cooed hopefully. They and Spike gathered together, and all but Pinkie looked quizzically at Twilight.

"I'm sorry for asking you all to come on such short notice, but something...weird happened at Sugarcube Corner earlier this afternoon. Something crashed into Pinkie's room through the roof and we're not sure what it is. The only thing we do know is that it's alive, but it doesn't look like anything I've ever seen in any of my books."

They glanced over each other, trying to make some sense of what Twilight was saying. Did she just say that it was some living thing she was clueless about?

She continued, "I wanted you all here in case something terrible happened when it woke up. It's unconscious at the moment, but I don't know how long that'll last."

Rainbow piped up, "Well? Show us already!"

Twilight nodded, her horn glowing. Little by little, the knot came undone and revealed the unexpected arrival.

"Step back a bit. I don't know what's going to happen."

She finished untying it and tossed the corners aside. Twilight and Pinkie Pie exchanged knowing looks as the top sheet was lifted off and tossed away. The rest of them gasped in shock.

"What in tarnation?"

Chapter 2

All but Twilight and Pinkie stood there with their jaws open in shock. There was a creature laying on the floor of the library on its back, barely breathing, and it wasn't anything Equestrian. The initial surprise of its arrival had worn off of Pinkie Pie, and Twilight looked more concerned about it than anything else thanks to the noticeable injury it sustained.

After a few moments of silence, and the group examining it from top to bottom from a safe distance, Applejack was the first to ask what was on the mind of everypony.

"So...what're we supposed to do with it?"

She was met with everypony's bewildered stare, but unfortunately, none of them could come up with an answer.

"I suppose we could...try to wake it up?"

They eyed the librarian dubiously, not especially keen on the idea.

"How else are we supposed to know where it came from or why it's here? We just have to wake it up slowly and quietly so we don't startle it too badly. So, um, who wants to go first?" Twilight asked with a weak smile. Twelve angry eyes shot daggers at her.

After a tense moment, Applejack sighed loudly, offering herself voluntarily. Bravely, albeit slowly, she walked up to it and leaned in closely. They all looked at her with a hint of relief that they didn't have to step up to the plate. She raised her hoof to its chest and gently poked at it.

"Uh...hello? Anypony home? Rise 'n shine?" She pulled her hoof back and bent closer to its face. She could almost felt its soft breath on her snout. Applejack took a few steps backward and shrugged. No luck.

Twilight spoke up, "Spike, could you run upstairs and get me a cool wet washcloth. It's still got that nasty gash on its head. The water may help wake it too for all we know."

"D-do I have to?"

Spike's question was met with a glare. Sighing, he headed to the bathroom and returned with what she asked for. She took the washcloth from him and rubbed the wound carefully, not wanting to aggravate the injury further. The blood had dried a while ago, but it was still a mess. She twisted the rag and drained some of the water on its head and face. Its eyes twitched in response to the droplets of clear liquid jabbing repeatedly at its skin, and it slowly inhaled a large breath, groaning. It appeared Twilight's idea had worked; the creature was starting to come around. Maybe then they can see what its story was.

However, as it stirred, its eyes suddenly shot open and its left...claw, or whatever it was, started almost involuntarily reaching for its shoulder and side simultaneously as if it couldn't decide what to grab onto first. It slowly rolled onto its stomach and winced hard. Its eyes may have seen a small purple horse and a tiny green and purple lizard looking at them, but its brain only registered one thing – pain. A lot of it. It looked around quickly and saw an open doorway on the other side of the room.

The girls recoiled in fright and quickly made sure to not be its way, wherever it was going. Fluttershy ducked into a ball behind the rest of the group up against a bookcase and shook like a leaf.

The creature started to crawl towards the doorway, but unfortunately its right foreleg, if it could be called that, didn't seem to want to work; it fell to the floor limp despite there not being any visible injury. Every movement this thing made seemed to make it grit its teeth and slam its eyes shut. Its breathing rate quickly skyrocketed and it looked to be on the verge of tears. It found the door frame and hoisted itself up onto its knees. Mixed looks of confusion and horror decorated the ponies' faces.

The creature, still quivering madly in agony, glanced down at its limp limb, took in and held a sharp breath, bared its teeth in anger and slammed its shoulder into the wooden frame. A loud, sinewy pop erupted from its body on impact, jolting its joint back into place. The jarring, crunching sound almost made a few of them throw up, and the aura of fear and panic was universal throughout the room.

The monster's face froze up, appearing as if it wanted to scream, but all it could muster was a squeak. It collapsed onto its knees and crashed down onto its side. The impact of the floor sent a convulsion throughout the creature's body again, and it was clear that a second wave of pain suddenly hit. It slowly curled itself into a ball as it shook, and its breathing became labored again as horrible anguish overtook him.

Twilight took the lead and nervously approached after a few insane minutes with Applejack and Rainbow Dash tentatively following. The creature laid in front them, unmoving, save for its racking tremors. Rarity lifted a hoof to beg them to get away but couldn't find her voice. Pinkie was scared out of her wits, and Fluttershy was frozen on the floor, laying on her side, stiff as a board. The three brave ponies crept up beside the creature and into the kitchen next door to get a better vantage to try speaking to it. The stranger was staring blankly at nothing in particular, focused only on its agony.

Twilight hunched over and spoke up, "Umm...are you okay?"

Its eyes darted to the purple unicorn and the pain was replaced by shock.

"Y-y-you can talk."

Based on the tone of its voice, it sounded male. The surprise was instantly returned by the blue pegasus. "You can talk?!"

The more cautious of the group took notice but were still far from relaxed. The creature swung its eyes towards the blue horse with the multicolored mane and what it could have sworn was wings on its sides. Twilight looked back at Rainbow and glared her into submission.

"Sorry," Twilight continued. "Are you alright? You look hurt. Bad."

It gazed at her, its eyes hollow and aching, and was reminded of the pain it was indeed in.

"Ribs...f-feel broken," the creature said, tears pouring from its eyes. Even trying to speak was exceptionally difficult for it.

Twilight thought for a moment. "Spike, grab me the Equestrian Medical Journal."

The dragon didn't respond as he was still captivated by this new talking species in the room.

"Spike!"

He came to his senses and located the book she requested, bringing it over to her. She held it in midair and flipped to the index, looking for information about ribs and rib injuries. This thing may not have been a pony, but she was willing to bet parts of their anatomy were similar enough that what she found in the journal could easily apply here. Besides, if its front limbs were longer, one could see it as an extraordinarily ugly, coatless pony.

The creature spotted the floating, glowing book and widened its eyes, shaking in horror but trying to remain as calm as it could. Screaming could just make things worse, never mind the fact that its body would make it pay for doing so. Horses were talking, so, sure, books can suddenly somehow hover in the air on their own. And these horses apparently could read and had medical knowledge. Why not?

"Ah ha, here we are," Twilight exclaimed. She flipped to the middle of the book and skimmed over the information, reading it quietly to herself. Once she knew what she needed, she closed the book and floated it toward Spike, who promptly returned it to where he found it. "I think I can fix your broken ribs if I can find where the bones broke. I should be able to guide them back together and reattach them completely. This is usually something you go to the hospital over, but I don't know how the doctors would react to you. Try to remain calm. What you're about to experience may be a little unusual."

It nodded but this mystery horse's words didn't make it feel any better. Being told to remain calm usually resulted in a situation where remaining calm was not an option. Twilight closed her eyes and her horn came alive with purple energy. The thing's body was slowly engulfed by her magic. Panicking, it cringed and trembled as it watched itself suddenly begin to glow. So much for relaxing.

The creature tried desperately to grab at whatever it was that was surrounding its body and swat it away. Without warning, the bones under its skin steadily slid back into place and the pain spiked once again. It growled through its teeth, fighting off howling at the top of its lungs. The panic and nervous tension in the air was broken by an unusually relaxing voice.

"S'alright, shug. Twilight knows what she's doin'."

Surprised by the strangely familiar accent, it looked over at the source. The orange one with the...cowboy hat? It had seen an orange blur as it directed its attention between the purple and blue horses earlier but didn't take immediate notice of the third in the group. Her twang had a noticeably calming effect amidst the bursts of excruciating pain as his ribs somehow crawled around on their own and indeed appeared to reattach themselves, just like the purple one said.

It felt the last of the bones heal, and the glow that surrounded its body receded away. It took a gentle breath, testing the effects of whatever just happened. The ache in its side and back was dramatically reduced but had not completely disappeared. The soreness was likely going to be around for a little while, but at least talking, breathing, and hopefully moving wouldn't be too agonizing.

The creature sat up slowly and grunted as its body reminded it of what it just went through. It leaned up against the door frame it just smashed itself into a few moments ago, clutching gently at its previously injured shoulder. It turned its attention to the orange one and gazed at it in shock.

"What?" said Applejack, unease creeping up on her as the weird beast stared into her big green eyes.

Despite its injuries suddenly somehow healed, the fact that several tiny horses were standing there talking jolted it back to reality. The thing spun onto its knees and half-jumped to its left, crawling across the floor in a desperate bid for escape from the bizarre happenstance. The farthest it was able to get was the kitchen wall where it was found leaning up against it by the seven mystery creatures.

It threw its gaze around the room, darting from one corner to another, then to the table, fridge, and lastly, the four-legged things opposite it. The fact that its ribs were better now than they were five minutes ago was irrelevant; this otherworldly specimen was in a place it knew it didn't belong. In its current state of distress, the steady throbbing it was still feeling in its ribcage and shoulder amplified in intensity, but it was too frightened to be concerned.

Twilight, Applejack and the others cautiously approached the strange animal but didn't dare to get too close. It was breathing heavy and rapidly, obviously terrified. Neither side had any idea what to do next. There didn't appear to be any intention of any attacks. But an animal is most dangerous when cornered, after all.

The librarian subtly nodded her friends out of the room and into the lobby. Rainbow Dash and Applejack kept a far, watchful eye on it as they all huddled together.

"Okay, now what?" Twilight whispered.

"Do we bring it to the authorities? I mean, we drag that thing outside, it could cause a panic if somepony spotted it. You said it yourself, you never saw anything like that...whatever it is in any of your books." Rainbow Dash replied.

"Maybe, but I can't just leave it here. Well, not unsupervised at least, and I don't like the idea of just myself and Spike watching over it. I mean, what if it tries to attack us in the middle of the night or something? And if we stayed with one of you to avoid that, it could escape, and who knows what kind of trouble it might cause."

"You're assumin' it's dangerous to begin with," Applejack stated, studying the horrified look on its face from a distance. Strangely though, whenever it looked directly at the country girl, its features seemed to soften just a bit. "Look at it. It's scared out of its mind! Don't ya think that if it was gonna attack us it would have done so by now instead o' runnin' away like it did?"

"Could be biding its time," Rarity suggested. "Waiting until our backs are turned or something."

"We could always just go say hello. We know it talks, right? Maybe it can tell us why it's here," Pinkie interjected. "As long as it didn't stop by just to punch holes in rooftops. What am I supposed to do if it rains?"

"There's not supposed to be any rain until Tuesday, but that's important right now," Rainbow shot back.

"Um, maybe we could all spend the night here to help you keep an eye on it? I mean, if it's not too much trouble, that is."

Twilight rubbed her chin, processing several ideas at once. Having her friends stay the night didn't seem to have much of a downside. The strength in numbers in case it got aggressive was critical, and they had no idea if it could do things like wield magic or somehow lift mountains.

"That could work. We should stay down here in the lobby. It'd be safest that way. Rarity, would you help me bring down some sheets and pillows from upstairs?"

"Of course."

"Thanks. If it tries anything in the meantime, do what you can to stop it and give us a shout. We'll come back immediately."

The last-second sleepover was anything but fun for the girls. While most times they played games and dolled themselves up with creams and mane curlers to keep themselves distracted from any potential dangers – sometimes even torturing Spike by getting him involved too – this night was unsettling. There hadn't been any noise from the kitchen where the monster was still hiding in a few hours. They decided against it having escaped. There would have been some kind of disturbance and the only way it could get out without getting past them was using a window it couldn't fit through. Most likely, it was either asleep or still sitting in the same position they last saw it in – in a ball with its hind legs up against its chest.

The mares and the dragon fidgeted around most of the early evening, trying to forget the fact they had a weird animal in the other room. But, biology started to catch up with at least one of them; Applejack needed a snack. Undaunted, she got to her hooves and marched into the kitchen, despite the pleas of her friends.

A quiet shuffle of the thing's foot as it hunched up in surprise caught the pony's attention, freezing her in place beside the refrigerator. For a brief moment, they just stared at each other, unflinching. She didn't see the outright fear in its eyes from before though it was clearly still scared. Now, it just seemed more curious than anything, as if it wanted to say something but couldn't. It was the same kind of look she received earlier when Twilight began her impromptu medical procedure on it. Her friends watched anxiously from the safety of the lobby but ready to jump to Applejack's defense in a heartbeat. They collectively held their breath as the orange mare stood in place, not taking her eyes off their unexpected guest.

Applejack slid her eyes away and decided upon a possibly dangerous gambit. Slowly, she pulled open the door to the fridge, boldly turning her back to the creature, even if only for a minute. The others winced at her display of bravado. Was she nuts?!

The country girl carefully closed the door and turned to face the thing, doing her best not to make any sudden moves. Between her teeth hung a bright, delicious red apple. She noted the shift in his eyes from her face to the fruit. It must have been hungry too, she reasoned. Though, how did it know she was holding something to eat? Dismissing the question, Applejack took the first of several extremely cautious steps toward the alien. Her hunger suddenly didn't seem to bother her.

"AJ, what are you doing?! Get back here!" Rainbow Dash hissed.

Ignoring the command, the Stetson-wearing mare found herself only a few hooves away the beast's hind legs. Not taking her eyes off the stranger, she gently placed the apple on the floor and nudged it with her snout. Taking two steps backward, she sat down gingerly and observed its reaction. Outside, Spike and the girls had silently risen to their hooves and tiptoed up to the doorway, hiding just out of sight and trying to listen in.

Though Applejack kept her eyes on the being in front of her, the thing couldn't stop glancing at the apple. Cautiously, it outstretched its forelimb, watching her the whole way, and took it in its claw. Just based on the appearance of the one limb and how it seemed to function, she gathered that it must have been similar in form to Spike, only taller, ganglier and decidedly less scaly.

What it did next dumbfounded the mare. Instead of bringing it up to its mouth to eat, it simply lifted the apple off the floor a few inches – though it did struggle a bit, most likely due to when it slammed its body into the door frame – and dropped it, and then did it one more time.

"Uh, it's...just an apple. Ya eat 'em," she said to the creature.

Apparently satisfied with the response, it took hold of the succulent apple and held onto it closely, studying it carefully and curiously. What was it after?

"The book. From earlier," it mumbled. "It...floated."

"Oh. You were tryin' to see if the apple floated too?" she queried.

It nodded, barely. It may not be much, but at least she was starting to get somewhere. "H-How'd it do that?"

"Twilight just used some of her unicorn magic, that's all."

"Unicorn magic?" he whispered, his eyes darting around trying to make sense of such a revelation. He continued between heavy breaths, "And...the wings? Um...pegasus?"

Applejack blinked and cocked her head back in mild surprise. "How do you know about all that? Are there unicorns 'n pegasi where you're from?"

"Stories. Fiction. Where the hell am I?" The fear he had lost started to return as he prepared for an answer he probably wasn't going to understand or like.

"You're in Equestria. I'm...guessin' ya ain't familiar with the place, judgin' by yer reaction."

Stunned silence was her only response. It blinked and shifted uncomfortably in place, panic trickling back into its mind. The fruit slipped from its grasp and hit the floor with a soft thud, rolling along and coming to a stop against the wall. The mare winced sadly as her gift unintentionally fell. Hopefully it could be salvaged later.

"Um...where're ya from? Why're ya here?" the mare gently asked, glancing back up at their guest. "Oh, and uh, do ya have a name? Ah'm Applejack."

Though it heard the question, it was too shaken up to answer. A queasy feeling began to stir in its stomach, and it swallowed repeatedly, fearing that it was about to empty its contents onto the floor.

"Easy, shug. Just relax. You're with friends here, I promise," whispered Applejack as she reached over to the terrified visitor. Though she felt that a comforting hoof could help it calm down, she was still uneasy. For both their sakes, she had made sure not to show any sign of nervousness herself. "Everythin's gonna be okay."

Over the next few minutes, the creature's quivering gradually died down as her voice repeated in its head. It paused to turn and gaze at her, a wave of calm washing over it. The sweet-sounding mare smiled warmly as it appeared to her that she had broken through and brought his mind back from the brink. It hadn't looked so peaceful since it was laying unconscious on the floor.

Swallowing hard, it finally said, "Matt. Matt Doherty."

"Nice to meet you, Matt Doherty," Applejack beamed.

"Just Matt's okay."

"Alright," she chuckled. She slouched and softly exhaled, feeling that she could at last relax a little. He noticed Applejack's released tension and let his legs slide out steadily, wincing a bit from the soreness still flowing through his body and stretching them flat onto the floor. This helped put her at ease even more, once he fought past the pain. Ground had been made, and hopefully he'll continue to open up to her. "Why are ya here, Matt? Mah friend Twilight is really knowledgeable about, well, just about everythin' it seems, and she has no idea what ya are or where ya might've come from."

The five hidden ponies and single dragon hesitantly crept through the doorway and into the kitchen at the sound of Twilight's name, still wary of this Matt creature but curious as to what was going on nonetheless. Applejack glanced over her shoulder, checking to see if her friends were acting rashly, and back to her new acquaintance. He had frozen up, holding a breath in his lungs hostage and was staring anxiously at the group behind the blonde pony.

"It's okay. No one's gonna hurt ya. Ya have mah word."

Matt's eyes darted over to Applejack and back to her group of comrades a few times before he loosened back up. "I'm...I don't know why I'm here. Was at home and...and then there was a...a hole or something in front of me from out of nowhere. Pulled me in, felt like I was being ripped apart. Then I woke up here and...well, y'know. How are you speaking English...or anything at all really?" he quickly asked. The question was burning a hole in his brain ever since the mare originally shared her concern a few hours ago.

"I'm speakin' Equestrian. Never heard o' English."

"Doesn't make sense," he muttered to himself. "The hell's going on?"

"Easy, Matt. Let's take this one step at a time, see if we can figure some things out, okay?" the country girl said in a hushed tone, almost sounding motherly. She didn't want to have things fall apart this far along. "You mentioned earlier that you knew about unicorns and pegasi from stories. Have your...uh, I'm sorry, what do I call you? Like, we're ponies. What are you?"

"Human. I-I'm a human."

Twilight and the others took a watchful seat beside their orange friend as the two gradually got to know each other. The new knowledge of Matt's species was enough for the librarian to jump into the conversation, finishing her friend's question for her. She needed to know everything, as always.

"Have you...humans ever made contact with ponies? Like Applejack said, I've never even heard of anything like you in any of my books. Yet you seem to know a little about us somehow. Oh, I'm the Twilight she mentioned before. Twilight Sparkle."

"Heh, Ah guess it's safe for introductions," Applejack stated, waving a hoof not too widely at her friends as she gave Matt their names. "That's Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy there in the back, Pinkie Pie–"

"Hello!" the pink mare blurted out, seemingly past her initial anxiety about Matt and back to being her usual outgoing self.

"Uh...hey," the human said with a tiny nod.

"No thanks. I had a big dinner."

Matt stared at Pinkie, befuddled at her random comment. His lips curled and he rolled his eyes when he realized the ridiculous pun. "Oh, the...horse-hay...thing."

"Yeah, Pinkie can be like that," Applejack admitted, quickly returning to the last of the introductions. "And that's Spike. He's a dragon. Just a young'en though, in case you were wonderin' why he looks different from the rest of us."

The visitor stared at the tiny purple reptile. Another fictional storybook creature. He didn't look threatening. In fact, he looked just as curious as his pony friends.

"Are you male, by any chance?" Spike asked.

Matt blinked, a little surprised that the baby drake could speak as well and yet simultaneously not. "Yeah, I'm a guy."

The dragon perked up. "Cool. Be nice having another male around here for a change."

"Spike, be serious," his guardian scolded. "He said he was sitting at his place, minding his own business, before something bizarre brought him here. He probably just wants to go home, right?" the unicorn asked sadly, understanding what it was like to be out of place. Being thrust from Canterlot into Ponyville was a bit jarring at first, but she knew she couldn't possibly understand what Matt was going through.

His brown eyes sank to the floor and he nodded woefully. So too did Spike's spines fall in disappointment. So much for hoping.

"Where are you from, anyway? I don't think you mentioned that," Twilight continued.

"Um...planet Earth? Mobile, Alabama? I'm not really sure how you want me to answer that question," Matt mumbled. He didn't honestly understand what good it would do. The likelihood these small horses knew about Earth when they knew nothing about him was probably nonexistent.

Despite that to be the case, his answer garnered quizzical looks between the mares. Unsure of what was suddenly on their troubled mind, he beseeched them to fill him in.

"It's just that...well, ponies without wings or unicorn horns are called...earth ponies," Applejack explained, a baffled tone carrying her words. An equally baffled look landed on Matt's face, his brow furrowing in bewilderment and his eyes almost bursting from their sockets. "Though we mean 'earth' as in the ground and stuff."

"You're sure your species has never made contact with ours?" Twilight asked again, an eyebrow curiously cocked. "It may explain the language thing if nothing else."

"Our higher ups would never admit it if they did. Can you imagine millions of people freaking out over something like this?"

"But, you seemed to have calmed down alright. Why would the rest of your species freak out?"

"One person can be talked to, reasoned with. You ever try getting a group of people to relax in the face of something strange?" Matt fired back with a subtle hint of sarcasm.

Twilight glanced away from their guest, her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink as memories of a few stressful situations she had been through crept into her mind. "Err, yeah, actually I have. Didn't work out so well. Still, this is an amazing discovery! It's not every day you learn of another world inhabited by intelligent life!" the nerdy mare gushed.

"I...guess? I mean, a lot of people believed other planets had to have life somewhere." He shrugged. "Guess they were right. So, uh," Matt paused, grimacing as he tried to think of a way to ask the question that was on everyone's mind, eventually deciding on simplicity, "what now?"

Each mare except Twilight glanced around, working on an acceptable answer. The inquisitive young pony beamed as the only thing that she felt that mattered at the moment came forth from her lips.

"Tell us about your world." Almost as soon as she spoke, a gasp flew from her lips. "Oh my gosh! I should take notes! The learning possibilities could be endless!"

As she was ready to enthusiastically bounce into the lobby and grab an exceedingly large stack of parchments and every quill she could find, she felt the weight of everypony's eyes staring blankly at her. She shrunk away as her cheeks turned pink.

"Uh, you don't mind, do you?" Twilight sheepishly asked Matt.

He blinked twice, slightly perplexed at the unicorn's sudden wacky behavior. "Sure, knock yourself out."

With a squee of delight, she got to her hooves and hopped out of sight. In the library's main room, they could hear papers rustling wildly and desk drawers being thrown open and slammed shut over and over. This continued on for several minutes, none of the equines acting the least bit surprised.

Applejack and the rest laid down and got comfortable for whatever stories Matt was going to tell them. She saw his still puzzled expression and quickly looked away, mildly embarrassed.

"Don't mind her. She gets like that."

Chapter 11

A couple hours ago, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony had pulled Matt, quite literally, from the jaws of death. Thanks to Nurse Redheart being in the right place at the right time, they were able to repay Matt for saving their town and lives by preventing his own from being stolen away. They were still keeping watch over him in the field beside the massive translucent body. They had grown more accustomed to the terrible stench Matt was covered in, but nevertheless it still lingered enough to bother them from time to time.

Matt was laying peacefully under the blankets they wrapped him in on Nurse Redheart's orders. He had stopped shaking some time ago and recovered quite a bit of his color. His skin's condition was mostly normal again. A couple hours from now, he'd likely look good as new again. He probably would be able to sleep for a week if he wanted though.

The six friends and the Crusaders were keeping watch over him. The little fillies woke from their nap and entertained themselves as quietly as they could at the behest of the mares. Pinkie and Fluttershy had trotted back to the library earlier to put some food and drinks together for them. They brought a little extra food for Matt just in case. Nurse Redheart said that he was probably going to be thirsty, and they hoped they adequately prepared for it, but if he needed some extra energy, some food would have done the trick.

As the sun had gotten lower in the sky and eventually disappeared over the horizon in preparation for Luna's nocturnal duties, several groups of Ponyville citizens periodically decided to brave their fears and investigate the motionless pile of purple fur sticking out over the rooftops. They all saw Twilight and the others staying beside Matt, and most of them cautiously walked up to get a closer look after determining that the Ursa wasn't a threat, albeit still pretty terrifying despite being dead. The new smell introduced to the onlookers was horridly overpowering to most of them, and they did their best to fight through it.

The girls briefly explained to each group of curious ponies that were willing to listen who Matt was and that he was their friend. Seemed the cat was out of the bag and his anonymity was officially gone at this point. However, for the most part, they weren't bothered by his presence, likely since he was sleeping in front of them instead of doing anything what any of them could consider threatening, which for the average Ponyville citizen, was a wide range of things. Seeing how happy his friends were for him even managed to make some of them smile, which made Pinkie Pie elated when she noticed.

The moon was fresh in the darkening sky. The stars were just starting to twinkle and the last of the sun's beams were saying their goodnights beyond the western horizon from behind the treeline of the Everfree Forest.

Surprisingly to the girls, they had ended up gathering a bit of an audience over the course of time. Most of the ponies who showed up over the last few hours decided it was best to leave Matt be so he can get some rest and went home to fix up whatever damage they could. However, there were several that had decided to stay despite the odor and talk about their friend, which they were happy to do. It helped pass the time, and if Matt was going to be laying there all night, so were they. The Crusaders would have a pretty good excuse for missing class the next day if it came to it, and their sisters were perfectly fine with it this one time. One particular mint-colored unicorn couldn't stop asking about Matt with an almost disturbing level of devotion. It even creeped Pinkie out a little.

A short time later, a familiar, almost blinding light descending upon the group of gathered ponies. It stopped in front of Matt and took shape. The light faded away and Princesses Celestia and Luna appeared. The citizenry bowed diligently in their presence. A few seconds later, the normally regal alicorns crunched their snouts and nearly fell over in nausea.

"Oh my, that simply won't do," Celestia said and made her horn glow. A yellow hue formed around her and her sisters' snouts briefly and she deactivated her spell. "Whew, that's better," she said with a whispered chuckle.

"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!" Twilight exclaimed with joy. "Uh...what did you just do? Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything."

The Sun Princess said to her prized student, "Good evening, Twilight Sparkle. To put it bluntly, I turned off our noses."

"I didn't know you could do that."

"There's still much I can teach you if you wanted," Celestia said with a wink. Twilight giggled and remembered how Matt could still see in the dark thanks to the spell he asked her to find earlier. She turned her attention to him and undid the spell, causing a soft lavender glow to emit from under his eyelids. It caught the Princesses' attention and they cocked their heads at her actions.

"He could see in the dark. He needed to in order to, uh..." Twilight looked over at the Ursa. Celestia and Luna swapped their disbelieving gazes between it and Matt.

"Your friend really was able to do this?" Luna asked. The girls nodded silently. "Shining Armor's lieutenant informed my sister of the situation when the Royal Guard returned. He confirmed the story when he arrived later himself. She passed the word onto me once I woke to rise the moon. We would have been here sooner, but we've been discussing the situation ever since."

The girls exchanged nervous looks. Royalty tended not to put so much discussion into a topic that didn't usually result in something bad happening. After all, they had been hiding Matt for around two and a half months now; they didn't even inform the Princesses about him. Twilight could almost sense that Celestia was concealing disappointment behind her warm eyes, even if the Princess wouldn't admit it.

"How's he doing, by the way?" Celestia asked.

The six mares and three fillies looked at him and smiled. "Much better. He should be back on his feet in a day or two, we hope," Twilight said happily before feeling her stomach drop. "We're sorry we didn't tell you about him before. It's just...we figured that he'd freak ponies out because he looks so unlike anything Equestria has ever seen."

"Please please please don't banish us to the moon or a dungeon or the Everfree Forest or a dungeon on the moon or– "

"Pinkie, darling, relax! What she's trying to say in her own...unique way is that we hope you'll go easy on us for not telling you the truth sooner," Rarity said. The group looked away dejectedly.

Celestia grinned, a bit amused by their paranoia. She figured they would have learned by now. "Girls, I'm not going to banish you anywhere. While I do wish you had told me about your friend," Twilight scrunched her head into her shoulders, expecting the worst, "I understand why you did what you did, and I must say, after seeing what he's capable of, in a way, it's a good thing you didn't say anything," she explained, glancing at the Ursa. "If I was aware at all that he had the ability to do something like this here, I may have been reluctant to allow him to stay."

"I...I'm not sure I understand."

"Like you said, Twilight, Equestria has never seen one of his kind before. Even I haven't seen anything that resembles him in any of my books. While you and your friends may have gotten to know and trust him, it's still very possible that he hasn't told you everything about himself. This is not his home, and he still may not be entirely certain of how things work here," the Princess explained. "Curious, how long has he been here with us?"

Rainbow Dash answered with a hoof on her chin, "Been a few months, I think, right?" The others nodded.

"Interesting," Celestia commented. "It was around a few months ago that I sensed some unusual magical activity. I suspect your friend may have something to do with it."

"I, as well, felt the disturbance, even though I was resting at the time. Most unusual."

"Any idea what it may have been?" Twilight asked.

Her teacher shook her head. "I'm afraid not. My sister and I did what research we could from our archives and found nothing about what I detected. What it felt like, how intense it was...I honestly wish I could answer your question. Just figuring out where to start searching for answers was extraordinarily difficult on its own."

Fluttershy raised a hoof, trying to be discreet. "Um, Princesses, I'm sorry to interrupt, but what did you decide about Matt? Oh, um, that's his name, you see."

She smiled at the girls and said, "Well, you obviously care about him very much, and I don't believe he would have done...whatever it is he did if he didn't care about you too, to put his life in such danger for my little ponies and their home. I trust your judgment on this matter. Besides, even if I wanted to send him home, I'm not sure how to go about doing so." She looked away with uncertainty, not terribly happy that she as one of the immortal rulers of Equestria was unable to accomplish a particular task, no matter how difficult it may be. "I assume you tried to find a spell for that very reason as I did?"

"Soon after he first arrived, yes. I couldn't find anything."

"Nor could I." Her regal face lit up. "So I guess that means he can stay with you!"

The girls couldn't contain their excitement and happiness. Twilight leapt to Celestia's hooves and rubbed her head against her teacher's long neck. The alicorn returned the sentiment. "Oh, thank you Princess!" The young unicorn pulled away and tightly hugged Luna as well.

"All we ask is that you please be careful and remain vigilant. We know he's your friend and he's important to you, but like I said, we don't know everything about him. The fact that he may be responsible for whatever it was that we felt before cannot be overlooked and must be approached with caution."

"Sister," Luna spoke, "I know this question is a bit off-topic, but what are we to do with the body?"

Celestia had forgotten to take it under consideration when Shining Armor had repeated what his lieutenant had told her earlier. She turned and blinked at the dead Ursa. She looked back at her sister and remained quiet for a few minutes, shifting her eyes around looking for an answer. She opened her mouth to speak but closed it back up, confusion draped upon face. After further thinking for something to say and failing, she just shrugged and grinned sheepishly.

"Perhaps we can discuss it when we return to Canterlot?" the Moon Goddess asked, a bit annoyed that the idea never crossed her normally wise sister's mind until this point.

"Yes, I suppose we should," Celestia said with a chuckle. She addressed her faithful student and her friends, "Just remember what I told you, Twilight Sparkle. Feel free to speak to either of us about any questions you may have regarding Matt that you feel we can answer. Any of you. Spike will be back tomorrow afternoon, so your correspondence should be delivered promptly again."

Twilight spoke up, "Princess, could you do me a favor? I told my brother that I'd let him know if Matt was doing okay. Could you pass it along that he's fine? I'd prefer letting him know immediately if I can help it."

"Of course! I'll tell him when I see him."

"Thank you."

"Please be sure to allow us to smell things again once we've returned as well, sister. You know how delicious our royal cuisine smells. I wouldn't want to miss out on that and I am getting rather hungry," Luna grinned slyly, teasing her sister.

"I will," Celestia giggled. "Farewell, my students." The alicorns spread their wings and left toward their royal home. The girls waved goodbye as they headed away.

The moon was higher in the sky a couple hours later. The dark field was lit up by the flickering of a pair of unicorn horns as well as Luna's nightly gifts. The mood had picked up thanks to Celestia's blessing and Matt's recovery. He was still asleep under his blankets and the girls were all still keeping him company. His color was just about back to normal and if one wasn't aware what he had been through merely hours ago, one would assume he just decided to take a nap out in a field for no particular reason.

He stirred from his rest, rubbing and pinching his calves. Having them elevated for so long left them feeling of pins and needles. He unconsciously laid them onto the ground and stretched out. The sensations from his legs finally disturbed him enough from his sleep after a moment and he opened his eyes. He almost immediately started smacking his lips. He'd never been so thirsty in his life.

"Matt! You're awake!" a familiar voice from a pink pony shouted.

He slowly sat up and the blankets on his chest fell into a pile in his lap. Being under so many blankets for so long left him a little warm, now that his temperature had returned to normal. The cool night breeze felt good against his skin though he didn't stop to ask himself why he didn't have a shirt on. He looked around and saw the mares and fillies he had gotten to know and care about over the months surrounding him with relieved faces.

Several of the ponies that gave them an audience who were still with them crept up to get a closer look now that he was awake. The seemingly obsessed mint green pony was at the front of the pack. She darted her eyes across every contour of his frame that she could see, grinning from ear to ear and bouncing in glee.

Her antics didn't go unnoticed by Matt, who was watching her a little dumbfounded. "Friend of yours, Pinkie?"

"Everypony's a friend of mine here in Ponyville! You know that, silly! That's Lyra!"

"Uh, hi," he said to her and waved. She froze up and stared at his wiggling fingers. Somehow, an even bigger grin burst across her cheeks and she fell over in ecstasy. "Yeeeeah..." he said to himself, unsure what to think. He looked at the others in attendance, who were thankfully acting normal. "Hello."

The ponies said their greetings and waved at him. He made eye contact with most of them, nodding his salutations. He turned around and looked at the dead monstrosity behind them. A triumphant smirk crept onto his face. He took a deep breath, trying to shake himself out of his groggy state. Upon doing so, only one thing came to mind and he said his piece, "Oh God, I'm going to need about forty showers."

"Here Matt, we have some water for you. Nurse Redheart said you may need some when you wake up," Rarity said and floated the waiting glass up to his head. He reached to take it from the air, but she refused to let him, insisting on helping him conserve his strength. Even though it was lukewarm, it was the most delicious glass of water he ever had. "I'll head back to the library and get a few more glasses. You probably should still lay down for a bit until you're one hundred percent, dear," the fashionista said as she trotted off to Twilight's home.

Matt felt a little shove from his left. He looked to see Twilight tearing up and a little angry at him. "Don't ever make me do something like that again!" she scolded.

He shrugged and nonchalantly joked, "Well, y'know, as long as another one doesn't show up or anything." She poked him again. "Kidding!" She pounced on his head and hugged it tightly, tears of joy falling from her cheeks. He patted and reassuredly rubbed her leg.

"Ohmygosh!" Pinkie gasped.

"What?" Rainbow asked.

"You know what this calls for? A we're-happy-our-friend's-okay-and-that-he-saved-the-entire-town-from-a-rampaging-monster party! And since he saved the entire town, I have to invite the entire town! It'll be the biggest party ever! Eeeee!" She cartwheeled and bounced around like a lunatic. "We can throw it in Town Square so there's enough room for all the games and balloons and party cannons and fun and- "

"Uh, Pinkie, maybe ya should hold off on that there party for a few days until Matt's fully recovered?" Applejack suggested.

Her wacky antics came to an immediate halt. "Oh, heh...yeah, that's probably a good idea. It'll give me some time to plan! I've never ever ever ever ever thrown a party that big before!"

"Well, you do that while I get back to sleep," Matt said. Twilight released him and he laid down, stretching out and getting comfortable. The warm blankets felt very soft and relaxing in the cool air. He suddenly stopped, a thought occurring to him that he wasn't even aware of until now if not for an itchy sensation. He lifted up the blankets quizzically. "Uh...where are my pants?"